Install AV1 Video Codec in Windows 10

In addition to the Web Media Extension package that adds support for Vorbis, Theora and Ogg codecs to Windows 10, Microsoft has released the AV1 Video Extension. It is now available in the Microsoft Store.

AV1 is the latest and greatest of the open video formats. It is designed as a successor to VP9, that competes directly with the proprietary (and costly) HEVC/H.265 codec. It is intended to be  paired with the Opus audio codec in a WebM container for HTML5 web video. It is royalty free and backed by a number of industry giants (Amazon, AMD, Apple, Arm, Cisco, Facebook, Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, Netflix, Nvidia, etc.), who together formed the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia). AV1 meant to be a successor to the VP9 codec developed by Google, without relying on any MPEG patents.

AV1 is supported in the Chrome and Firefox web browsers. While the Microsoft's AV1 primarily targets Edge to make it able to handle AV1 videos,  it will add the ability to play the appropriate content in Videos, and third-party Store apps.

To install the AV1 Video codec in Windows 10, do the following.

1. Open the AV1 Video codec page on Microsoft Store.
2. Click on the Get button to install it.
3. The codec is now installed.
4. You may need to restart certain Store apps and Microsoft Edge to get the AV1 codec enabled.

The codec is available for the entire Windows 10 device family, including PCs, Mixed Reality, Xbox, and Mobile.

Note: To uninstall the AV1 Video Extension codec later, navigate to the App & features page in Settings. See How to Uninstall Apps in Windows 10.

As of this writing, the released codec is a beta version of the app. It may contain bugs and cause performance issues. Microsoft promises to regularly update the codec via automatic Microsoft Store updates.

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