Sometimes the videos you download in Telegram will not play on your Android phone. This is because some video files such as AVI, MKV or FLV may not work with the default player on Android. Luckily, there are several ways to fix videos downloaded via Telegram not working on Android.
This article will show you how to fix Telegram videos when playing on Android and introduce third-party video players you can use to play videos downloaded from Telegram.
1. Make sure you download the full video
Telegram supports up to 2 GB of video uploads. There may be times when you download a video file that is up to 1GB in size and try to play it from the Gallery app before the download process is complete.
You need to download the full video from Telegram and then try to play it from the Gallery app. If you try to play the video before downloading it, Telegram will show this error “Video not optimized for streaming, you may have to download it in full to play it”.
Open Telegram on Android and navigate to the Telegram group or channel. Find a video you want to download and check the video file size from the thumbnail.
Once you start downloading the video, you will see the progress live from the same thumbnail.
If you are using an Android phone with more than 4 GB of RAM, you can minimize the Telegram app and continue using your phone. If you notice that the operating system suspends the video download process in the background, you should keep Telegram open until it completes the download process.
Once the downloading process is complete, you can tap the three-dot menu on the video thumbnail and save it to the device storage.
2. Play Videos in Google Photos
All downloaded videos land in a separate Telegram folder in the Google Photos app on Android. Google Photos supports widely recognized video formats like MP4 on Android, and it will play these videos without any problem.
Step 1: Open the Google Photos app on Android.
2nd step: Go to the Library menu.
Step 3: Find the Telegram folder. Open it and start playing the video.
If Google Photos supports uploaded Telegram video, you will see the video thumbnail as shown in the screenshots above.
It may happen that you do not see the video thumbnail of the downloaded Telegram video and only notice a black screen as the video thumbnail.
It shows that Google Photos cannot play Telegram video on Android, and you need to take the help of a third-party video player on Android.
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3. Use VLC media player
Most Android phones come with Google Photos as the default media player. While Google Photos has mastered the tricks of sharing, editing, and collaborating, the video player leaves a lot to be desired.
For example, you will not be able to play some video files like MKV or FLV using the default video player on Android. Let us show you how you can use VLC media player and play any Telegram video on it.
Step 1: Open Google Play Store and search for VLC media player.
2nd step: Tap Install and download the app to your Android phone.
Step 3: Open the VLC app and give it permissions to scan phone memory.
Step 4: VLC will find all the videos from the device storage and display them in the Video tab.
Step 5: If you still don’t see Telegram videos in VLC home, you can switch to Browse tab and select video files from device folders.
There is also another way. You can use the default file manager on Android, find the downloaded Telegram video and open it in VLC. Here’s how.
Step 1: Open the Files app on Android.
2nd step: Tap the Videos filter at the top.
Step 3: Find the Telegram video in the list and long press the video thumbnail.
Step 4: Tap the three-dot menu at the top and select the Open With option.
Step 5: Select VLC from the suggestions and VLC player will start playing the Telegram video without any problem.
Play telegram videos on android
What’s the point of sharing and downloading videos via Telegram when you can’t play them on your Android phone? Be sure to follow the full download process and use VLC if you have any issues with video playback.
Last updated on January 28, 2022
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