How to Play Blu-ray Discs on PC: A Guide for Windows Users

While the rise of streaming services has significantly led to the decline of Blu-rays, hardcore movie lovers remain devotees of physical media. Today, desktop computers are the most convenient players for Blu-rays. So how to play Blu-ray on PC? This blog will introduce useful methods and the best region-free Blu-ray player software for Blu-ray playback. Don’t miss out. 

Part 1: How to Play Blu-ray Discs on Windows?

Blu-rays are specialized video formats that can be played on certain devices only. You can play Blu-rays on computers with Blu-ray drives and some game consoles. In this part, we will introduce how to play Blu-ray on PC with two easy methods. Just check them out. 

Play Blu-ray Discs on PC with an External Blu-ray Player

To play Blu-ray on PC devices, your computer has to be equipped with a Blu-ray drive that can recognize the disc. But what if you don’t have one? Worry not; you can connect an external Blu-ray player to your computer to support the playback. 

Step 1. Buy an external Blu-ray drive/player. Connect the drive to your computer’s USB port. 

Step 2. Put the Blu-ray disc in the Blu-ray player drive. Make sure the disc can be recognized by the Blu-ray player drive.

Step 3. Open the Blu-ray player software on your Windows PC to play the Blu-ray video. 

That’s it! You can play Blu-ray on Windows 11 or any version with the same steps. So how to play Blu-ray on PC without Blu-ray drive? There is no way to play Blu-ray discs without a Blu-ray drive directly. But there is a workaround, that is, to rip the Blu-ray discs and convert them to digital files like MP4 or MKV. Then you can play Blu-rays on your PC with any media player. 

Play Blu-ray Discs on PC with Blu-ray Player Software 

If your Windows PC is equipped with a Blu-ray drive, you can play Blu-ray with Blu-ray software. There are plenty of choices out there if you just Google it. Today, most Blu-ray player software not only supports playback of Blu-rays but also DVDs, slideshows, and music files. Some advanced Blu-ray software even supports online streaming of movies and videos. 

However, please mind that not all of them are free to use. Most Blu-ray player software tools require subscriptions to access the full features. Here are two solid Blu-ray player programs that are widely recommended by many users. 

CyberLink PowerDVD

Compatible with Windows, CyberLink PowerDVD supports all major formats with up to 8K UHD playback. Plus the studio-quality audio like DTS-HD, Dolby Audio, and Hi-Res 7.1 surround sound, you can play Blu-rays and DVDs on your PC with a cinema-like viewing experience.  

CyberLink offers a free trial and a paid subscription. While the free trial allows you to play DVDs, 4K HD videos, and VR content for 7 days without cost, the paid subscription lets you unlock all premium features. 

JRiver Media Center

JRiver Media Center is another great option to play Blu-ray on PC. It’s an all-in-one media playback program that supports almost all media formats, including Blu-rays, DVDs, web radio, video files, and podcasts. JRiver Media Center also offers advanced features like recording, streaming, media libraries, and more. 

Similarly, all these powerful features come with a cost. The Master license costs $89.98, which is valid for Windows, Mac, and Linux. You can also try the full feature set for free for 30 days. 

Part 2: How to Play Blu-ray Discs for free with Leawo Blu-ray Player

As introduced earlier, most Blu-ray player software is not free to use. So how to play Blu-ray on PC for free? Leawo Blu-ray Player is your best choice. Compatible with Windows and macOS, Leawo Blu-ray Player is the ultimate solution for high-quality digital playback on desktop computers. Most importantly, it’s 100% free.

Powerful features of Leawo Blu-ray Players

• As the best free Blu-ray player for PC, Leawo Blu-ray Player supports video and audio formats of all sorts, including Blu-rays, DVDs, ISO image files, etc. 
• The Blu-ray player for PC also supports video playback for a wide range of formats, such as HD MP4, HD MKV, HD MOV, MP4, WMV, FLV, MKV, and many more. 
• How to play 4K Blu-ray on your PC? Try Leawo Blu-ray Player, and you can play quality-lossless video with resolutions ranging from 720p to 4K resolution. 
• Equipped with the most advanced audio decoding technologies like Dolby, DTS, AAC, TrueHD, DTS-HD, etc., Leawo Blu-ray Player lets you enjoy the utmost viewing experience at home. 
• The Blu-ray player allows you to personalize settings for subtitles and audio tracks to get more immersive playback. 

So how to play Blu-ray on PC with Leawo Blu-ray Player? Here are the simple steps. 

Step 1: Launch Leawo Blu-ray Player

Free download Leawo Blu-ray Player on your device. The program will check your computer automatically to see if there are any discs for playback. 

Step 2: Load Source Media 

You can play video files on your computer or Blu-ray/DVDs. To Blu-ray/DVD, just insert your Blu-ray disc into your computer drive (Blu-ray supported drive) first. Click on the Play Disc button, and Leawo Blu-ray Player will automatically detect the Blu-ray discs for playback. 

Step 3: Optional Playback Settings

You can adjust playback settings for the Blu-ray playback. Just head to the Settings menu, and you can adjust settings for subtitles, videos, audio, UI, etc. based on your preference. 

Conclusion

How to play Blu-ray on PC? This blog has introduced the most comprehensive solutions. If your Windows PC does not come with a Blu-ray supported drive, you will need to get an external Blu-ray player drive first. Once you have a Blu-ray drive, you can play Blu-rays with the help of a bunch of Blu-ray player software. While most big-brand Blu-ray player programs require you to purchase licenses, Leawo Blu-ray Player is the best free choice that rivals industry-leading software. With the support of Blu-rays, DVDs, and all major video formats, Leawo Blu-ray Player is your ultimate solution for video playback on PC. The software is 100% free to use. No catch at all! Just get it and see it yourself!