Codifica HEVC su Windows 10

In 2025, to play HEVC (H.265) videos on Windows 10, you generally need to have the HEVC Video Extension installed. Microsoft offers two main options:

• HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer — This version is free but only available for devices with hardware licensed to decode HEVC. It leverages hardware acceleration to reduce CPU/GPU load during playback. However, Microsoft no longer officially supports or distributes this version freely through the Microsoft Store, but it can still be downloaded from alternative official sources online safely ^{[2] [5] [7]}.

• HEVC Video Extension (Paid) — This is the codec available on the Microsoft Store for about $0.99. It tries to use hardware decoding available on the CPU/GPU but falls back on software decoding if hardware support is missing. This software-based option ensures compatibility across devices but with higher resource usage ^{[3] [6]}.

Windows 10 does not include HEVC codecs by default, so users need to install one of these extensions to enable playback in native apps like the Movies & TV player. Alternatively, third-party players like VLC come with built-in HEVC support and do not require installing these extensions ^[6].

Users can still find free, official HEVC Video Extensions from device manufacturers via trusted third-party download sites or tutorials showing installation methods for Windows 10 and 11 in 2025. This enables smooth 4K HEVC playback without paying Microsoft, as long as the device supports it ^[7].

In summary:

• Windows 10 requires HEVC extensions to decode HEVC videos natively.
• Free hardware-accelerated HEVC extensions from manufacturers exist but are less visible in the Microsoft Store.
• Microsoft charges about $0.99 for the official HEVC extension for full software fallback decoding.
• Third-party players like VLC bypass this requirement by including their own codecs.

This remains the current state in 2025 for dealing with HEVC on Windows 10.