How To Fix – iPhone Videos Not Playing On Windows Systems?

Read time 9 minutes

Have you ever been in a situation where you have transferred your iPhone videos to your Windows machine, but they are inaccessible on Windows machines?

Windows Media Player is used by default to load and play video files on Windows-based systems. A lot of users use this free utility to watch movies, play video and songs. The two platforms- Windows and Apple, have a vast difference between their functionalities which makes it even more difficult to play iPhone videos on Windows system. In addition, Windows Media Player also has limitations and is prone to errors and corruption issues. Here, we will talk about one of the most reported issues and how to fix iPhone videos not playing on Windows systems.

iPhone Videos Not Playing On Windows Systems

Let us consider a situation where a user has just transferred videos from his iPhone device (either smartphone or tablet) to his Windows machine, and unfortunately, those videos get inaccessible or flash error messages while trying to load via Window Media Player. This creates a painful situation for users or even worse if those files aren’t backed up and get permanently deleted from their source location.

There could be many reasons for the default media player to flash error messages while playing videos, for instance, compatibility issues, corrupt or damaged video files, irrelevant sources, improper download or file transfer, etc. Whatever be the reason for Windows Media Player not playing the iPhone video files, the main concern is how you will fix the issue and make the videos playable again.

There are workarounds for this situation with which you can quickly repair and recover the data back. But let us discuss some of the common reasons for iPhone videos not playing on Windows platform.

Reasons for inaccessibility of iPhone videos in Windows environment

• Compatibility issues.
• Your Windows machine is missing supporting video codecs for iPhone devices.
• Inappropriate file transfer.
• Video files have gone corrupt as soon as they were transferred from iPhone to PC.
• Your Windows machine is infected with viruses and malware.

There are multiple workarounds for you to correct the issue of iPhone videos not playing in Windows PCs. Either you can rely on manual methods to fix the issue, or you could use a reliable third-party tool to do the task.

First, we will discuss manual methods to fix the issue, and later we will highlight an efficient tool to do the task. Some of the most common manual methods to fix the issue are listed below:

1. Re-transfer the files, in case they are not transferred properly in the first attempt.
   Sometimes, there can be interruptions while transferring the files like an abrupt shutdown, loss of connectivity between the devices, and various other issues that can interrupt the transfer.

   Consider transferring the files again if you still got the data on your iPhone. In case you have deleted the original files or have used cut-paste, then look for other methods of recovery.

2. Use another Media Player

If you rely on the default Windows media player to play videos and if it fails to load and play videos transferred from iPhone, then you must consider playing those videos using other reliable media players. Sometimes the real issue is not even iPhone videos are not playing on Windows PCs, but the default media player doesn’t support playing videos of specific file format. For instance, MP4 files are best played on VLC media player. In case, you have corrupt MP4 files on your system. VLC also offers functionalities to repair MP4 files.

Some of the popular alternatives for Windows Media Player are VLC media player, RealPlayer, KMPlayer, etc.

Try playing the video via other media player supported by Windows OS. If VLC and other media players are unable to play the videos transferred from iPhones, try the solutions listed below.

3. Convert the file to some other format supported by Windows OS.
   Try using a reliable Video Converter tool to convert the file format of video files transferred from iPhone devices. There are different free tools available online to convert video file format to another format supporting the same OS version. You can also use the Kernel Video Converter software for a secure conversion. Sometimes, Windows machines lack the supporting codes for a specific file format. In such scenarios, converting the file format may help you resolve the issue.
4. Update the existing version of Windows Media Player.
   Updating the existing version of Windows Media Player might fix the “iPhone videos not playing on Windows system” error. Sometimes, the default media player lacks the ability to play videos associated with some specific file formats.

   Consider updating your media player to the most recent version. The latest version, “Windows Media Player 12” is available for windows 8, 8.1 and 10 platforms.

5. Download and install the supporting codecs for your Windows machine.
   Windows Media player requires codecs to play videos. Codecs are configured to compress and decompress the video files.

   One can download and install the video codec pack directly from the web or configure your Windows Media Player to run a periodic update after a specified time and it will resolve your issue of iPhone videos not playing on Windows systems.

Some of the most common video codecs available for Window OS are listed below:

• Media Player Video Codec Packs
• K-Lite Codec Pack
• Shark007X
• X Codec Pack

Launch Windows Media Player and follow these simple steps to enable the Automatic Update feature.

1. Click the Organize button located at the top left corner of the interface.
2. Under Organize, select Options.
3. Under the Player tab, set a periodic update under the Check for Updates section.

If you are still unable to play the iPhone videos on your Windows PC, try using a reliable video repair tool to repair the files.

Kernel Video Repair is one of the most recommended tools to repair your damaged or corrupt video files. This tool offers a wide range of repair functionalities for all the video file formats that work in the Windows environment. For instance, you can repair MP4, MOV, MPEG, MJPEG, MTS, M4V, MKV, AVI, and many other video file formats.

Also, you can download the trial version free and later upgrade the tool by purchasing the licensed version. Here is how the tool works.

1. Launch Kernel Video Repair on your Windows machine.
2. Either click on the ‘+’ sign to locate the folder containing the video files or just drag and drop the file.
3. Select the required files and click on the Open button.
4. If the interface asks you to add a reference file, add a healthy video file of the same file format as the reference. Otherwise, just click the Repair Files button.
5. Provide a destination path to save the repaired files and click on the OK button.
6. Wait until the repair process gets completed.
7. The repaired video files get saved to the specified location.
8. You can also save the data report in CSV format by clicking Save report to CSV. This is how the data looks in CSV file format.

Wrapping Up

Transferring files from one platform to another is a common yet complicated practice in recent times. In case any error occurs while moving the files, it may become inaccessible. In that case where you are unable to play your iPhone videos on Windows systems, you can use manual as well as automated methods to fix the issue. But manual methods do not repair the files if they are broken or corrupted. The best way to repair your corrupt or damaged videos and make them playable again is via a third-party tool like Kernel for video repair tool.