How to Go Through a Video Frame by Frame in VLC

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Navigate a video one frame at a time with VLC Media Player

Co-authored by Cory Stillman Reviewed by Stan Kats

Last Updated: May 16, 2025 Fact Checked

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Using Hotkeys

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Using the Toolbar

There are plenty of reasons you may want to focus on individual frames of a video in VLC Media Player. Whether you need to capture snapshots from a video, or simply want to examine the images in detail, VLC makes it easy to move through a video frame by frame. You can use hotkeys to do so, or customize your toolbar and use the available frame-by-frame button. This wikiHow article teaches you everything you need to know about going frame by frame in VLC.

Things You Should Know

Open a video file in VLC and click E to go through it frame by frame.
E is the default hotkey for the frame-by-frame tool in VLC, but you can adjust your hotkeys at any time.
You can also add the frame-by-frame button to your VLC toolbar and continually click it throughout a video to navigate the video frame by frame.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Using Hotkeys

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1
Open a video in VLC. Open VLC Media Player, then select Media > Open File and locate the video file you want to go through frame by frame.
- VLC supports several video file formats, including AVI, WMA, MP4, MOV, WAV (including DTS), and more.^{[1]
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You can go back to the beginning any time to view the frames there, but you must first start playing the video before VLC can understand that you are trying to go through it frame by frame.

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3
Click E to go frame by frame. The E key is the default VLC hotkey for going frame by frame. Clicking it will cause a video to progress by a single frame. Continue tapping it to keep going through each frame.^{[2]
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- Users can change the frame-by-frame hotkey by navigating to Tools > Preferences > Hotkeys, clicking on Next frame and pressing the desired key on their keyboard.
- Go backwards to a previous frame by clicking Ctrl + T to rewind by a second or two, and then use the hotkey to continue progressing frame by frame.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Using the Toolbar

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1
Add the frame-by-frame button to your VLC toolbar. Open VLC Media Player and navigate to Tools > Customize interface. Then, scroll down to Toolbar Elements and locate the Frame by Frame option. It is represented by a play icon with a bar to its left. Click and drag the icon to your desired location for it.
- Windows users can more quickly add this button to their display by clicking View and selecting Advanced Controls. The button will then appear at the bottom of their player interface.
  - VLC Media Player on macOS does not include the "Advanced Controls" option.
- Consider placing the frame-by-frame icon in "Line 2" of the main toolbar, so you can easily access it during playback.
- Your VLC Media Player may already display this frame-by-frame icon by default in its toolbar. Keep an eye out for it before adding it manually.
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Open a video in VLC. Select Media > Open File and locate the video file you want to go through frame by frame.
- VLC supports several video file formats, including AVI, WMA, MP4, MOV, WAV (including DTS), and more.
Continually press your newly added icon to move though your video file frame by frame.^{[3]
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