For further troubleshooting, you can check the specific codec inside your MKV file by running mkvinfo filename.mkv | grep "Codec ID" in the terminal.
sudo apt-get install mkvtoolnix
The most reliable way to get HEVC support system-wide is through the terminal or the standard Mint tools. Linux Mint Welcome Screen : Open the Welcome Screen from your application menu, go to First Steps , and click on Multimedia Codecs Terminal Command
Open the from your Linux Mint application menu. Search for VLC Media Player . Click Install and enter your administrator password. Alternatively, you can install it via the terminal: sudo apt update sudo apt install vlc Use code with caution. install hevc codec for mkv video on linux mint link
Linux Mint provides an all-in-one meta-package designed to install every essential multimedia codec at once, including support for HEVC (H.265) and x264. If you skipped checking the "Install multimedia codecs" box during the initial installation of Linux Mint, you can add it right now. Option A: Using the Graphical User Interface (GUI) Open the (bottom-left corner). Navigate to the Sound & Video category. Click on Install Multimedia Codecs .
sudo apt install intel-media-va-driver # for Intel sudo apt install mesa-va-drivers # for AMD
If you still have issues, reboot your computer to ensure all libraries are fully registered. Troubleshooting: Still No Video? For further troubleshooting, you can check the specific
Guide you on installing newer HEVC libraries for specialized formats. Share public link
While this installs an encoder for creating HEVC files rather than a decoder for playing them, it also pulls in the necessary libraries that may assist in playback and is useful for encoding videos.
ffmpeg -codecs | grep hevc
Before we begin, ensure that your system meets the following requirements:
While VLC usually includes everything, Linux Mint’s package management sometimes splits the HEVC library into a separate package ( libde265 ). To guarantee hardware-accelerated playback, run: sudo apt install vlc-plugin-video-splitter libde265-0 -y Use code with caution. Method 3: Enable Hardware Acceleration for HEVC
| Use Case | Recommended Method | |----------|-------------------| | Just want to watch a movie | Method 1 (VLC) | | System-wide codec support | Method 2 (FFmpeg + GStreamer) | | Lightweight terminal player | Method 3 (MPV) | | 4K/8K HEVC videos | Method 5 (Hardware acceleration) | | Old computer | Method 6 (Convert to H.264) | Search for VLC Media Player
If you’ve recently switched to Linux Mint and tried to open a modern MKV video file—especially one recorded in 4K or 8K from a smartphone, action camera, or Blu-ray rip—you might have been greeted with an error message: “Could not decode stream” or simply a black screen with audio playing. The culprit? A missing codec, also known as H.265.
Similarly, you can open your MKV file with MPV by right-clicking on the file, selecting Open with , and then choosing mpv .