If you've ever tried to watch a movie or TV show with two audio tracks, you may have a hard time choosing which audio track to play in each episode. For example, while watching Japanese animation, you may hear Japanese audio instead of English audio. Fortunately, changing the default audio track is easy.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Simple Setup
Step 1. Open VLC
To change the settings, you do not need to open the media file.
Step 2. Click "Tools" in the menu at the top of the window
A drop-down menu will appear.
Step 3. From the drop-down menu, select "Preferences"
You will see a new window showing a series of options.
To access the "Preferences" window, you can use the shortcut Ctrl+P
Step 4. Select the "Simple settings" option at the bottom left of the Preferences window
By default, this option is selected.
Step 5. Click the "Audio" tab from the left or top of the window
This tab has a traffic funnel icon with headphones.
Step 6. Enter the audio language you want to use
Near the bottom of the audio settings view, find the "Tracks" section. In the field next to "Preferred Audio Language", enter your language code. To find out the language codes, visit https://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_list.php. Try code 639-2 first, then code 639-1 if the code doesn't work.
- English: eng
- Japanese language: jpn
- Spanish language: spa
Step 7. Set subtitle options if desired from the same window
Apart from selecting the subtitle language, you can also adjust the font type and size, shading, and more.
- To set subtitle options, click "Subtitles" from the left side of the window.
- Enter your language code in the "Preferred Subtitle Language" field. To find out the language codes, visit
Step 8. Click the "Save" button in the lower right corner of the window to confirm the changes
Step 9. Restart VLC for the changes you made to take effect
Method 2 of 2: Advanced Settings
Step 1. Select the "All settings" option at the bottom left of the Preferences window
If the simple settings described above don't work, the audio tracks in your movie may not be properly labeled. To work around this, you may need to do a little experimentation in the settings window.
Step 2. Select the "Inputs/Codecs" option on the left side of the Advanced Preferences window
You will see a new page with the title "Inputs/Codecs".
Step 3. Change the audio track number
If your file has more than one audio track, you may need to experiment to find the right audio track. For example, if your file has two audio tracks, track 0 or 1 might be the correct track. Track 0 is the default track if you don't set any settings, while track 1 is an additional track.
Step 4. Try entering the language if the audio track hasn't changed
While this might not work, you might want to give it a try. Enter the language code you want in the "Audio Language" field. To find out the language codes, visit
Step 5. Change the caption track
If you're also having trouble choosing a caption track, try experimenting with other caption tracks.
Step 6. Click the "Save" button in the lower right corner of the window to confirm the changes
