VLC media player experiences slow startup on Windows 11

Users of the VLC media player on Windows 11 have reported significant delays when attempting to open audio or video files, with startup times sometimes exceeding 30 seconds.

VideoLAN, the organization behind VLC, has identified the cause as a bug introduced by a Microsoft Defender update. The security software has been incorrectly quarantining the VLC plugin cache, which prevents the player from loading efficiently. This issue has been noted by various users, including game developer Jonathan Blow.

To resolve the issue, VideoLAN recommends that users either reinstall VLC or manually regenerate the plugin cache. A complete uninstallation, including the removal of the cache files, followed by a fresh installation from the official website, has been confirmed to fix the performance lag.