ZoomPan is a native VLC Media Player zoom plugin for Windows. It adds VLC mouse wheel zoom, click-and-drag video panning, and instant zoom reset while running directly inside vlc.exe.
Independent community project. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or maintained by VideoLAN.
After installing ZoomPan, open VLC normally:
- Ctrl + mouse wheel — zoom in or out
- Hold left mouse button + drag — pan the zoomed video
- Double-click the middle mouse button / wheel — reset zoom and fit the video
No alternate VLC launcher is required. No background helper, Windows service, startup monitor, or resident process is installed.
If you searched for VLC zoom with mouse wheel, VLC mouse zoom, VLC pan video with mouse, or a VLC zoom plugin for Windows, this is the problem ZoomPan is designed to solve.
I wasn't satisfied with the existing ways to zoom and navigate video in VLC. The available solutions felt too static, awkward, or dependent on workarounds for something that should feel immediate.
I wanted a more dynamic, fluid, mouse-driven experience: zoom with the wheel, grab the image directly, move it naturally, and reset it instantly — without leaving VLC or relying on a separate helper running in the background.
ZoomPan was built to turn that idea into a native VLC workflow.
ZoomPan is implemented as a native VLC interface module. The plugin loads inside the VLC process and uses VLC's own scale-factor controls for zoom.
The project is designed to keep the behavior inside VLC rather than requiring an external mouse utility.
You do not need to clone this repository or build anything.
That is the end-user installer. The source-code tree intentionally does not contain generated .exe or .dll binaries; downloadable binaries are published under GitHub Releases.
Run VLCZoomPanSetup.exe as administrator and select the folder that contains vlc.exe.
The installer:
- validates the selected VLC executable and architecture;
- installs
libzoompan_plugin.dllunderplugins\control; - backs up the current user VLC configuration;
- configures VLC mouse-wheel zoom hotkeys and
extraintf=zoompan; - rebuilds the VLC plugin cache.
After installation, launch VLC Media Player normally.
Para quem procura zoom no VLC com mouse, zoom no VLC com a roda do mouse ou arrastar vídeo ampliado no VLC:
- Ctrl + roda do mouse — aumenta ou diminui o zoom
- Botão esquerdo pressionado + arrastar — move o vídeo ampliado
- Clique duplo no botão do meio / roda — restaura o vídeo para caber na janela
O plugin funciona dentro do próprio VLC, sem helper externo rodando em segundo plano.
The current release is validated on VLC 3.0.21 x64 for Windows.
The installer intentionally accepts only VLC 3.0.21 x64. The plugin targets the VLC 3.x plugin ABI, so other VLC 3.x x64 builds remain compatibility candidates, but they should be tested before being marked supported. VLC 4.x is not supported by the current build.
- Validated: VLC 3.0.21 x64 on Windows.
- Other VLC 3.x x64 versions may work, but are not marked validated until tested.
- VLC 4.x is not supported by the current release.
- The current installer is not digitally signed, so Windows SmartScreen may show an "unknown publisher" or reputation warning even though the file is downloadable and executable.
- The installer includes an integrated uninstall flow: run the same
VLCZoomPanSetup.exeagain and choose No / Desinstalar.
See docs/UNINSTALL.md for removal details.
On Windows PowerShell:
pwsh .\scripts\windows\build.ps1The build script downloads pinned dependencies, verifies SHA-256 checksums, compiles the native plugin, embeds it into the single-file installer, and writes release artifacts to dist\.
plugins/
zoompan/
src/VLCZoomPanPlugin.c
installer/
windows/
scripts/
windows/
docs/
.github/
workflows/
William — concept, requirements, hands-on testing, behavior validation, and project direction.
ChatGPT (OpenAI) — engineering assistance, implementation, debugging, build tooling, and documentation.
See CREDITS.md.
LGPL-2.1-or-later. See LICENSE.