Fix Ubuntu Can't Play Video (MP4, MKV, Etc) Files | Install Multimedia Codecs on Ubuntu 20.04, 18.04
When you try to watch a video, you may end up with unable to play the file, H.264/MPEG-4 AAC/decoder is required to play the file, but is not installed message, or just a black screen.
Ubuntu doesn’t play videos and some audio media formats is a common issue, especially for those who new to Linux.
The lack of this support is due the codecs. Ubuntu excluded it out of the box because these video files and other media formats are restricted by patent, copyright, or legal issues.
The good thing is, Ubuntu provides a single package to install all the essential media codecs from their repository to provide non-open source software to its users.
What is Ubuntu Restricted Extras?
Ubuntu-restricted-extras is a software package that consists various essential software like MP3 and other audio codec software to play various audio formats, Microsoft web fonts, unrar, mp4, and codecs for Chromium browser, etc.
Since the package is available in the multiverse repository, you have to make sure that multiverse repository is enabled on your system.
To do that, open the “Software & Updates” from the application menu, give a check mark to “Software restricted by copyright or legal issue”, and “Community maintained free and open source software” to access more packages.
If you like command line, you can also do this by running the command below from the Terminal window :
sudo apt-add-repository multiverse
Once updated, run :
sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras
Hit the tab key to select OK, hit Enter, and choose Yes when it asks End User License Agreement (EULA).
After required packages are installed, Ubuntu should play .MKV, .MP4, or any audio / video formats that failed to play previously.
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