Software to Open Flash Internet-Video Files for Free

This article describes what a .FLV video file is and how you can download and open it on your computer using free software such as VLC, Adobe Media Player or Quicktime.

What are .FLV files?

.FLV files are Flash files. Flash is Adobe's form of content delivery used on Internet video web sites like YouTube and Google Video. When posted on web sites like Google Video or YouTube, Flash files (.flv) are played through your computer's Internet browser (Internet Explorer, Apple Safari, Firefox, etc.). However, many people download videos off of YouTube and similar video-sharing web sites. Thus, a market has arisen for software that can open and play downloaded .flv Flash video files.

How do I open .FLV files?

There are several free, easy ways to open .FLV files that you downlaod to your computer off of web sites like YouTube.

- Instructions to Open .FLV on a Windows PC

One of the best software options for opening .flv Flash video files on a computer running Microsoft Windows is the VideoLAN's VLC Video Player. You can download VLC for free at http://www.videolan.org/vlc/. It is an open-source software and has a hefty feature list which includes the ability to play .flv files.

Another good PC solution for opening .flv files is the Adobe Media Player. You can download Adobe Media Player for free at http://www.adobe.com/products/mediaplayer/.

A third free software program that can open .flv video files is RealPlayer.

- Instructions to Open .FLV on a Mac

VideoLan's VLC Video Player 0.86 can also run on a Mac. You can download VLC for free at http://www.videolan.org/vlc/. To date, almost 82 million people have downloaded VLC. However, one of the best .flv players is made by Apple and is called Quicktime. Quicktime can play .flv files easily. You can download Apple Quicktime to open your .flv files at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/.

How do I download .FLV files off of YouTube or Google Video?