Common HEVC File Extensions: Set Windows Associations That Stick

HEVC is a codec, not a file type. It hides inside four different extensions, and Windows treats each one separately - which is why fixing .mp4 does nothing for your .mkv files.

This page sets the right default app for all four, permanently. It takes about two minutes.

First: can your PC actually play HEVC?

This step comes first for a reason. A file association only decides which app opens the file - it does nothing about whether that app can decode what is inside.

You have two ways to solve that, and they lead to different places:

• Use a player that brings its own decoder. VLC Media Player plays HEVC out of the box on any Windows version, with no codec to install and nothing to pay. For most people this is the whole answer.
• Add HEVC to Windows itself. This makes HEVC work system-wide - Movies & TV, Photos, File Explorer thumbnails, the lot. Microsoft charges for the Store version, but the HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer package is free. Our guide on how to get the HEVC Video Extension for free walks through it.

Not sure what your system is missing? The free Codec Finder checks what your PC can already decode and tells you exactly what to install.

The four extensions HEVC arrives in

Two of these are containers you already know. The other two are raw video, and they behave very differently:

Method 1: Settings, for all four at once

The thorough option. Best when you want every HEVC extension pointing at the same player.

1. Press Win + I to open Settings.
2. Go to Apps, then Default apps.
3. Scroll to the bottom and choose Choose defaults by file type.
4. Type the extension into the search box - .mp4 first.
5. Click the app currently listed beside it, pick your player, and confirm with Set default.
6. Repeat for .mkv, .hevc and .h265.

Method 2: Right-click, for one extension

Faster when you have the problem file in front of you.

1. Right-click the video and choose Properties.
2. On the General tab, click Change beside "Opens with".
3. Pick your player and click Set default, then OK.

Every file with that extension now opens in your chosen player - not just this one.

Method 3: Just this once

Right-click the file, hover Open with, and pick a player. Nothing permanent changes - useful for checking whether a different player handles the file before you commit to it.

When the association will not stick

Three things account for almost every case where the setting seems to reset itself:

• A Windows feature update reset it. Major updates can restore Microsoft defaults. Annoying, but a two-minute re-do.
• Another app claimed it back. Some players re-assert themselves on launch or update. Check the player's own settings for a "file associations" or "reset associations" option and turn it off.
• The Change button is greyed out. Usually a permissions issue on a managed or work PC. Setting it through Settings rather than Properties often works where Properties does not.

Quick questions

HEVC is not one file type, it is four - and Windows treats every one of them as a stranger until you introduce them.

Set all four once, to a player that can actually decode HEVC, and the "How do you want to open this file?" box never comes back.