[vlc-devel] VLC startup delay caused by vlc-qt-interface.ini on Windows possible fix?

[Thomas Guillem]

Hello,

Thanks for the report. Could you send us the bad vlc-qt-interface.ini ?

Best,

On Sun, Sep 20, 2026, at 14:21, Really? wrote:
> Hi VideoLAN team,
> 
> I’ve been troubleshooting a recurring VLC startup delay on Windows for several users including myself and seem to have isolated it specifically to VLC’s Qt interface configuration file.
> 
> On my system, VLC will sometimes take approximately *7 seconds to open*. Resetting the entire VLC profile makes VLC launch essentially instantly, so I narrowed the issue down further.
> 
> The file responsible appears to be:
> 
> `%APPDATA%\vlc\vlc-qt-interface.ini`
> 
> I can reproduce the following behavior:
> 
>  1. Close VLC completely.
>  2. Delete or rename `vlc-qt-interface.ini`.
>  3. Launch VLC.
>  4. VLC opens essentially instantly.
>  5. Allow VLC to regenerate/use its Qt interface configuration normally.
>  6. At some point, subsequent launches return to taking approximately 7 seconds.
>  7. Removing/resetting `vlc-qt-interface.ini` again immediately restores fast startup.
> I also tested marking a freshly generated `vlc-qt-interface.ini` as *read-only*. Interestingly, doing so caused the ~7-second startup delay immediately. Removing the read-only attribute restores normal behavior.
> 
> This makes it appear that VLC is either:
> 
>  • waiting on or retrying a write to the Qt interface configuration during startup, or
>  • loading some particular state written into `vlc-qt-interface.ini` that causes a substantial delay.
> The main `vlcrc` configuration does not appear to be involved. In my testing, `vlcrc` remained unchanged while `vlc-qt-interface.ini` was being rewritten, and resetting only the Qt interface file was sufficient to resolve the startup delay.
> 
> System information:
> 
>  • Windows 11 64-bit
>  • VLC version: [insert version]
>  • Issue occurs on repeated normal launches
>  • Startup when unaffected: nearly instantaneous
>  • Startup when affected: approximately 7 seconds
> I can provide both a known-good `vlc-qt-interface.ini` and an affected/slower version, or a diff between them, if that would help identify which setting/state is responsible.
> 
> Thanks for looking into it.
> 
> Best,
> Michael
> 
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--
Thomas Guillem
https://www.videolan.org
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