How to open .MPG files (MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 videos) on Android, Windows and Linux

An .MPG from a 2000s digital camera, a TV recording from an old capture card, a folder full of .VOB files copied off a family DVD: these are some of the oldest digital video formats still around, and modern phones are often unsure what to do with them.

They’re simple to play once you have the right player. Folders’ video player, built on mpv, opens MPG, MPEG, VOB and OGV files for free on Android, Windows and Linux.

What is a .MPG file?

An MPG (or MPEG) file holds video compressed with MPEG-1 or MPEG-2, the first widely used digital video standards from the Moving Picture Experts Group. MPEG-1, from the early 1990s, was used for Video CDs; MPEG-2 became the format of DVDs and digital TV. The file is an MPEG “program stream”, with the video and sound (usually MPEG audio or Dolby Digital) woven together.

Two relatives often travel with them:

Extension	What it is
.mpg, .mpeg	MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 video, from cameras, TV capture, DVD recorders and Video CDs
.vob	Video Object: the video files on a DVD, inside its VIDEO_TS folder
.ogv	Ogg video from Xiph.Org: Theora video with Vorbis or Opus sound

A VOB is an MPEG-2 program stream with extras: several audio tracks, subtitles stored as pictures, and menu data. On a DVD, a film is split into VOBs of up to 1 GB each, named VTS_01_1.VOB, VTS_01_2.VOB and so on, alongside small .IFO and .BUP files that describe the disc.

OGV is the odd one out: an open, royalty-free format, long used by Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons and by open-source projects.

How to open a .MPG file with Folders

On Android

1. Install Folders from the download page and let it access your files.
2. Copy the videos to the phone. For a DVD, copy the whole VIDEO_TS folder from a computer.
3. Find the file in Folders. For a DVD, open VIDEO_TS and tap the first large VOB of the film, usually VTS_01_1.VOB.
4. From another app, use Open with → Folders.

On Windows and Linux

1. Install Folders.
2. Browse to the file, or to the VIDEO_TS folder on a disc or a copy of one, and double-click it.
3. On Windows, Folders is also in File Explorer’s right-click Open with menu for MPG, MPEG, VOB and OGV files.

What you can do with it in Folders

• Play it with its sound: MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video with MPEG audio, Dolby Digital or the PCM sound some DVDs use, and Theora with Vorbis or Opus for OGV.
• Choose an audio track, such as a DVD’s other language or commentary.
• Add subtitles. DVD subtitles are stored as pictures inside the VOB. For a text version, put a subtitle file with the same name beside the video, or use Search online…, which guesses the film from the file name. Delay, size and colour are adjustable.
• Pinch to zoom to fill a wide screen with a 4:3 picture (Ctrl + mouse wheel on a computer).
• Resume where you stopped, and find your videos in the Toolbox’s Video player library, grouped by folder with unwatched ones counted.
• Speed, sleep timer, picture in picture on Android (a small always-on-top window on computers).

Folders plays the files, not the disc: DVD menus don’t work, and a film split across VOBs plays one file at a time. It doesn’t rip, join or convert anything.

Other ways to open .MPG files

• VLC: free; it plays all four formats and can open a whole VIDEO_TS folder with its menus.
• HandBrake: free; converts unprotected DVDs and MPG files to MP4.
• Windows’ Media Player: plays many MPEG files; support for DVD-style files varies between Windows versions.

Problems opening a .MPG file?

• The VOB only plays a few seconds, or a menu. You’ve opened VIDEO_TS.VOB or a small menu VOB. The film is in the largest files, usually VTS_01_1.VOB onwards.
• Garbled picture or nothing at all from a shop-bought DVD. Commercial DVDs are usually encrypted, and VOBs copied straight off them can’t be played by an ordinary player. Home-made DVDs, from a camcorder or DVD recorder, aren’t protected.
• A disc from a DVD recorder won’t read on a computer. It probably wasn’t finalised. Put it back in the recorder and use its Finalise option; after that, computers can read it.
• No sound on a phone. DVD and MPG sound is often MPEG audio or Dolby Digital, which some built-in players skip. Folders and VLC play both.

Questions people ask

How do I play a VOB file from a DVD? Copy the VIDEO_TS folder, then open VTS_01_1.VOB in Folders and continue with _2, _3 and so on. For menus, use VLC on a computer.

Can I open MPG files on Android? Yes. Folders plays MPG and MPEG files, including MPEG-1 from old cameras and MPEG-2 from DVDs and TV recordings.

How do I convert VOB to MP4? HandBrake converts an unprotected VIDEO_TS folder to MP4 in one go. Folders doesn’t convert video.

What is an OGV file? A video in the open Ogg format, with Theora video. You’ll mostly find it on Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and open-source project sites. Folders and VLC both play it.

Got AVCHD camcorder clips too? See how to open MTS files, or browse all 382 file types Folders opens.