How-To

How to Move a Video in VLC Frame-by-Frame

By Brian Burgess

Published September 28, 2022

Moving through a video frame-by-frame is a good way to carefully inspect it (or to take screenshots). This guide will explain how to do this using VLC.

After you’ve captured a video of an event or recorded a meeting, you may want to view and make changes to it by using VLC Media Player on your desktop. One of the benefits of using VLC on your computer is moving videos frame-by-frame to edit.

However, you may not be aware of VLC’s ability to move one frame at a time via a keyboard shortcut or button on the player. This allows you to review each frame of your video and, if necessary, remove or make changes to it.

This article will explain moving a video in VLC frame-by-frame for a more effortless editing experience.

How to Move a Video in VLC Frame-by-Frame

One of the first things you need to do is ensure to install VLC Media Player on your PC or Mac. You’ll also need a suitable video ready to play and view.

To move a video frame-by-frame in VLC:

1. Begin by opening the video you want with VLC and press the E key on your keyboard while it’s playing.
2. The video will stop and display a Next frame message in the upper-right corner of the video.
3. Press the E key on your keyboard to skip to the next frame.
4. Repeat this step for each subsequent frame.
5. Once you get to where you want to begin playing the video, press the Spacebar and press it again to pause the video.

How to Change the Hotkey for Frame by Frame Skipping in VLC

Using the E button to skip frames on videos works out of the box. However, you may want to switch this to another key for ease of use.

To change hotkey functions in VLC:

1. With VLC open, navigate to Tools > Preferences > Hotkeys.
2. In VLC’s Hotkeys settings menu, change the Next frame option from the list to the E key (or another one you want to use).
3. To change the E hotkey (or any other), double-click the hotkey and press a new one on the keyboard that you want to use.
4. When you’re ready, click the Save button.

Use On-Screen Button to Move Video in VLC Frame-by-Frame

You can use on-screen controls if you’re not a fan of using keyboard shortcuts to manage your video viewing in VLC. Instead, you need to open Advanced options to display the VLC user interface button for skipping frame-by-frame.

To use on-screen controls to move videos in VLC frame-by-frame:

1. First, you’ll need to enable Advanced Controls to display in the screen’s lower-left corner.
2. Click View > Advanced Controls, and you’ll find the new controls.

3. Click the frame-by-frame button (this looks like a play button with a straight line that precedes it).
4. Keep clicking it, and the video will proceed one frame at a time.

Using VLC for Video Editing

Want to carefully analyze and edit your videos? Being able to move a video in VLC frame-by-frame is a great way to quickly check through a video and inspect it. You can take screenshots or, if necessary, move to a video editing tool and remove the frame (or frames) you don’t like.

It’s also helpful when you have a remote meeting and record your webcam with VLC. You can find the frame where important info was given, and you need to know precisely where it began.

In addition to playing virtually any video file type you throw at it, there are many other things VLC can do. For example, if you’re new to VLC, read about these tips you didn’t know about for VLC on a desktop. In addition to moving videos frame-by-frame, you can also rotate videos in VLC.

And if you need to record your desktop, VLC can record your desktop screen. Or, if you need to convert a video file to audio, check out the instructions on converting video files to MP3 with VLC.