Free Mac Apps To Play Avi Files

What are MKV Files & How to Play them on Various Devices?

‎Elmedia Video Player is a free media player for Mac OS. It can play pretty much any file type, be it AVI, MP4, FLV, SWF, WMV, MKV, MP3, M4V etc. Elmedia Video Player is an all-in-one solution, that doesn't call for any additional plugins or codecs. This player has a wonderful HD experience to offer.

  • Aiseesoft Free AVI Player can allow you to enjoy AVI video files with lossless quality. Apart from that, it enables you to play 4K videos and HD videos, including 1080P/1080i/720P videos and more.
  • How to Play AVI on Mac Mojave with Wondershare UniConverter (originally Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate) Step 1 Import AVI to this APP. You can either drag and drop your files to the primary interface, or simply click in the top left corner to add AVI video files to this converter. Note: Wondershare UniConverter (originally Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate) supports batch conversion.

If you download online videos on a regular basis, you might have come across an MKV file especially in case you save HD movies. This video format is not as popular as AVI or MP4. Thus, many users don’t have an idea what is it and how to play it. So let’s make it clear.

SEE ALSO: How to Convert MKV to MP4 [FREE]

What is an MKV file?

MKV is an open standard video format that was developed in 2002 by Lasse Kärkkäinen and Steve Lhomme. The format is also called Matroska, which refers to the wooden, Russian or Matryoshka doll since MKV can keep multiple media files inside it like the Russian doll.

MKV file is, in fact, a container that stores various multimedia files even if they use different encoding types. For example, there can be an h.264 or h.265 video file, AAC/MP3/OGG or any other audio format and a couple of SRT subtitles files.

Nowadays MKV format is widely used for HD videos and online video streaming. A popular WebM format is based on the profile of Matroska container. Learn how to convert MP4 to WebM here.

The main advantage of Matroska container is that it can hold an unlimited number of audio, video and subtitles tracks as well as meta data (cover art, comments, description, etc.) and chapter points. It means that one movie may come with several audio and subtitles tracks within a single file. You can easily switch to a foreign language track or director’s comments using your media player controls.

Whenever you need to rip a DVD to MP4 and keep all possible audio and video tracks, you should definitely choose MKV for output.

Free Mac Apps To Play Avi Files

Another great advantage of MKV container is its error recovery. Face changing software for mac. If for example, your Internet connection was lost during the downloading process, you can still watch the parts of the video that have already been downloaded. It also works for corrupted files.
SEE ALSO: Free Video Editor for Windows: 7 User-Friendly Tools

How to Play an MKV file on PC, Mac, Android, iOS?

Although the MKV format seems to be a real treasure, it has not yet become an industry standard; not all the video players support it. Thus, to play an MKV file, you should choose one of the following options:

  1. download a special media player;
  2. download media codecs for your current video software;
  3. convert MKV to AVI or MP4.

Let’s explore each option separately.

Way 1. Download a Special Media Player for MKV Files (PC, Mac, Android, iOS)

One of the most popular media players capable of reproducing MKV files is VLC Media Player. It’s free and can be used on all popular operating systems: Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.

SEE ALSO: 5 Cool Video Players to Play MKV Files on iPhone & iPad

SEE ALSO: Best Video Player: Top 5 Windows Tools Compared

To reproduce MKV files with VLC Media Player, you need to do the following:

Free Mac Apps To Play Avi Files Online

  1. download it from the official site, AppStore, or Google Play;
  2. install the freeware on your PC, laptop or mobile device;
  3. run VLC on your gadget;
  4. add your MVK files using a corresponding button or drag-n-drop option. For Apple devices, transfer the videos from a computer right into the app with the help of iTunes. Don’t forget to sync your device to apply changes;
  5. click the Play button to start the playback.

You can make VLC the default player for MKV files and open them with a double click. To do it on Windows, you need to:

    1. right-click on any MKV file that you have;
    2. move to Open With option, and then click Choose Another App;
    3. select VLC player from the list of software;
    4. enable the Always use this app to open .mkv files option;
    5. click the OK button to save the changes.

From now on, all your MKV files will be opened in VLC. Alexa app for macbook pro.

For Mac OS, follow the steps below:

  1. in the Finder, choose the MKV file;
  2. right-click on the file and then select Get Info;
  3. in the Info window, click the triangle sign next to Open with option;
  4. choose VLC from the app list;
  5. to open all MKV files with VLC, click Change All.

Way 2. Download Media Codecs to Play MKV (PC & Mac)

A codec is a computer program used to encode or decode any kind of digital media files. In our case, we need codecs that will let you play MKV videos with a default system player. There are a lot of free codecs online that you can use for this scope. All have their pros and cons.

The main pros of all codecs are:

  • you can use your favorite media player to play all the video files;
  • the media codecs usually provide you an option to reproduce a variety of video and audio files that you can come across online.

Among the cons you should pay attention to are:

  • being free, media codecs usually come with adware and even malware that might harm your PC;
  • since the codecs support a huge number of multimedia files, they might steal space from your hard drive. It’s OK in case you need all of them, but if you install a codec pack to play only one video format, it doesn’t seem to be worth it.

What codec pack to choose to play MKV files?

The MKV developers recommend using Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP) or K-Lite Codec Pack for Windows-based PCs. You can find a full description of each Pack on its official site. Choose the one you like and install in on your computer. Please be attentive during the installation process. The installer files may contain various ads. Read attentively all the offers and don’t accept those you are not interested in.

When the codecs are installed, you might be asked to restart the PC. However, usually, you can start playing the video files right away.

Mac users can also install codecs on their laptops to play files with a standard QuickTime Player. The codecs for Mac are available at K-Lite Codec pack official site.

Way 3. Convert an MKV file (PC, Mac)

Finally, if first two options don’t work for you for any reason, you can convert your MKV video to most popular formats like AVI, MP4 and play them with your favorite software or app or on a portable device without MKV support.

Convert an MKV File on Windows

To convert MKV files on Windows-based PCs, we recommend using Freemake Video Converter. It’s a free and beautifully designed tool with an astonishing number of output format options. Let’s see how it works:

    1. Download and install Freemake Video Converter onto your computer;
    2. Add MKV files via +Video button. You can also drag-n-drop the videos into the software;
    3. If necessary, edit your video. The software provides an inbuilt editor that lets you cut unnecessary video parts, rotate and join videos;
    4. Select an output format. We recommend choosing AVI or MP4 since they are supported by the majority of video players and devices. In case you want to play MKV on a DVD-player, burn a DVD here. Besides that, you can add subtitles to your video. Please note that Freemake Video Converter provides only hardsubs option what means that you won’t be able to turn the subtitles track off;
    5. Choose a ready preset or create your own one with a custom bitrate, frame rate, codec, and other settings;
    6. Click Convert to start the conversion process and transform your MKV file into another video format.

In a couple of minutes, you’ll get a converted file that you can later watch offline, upload onto a portable device or on your website.

Please note that Freemake Video Converter doesn’t support multiple audio and subtitles tracks. Thus, preview the video and choose a necessary audio and subtitles option.

SEE ALSO: 6 Media Converters for Windows, Mac and Android

Convert an MKV File on Mac

Mac users can also benefit from a free video converter for MKV files. It’s called Handbrake. The software is a bit more complicated than Freemake, but don’t be afraid. Here is the how-to that will help you convert MKV files on Mac:

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  1. download and install Handbrake for Mac from the official developer site;
  2. launch the software on your Mac computer;
  3. drag-n-drop an MKV file you need to convert or click the Source button to add files;
  4. choose an output format (MP4) and a ready preset, if necessary;
  5. then continue to the Audio and the Subtitles tabs. Here you can select what tracks you want to keep in your future file;
  6. besides that the software lets you customize bitrate, framerate, codec, and other settings;
  7. click the Start button to run the conversion process.

Depending on your Mac capacity, it may take some time to convert a video, especially if it’s huge.

Now you know what an MKV file is and how to play it. Please share this post with your friends to make them enjoy MKV videos, too.

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QuickTime player can't open AVI?

AVI is among the most widely used file formats for videos today, but for Mac users, it's always not so easy to play AVI file with QuickTime player, especially when you have upgraded to the latest macOS 10.15 Catalina. Why can't QuickTime play AVI videos? As a container format, AVI is not a specific type of file and there is no single codec for videos with .avi externsions. This is the reason why you can't play AVI movies with Quicktime on Mac.

So how to play AVI on Mac?

Luckily, here are some simple solutions that allow you to play AVI on Mac. Choose the best AVI player for Mac from the introduction below!

  • Part 1. How to Play AVI Files on Mac(Fast & Guaranteed!)

Part 1. How to Play AVI Files on Mac

QuickTime player can't open AVI? Take it easy. Now with UniConverter, you can freely play any video on QuickTime after converting videos to compatible format like MOV. It makes the issue that QuickTime can't play AVI quite simple.

Best Video Converter - UniConverter

Get the Best AVI to QuickTime Video Converter:

  • Convert all popular formats: Convert your AVI file up to 150+ video and audio formats, like MOV, M4V, FLV, MKV, MP4, VOB, etc.
  • Optimized Presets: Directly convert files to fit iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, even Game Console devices, etc.
  • Transfer to Devices: Easily transfer converted video or audio to mobile devices with USB cable.
  • Download Video: Capture or download any online video with the supplied media downloader from websites like YouTube, Vevo, Netflix, etc.
  • Custom Video: Personalize videos with diversified video editing tools like crop, trim, add effects, watermark, subtitles, etc.
  • Supported OS: Fully compatible with macOS up to the latest macOS 10.15 Catalina, and Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista.

How to Play AVI Video with QuickTime Player on Mac

How to Convert AVI to QuickTime MOV for Playback on Mac in Steps

Step 1. Import AVI to the QuickTime Converter

After launching the program, open the local folder where you've saved the AVI file, then drag and drop it to the main interface of the program. The file will be imported immediately. Alternatively, you can click the 'Add Files' button to import your AVI files or load from your mobile devices by the drop-down icon beside.

Step 2. Select an Output Format

To play AVI in QuickTime without hassle, you can convert AVI to MOV, MP4, or other QuickTime supported formats. Then select it from the 'Video' tab in the format tray to set it as target output, where you could also set encode settings like bitrate, frame rate, resolution, encoder, etc.

Step 3. Start Converting AVI to QuickTime Supported Format

Simple click the 'Convert' button in each video clip or 'Convert All' at botton right to convert all the imported videos, and the program will start processing the conversion. Then you will be able to play AVI files on Mac without any limitation.

Part 2. Free Online AVI to QuickTime MOV Converter

Are you looking for the best way to convert AVI to Quicktime MOV online? Well, it is simple as pie. With media.io, you can convert AVI to QuickTime within a few steps as shown below.

Step 1. Go to media.io website on your browser.

Step 2. When on the website click on “Add your Files” icon which allows you to access your local folder and upload your AVI file.

Step 3. After uploading the AVI file, you need to set its output file type. Click on “Convert to” and choose “Video” option.

Step 4. From there, move to the next step and choose the output format. Select “MOV” format from the list.

Step 5. Next, click on “Convert” icon, which prompts the program to begin to convert AVI file to MOV immediately. When the conversion process is complete, you can download the MOV format to your computer.

Part 3. 5 Other Solution to Play AVI on Mac

1. QuickTime Component: Perian

The QuickTime player is mostly used in macOS, if you don't want to use the first solution to convert the AVI files to QuickTime compatible formats, you can try this solution.

Note: This method doesn't 100% work guaranteed.

Perian, is a great open-source QuickTime component that allows playback of different video formats that cannot be played natively on your Mac computer. If you want to use QuickTime as your main video player, you may choose to download Perian because it provides the necessary codecs or components that will allow you to play AVI on Mac. If you have QuickTime 7, you may be glad to discover that it can actually play AVI files without needing any additional plug-ins and codecs.

What you need to know before downloading Perian:

  • The latest version 1.2.3 of Perian doesn't work on macOS Mavericks because Perian requires installation of quicktime 7, which doesn't exist for Mavericks. It also doesn't work on Mountain Lion.
  • With a Mac running macOS 10.7, say, Lion, you have to downgrade to the previous version, say 1.2.2. The version of 1.2.3 of Perian does not support QuickTime 10 in Lion and fails to fix the loss of audio after one second in xvid files with ac3.
  • Before installing Perian, you need to remove all QuickTime Components installed on your Mac, like FFusion, Xvid Delegate, 3ivX, DivX, DivX Decoder, XviD, msmpeg4v1, msmpeg4v2, AviImporter, EX_M4S2, Casio AVI Importer, AC3 Codec, and MatroskaQT.
  • For a Mac running Mountain Lion or later, converting AVI video to QuickTime is highly recommended.

2. Elmedia Player: Universal Media Player

Flared with meeting user’s expectations, Elmedia Player is a renowned multi-media player amongst the users for playing high quality AVI files on Mac. Elmedia is equipped to compatibly work down with a good range of formats such as MOV, FLAC, FLV, MP4, AVI and others over your MAC device. This versatile AVI player ensures to display videos and their subtitles in a very good quality without sacrificing the state of the video played on your Mac. Elmedia ensures to maintain the speed of the playback music, adjust the image on the screen and play/pause the video in a continuous loop. With this media player, you get the leverage of making adjustments over the audio by controlling the audio equalizer. Users can even view videos in an amazingly clear HD, all thanks to its hardware accelerated decoding imbibed in the software.

3. VLC Media Player

How To Play Avi Files

VLC Media Player is one of the popular open source multimedia player that can easily play AVI files available on your Mac without having to spend a penny from your pocket. Not only can you play the AVI files but tune into your DVD, audio CD’s, VCD’s and other popular streaming formats using this media player. VLC Media Player ensures to process the video in a very high speed due to its good hardware decoding. Any user can easily make use of this free application as it is very user friendly and has a robust interface. Moreover, this multimedia player allows users to fully control the media files by defining subtitles on your videos, setting audio and video preferences and maintain the processes of playing the soundtracks etc. You can even synchronize subtitles and audios over the video to make it more enhancing and appealing.

4. Macgo Mac Media Player

MacGo Mac Media Player is a Windows/iOS friendly Media Player which can slay its users by providing a magnificent definition of 1080P/4K Video and a whopping audio system of DTS 5.1. With such ultra- functionality, you can trouble-free play AVI on Mac and experience the feel of a home theater right from your Mac. With Macgo, users are not limited to playing AVI files but access the view for MP3, WMA, MPEG, VideoCD and the list goes on and on. Not only that, Macgo is one of those ideal players that ensure to keep their users updated with the minutest upgrades and services. One can even play the internal and external subtitles simultaneously over the selected AVI file. Plus, one needn’t to worry about the quality being affected as Macgo balances the quality and filters together.

5. DivX AVI Player

The last in our list for best AVI player is DivX- a user friendly media player for conveniently playing the AVI files on your Mac. DivX ensures to give excellent audio-video visual to the users. Its exceptionally powerful playback features include desktop dimmer, window fade and a full screen option can easily skyrocket the level of the AVI file. One of the rarest features that are not found in other media players is that there is a provision of burning any range of media file into discs but with DivX you can. Moreover, the users can also stream an array of videos, audio, music and photos to DLNA based home/remote devices. The AVI file can be redefined by setting the bitrate, video resolution and the size of the file.

Tips: Switch to Other Media Player for AVI Playback

The VLC media player, is an excellent open-source media player that is known for supporting a wide range of audio and video files. Unlike other media players which have limited format-support, you will be surprised that VLC can play a video or audio file that you didn't even know existed. If your OS is Snow Leopard or higher, installing VLC is definitely a good choice especially if you only plan on watching AVI files on your computer.

What Program Plays Avi Files

Cons of this AVI player (VLC media player):

  • VLC player doesn't play AVI videos with high qualities.
  • VLC player doesn't support Mavericks.