HEVC Video Extension 2.5.28.0

If a video plays sound but shows nothing, or File Explorer refuses to draw a thumbnail for it, the file is almost certainly H.265.

Nothing is wrong with the file - Windows just does not ship the decoder that reads it.

That decoder is the HEVC Video Extension, and there is a free official way to get it.

Why This Download Is No Longer Here

Microsoft sells the standard HEVC Video Extension in the Microsoft Store for a small fee. It also publishes a second edition, meant for PC manufacturers to bundle with new machines, which does exactly the same job for free.

We used to mirror the paid package here. Following complaints we took it down, and this page now points at the free edition instead, which is the version we would recommend to anyone in any case.

If you would rather see every step yourself, our guide walks through how to download the HEVC extension for free using Microsoft's own links. There is also a plain-English overview of your options in our HEVC codec for Windows guide.

What the Extension Actually Does

Once installed, the change is system-wide. There is nothing to configure, because the extension registers itself and the next file you open simply works.

Windows Media Player, the Microsoft Photos app, Movies and TV, File Explorer thumbnails and anything else that talks to Windows Media Foundation can suddenly read .hevc and .h265 files.

Hardware acceleration matters most for 4K and HDR. On Intel 7th-generation Core chips and newer, recent NVIDIA cards and AMD GPUs with modern decode blocks, playback runs on the GPU with very little CPU load.

Older machines fall back to software decoding, which copes fine with 1080p but can stutter on 4K. It is worth a minute to check whether your PC decodes H.265 in hardware before you commit to building an HEVC library.

Opening iPhone HEIC Photos on Windows

The same decoder unlocks Apple's photo format. HEIC files, which iPhones have used by default since iOS 11, store the actual image data with HEVC compression inside a HEIF container.

Windows reads the container on its own but cannot decode the image without HEVC present. Pair the extension with HEIF Image Extensions and your iPhone photos open in the Photos app with thumbnails in File Explorer.

For a one-off batch rather than a permanent setup, browser tools to convert HEIF to JPEG and convert JPEG to HEIF need no install at all.

If you would rather keep it on your PC, CopyTrans HEIC adds right-click HEIC conversion directly inside Windows.

Players That Need No Extension at All

If you would rather skip Store extensions entirely, a player with its own decoder solves the same problem without touching Windows.

• VLC Media Player handles HEVC out of the box on Windows 10 and 11 with nothing extra to install.
• PotPlayer and MPC-HC ship the same FFmpeg-based decoders and play H.265 on a clean Windows install.
• K-Lite Codec Pack goes wider, bundling LAV Filters and the rest of the decoder stack so editing apps and older programs get HEVC too.
• libde265 Filters is the minimal option, focused on H.265 inside Matroska and WebM containers.

Our guide to the best players for HEVC files compares them properly if you want to pick one and stop thinking about it.

Still Not Playing? Check These First

Installing the extension fixes most cases, but not all. Our HEVC troubleshooting guide works through the usual culprits in order.

Two quick sanity checks before you install anything. The online HEVC player opens an H.265 file straight in your browser, so if it plays there the file is fine and the problem is your PC.

If you are not certain the file is even HEVC, our Codec Finder will tell you what it actually needs.

Encoding HEVC Rather Than Playing It

The extension includes a basic software encoder, but treat it as a convenience for casual conversions rather than an archiving tool. For real work the x265 Encoder is the open-source standard and gives noticeably better quality at the same bitrate.

For a full project-based workflow with frame-accurate trimming and audio handling, our walkthrough on Encoding HEVC Videos Using StaxRip covers the modern toolchain end to end.

Related Extensions and Further Reading

Adjacent formats are worth setting up while you are here. The AV1 Video Extension does for AV1 what this package does for H.265, and Windows does not ship an AV1 decoder either.

Navigating HEVC Video Extensions for Windows covers the full picture of which package does what. If a future Windows update ever causes a conflict, how to uninstall HEVC and HEIF extensions explains the rollback.

The wider video codecs section lists everything else in this category.

Quick questions

Get the free HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer and see whether it clears up your files, or leave a review if you have history with this one.