AV1 Codec 2.0.35.0

AV1 is the free, modern video format that YouTube, Netflix and many cameras and phones now use, and Windows does not play it out of the box.

If an AV1 file opens as a black screen, a codec error or nothing at all, you need an AV1 decoder, and there are several free ones.

This page explains what AV1 is and which way of playing it suits you, and the download page carries Microsoft's free AV1 Video Extension 2.0.35.0.

What AV1 Actually Is

AV1 is a video codec built by the Alliance for Open Media, a group that includes Google, Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft. It was finished in 2018 and is royalty-free, so anyone can use it without paying licence fees.

It squeezes video smaller than the older H.264 and VP9 at the same quality, and usually beats HEVC too. That is why streaming services switched to it, and why AV1 files now turn up in downloads, screen recordings and phone videos.

The Ways to Play AV1 on Windows

The players and LAV Filters all decode AV1 with dav1d, the fast open-source decoder from the VideoLAN team. It is also available on its own as dav1d, for testing and command-line use.

Microsoft's AV1 Video Extension

For Windows' own apps, Microsoft's free extension is the fix. It plugs into the part of Windows that Media Player, Photos and File Explorer use, so all of them start playing AV1 at once.

It comes as an AppxBundle rather than a normal installer, which trips many people up. Our page on the AV1 Video Extension package covers every version, the PowerShell install and the 'Invalid value for registry' error.

Is It Really AV1?

Plenty of files people think are AV1 turn out to be HEVC, which needs a different decoder. Open the file in MediaInfo and read the video format line, or run it through our Codec Finder.

Smooth 4K Needs Hardware Decoding

Any of the options above makes AV1 play, but 4K AV1 decoded by the processor alone can stutter on older PCs. Hardware decoding hands the work to the graphics chip instead.

Intel graphics from 11th-generation Core and Arc, NVIDIA from the RTX 30 series, and most AMD cards from the Radeon RX 6000 series decode AV1 in hardware. Older chips fall back to the processor, which works but uses more power.

On a laptop that extra work shows up as battery drain, which our guide does AV1 drain your battery? explains.

Making AV1 Files

To encode your own AV1, HandBrake is the easy route, with ready-made presets. SVT-AV1 is the fast encoder most tools use underneath.

The av1.exe file on the download page is an old 2018 command-line build of the reference AV1 encoder and decoder, aomenc and aomdec. It does not help Windows play anything, and the current version lives on our AOM AV1 Encoder page.

AV1 in Your Browser

Chrome, Edge and Firefox play AV1 on their own, which is how YouTube and Netflix stream it. Our guide to YouTube and AV1 shows how to check which format you are getting.

Quick questions

More decoders and extensions are in our Video Codecs section.

Download the AV1 Video Extension 2.0.35.0 and see whether that file finally plays, or tell us how you got on if you have used it before.