Read Avi Files On Mac

Remember, the AVI file container, like the MOV file container, is generic in nature and may contain any form of data compatible with the system on which the file was created. For instance, an MJPEG video with a supported audio compression format AVI file will play natively in almost any player—including QT X or QL with the latest Mac OS X. The AVI file format is heavily used on PCs, but can't be used on a Mac computer. Even as for Apple's QuickTime media player, unfortunately, the free version of QuickTime is not compatible with all types of AVI video files on Mac. 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.

Can Mac Read Avi Files
How Do I View Avi Files On A Mac
How Do I Play Avi Files On My Mac
Software To Read Avi Files On Mac
How Can I View Avi Files On My Mac

/PowerMyMac /The Best Ways On How To Play MKV On Mac [2021 Updated]

The Matroska or also known as the MKV file format is known to be one of the most popular formats of videos there is nowadays. Through this format, you will be able to watch any videos or movies in HD or high definition. This is actually the reason as to why those HD files that contains 720 or 1080 pixel are commonly made on a .mkv file extension.

How to play MKV on Mac? For Windows devices, it can easily play MKV file format because of the reason that it has the built-in codec. But this goes differently with Mac computers. For a Mac to be able to play an MKV file format, you will be needing some options in order for you to do. Some of these options are the following.

Getting a Plugin for your Mac’s QuickTime.
Getting a third-party application.
And lastly, converting your MKV file format into a format that is compatible with your macOS.

So, for you to know more about how to play MKV on Mac, here are some of the best ways that you can definitely consider doing.

Article GuidePart 1. Can VLC Play MKV Files?Part 2. How Can I Play MKV Files on Mac QuickTime?Part 3. How to Play MKV on Mac Using Handbrake?Never Forget to Clean Up Your Mac

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Part 1. Can VLC Play MKV Files?

The VLC media player is known to be as one of the most popular media players nowadays. And because it is consistent and its reliable work that comes with a wide range of formats and codec, its popularity just grow more and more. This media player is also capable with many different types of devices such as your macOS, Android device, Windows and iOS devices.

And for you to play MKV on Mac, then you can definitely download the VLC player and not needing to get any plugins to do the job. Here is what you need to do.

Go to the VLC website and download the most recent package available. Simply click on the “Download VLC” button and the process will then start.
Double-click on the package from your Download folder for you to be able to install it on your Mac.
Drag down the cone icon towards your applications folder and you will be able to see a message on your screen.
From that message, hit on the “Authenticate” button from the pop-up message and the installation process will then start.
Enter your username and password if in need. After that, hit on the “Modify Settings”.

Then after completing all the steps, the VLC media player will then completely be installed on your Mac. And with that, you will be able to play MKV on Mac using this player. And in order for you to do, all you have to do is to right-click on the MKV format video and then choose “Open with”. Then from there, just go ahead and choose the VLC icon.

Can Mac Read Avi Files

PROS:

It can support a large variety of Plugins
It comes with native support to use o MKV files.
It has a Sleek UI

CONS:

There are some issues with a 4K playback

Part 2. How Can I Play MKV Files on Mac QuickTime?

There are some ways that you can do for you to be able to play your MKV file format video using your Mac device. Firstly, you can get a QuickTime plugin to play MKV on Mac.

QuickTime Player is one of the built-in applications that you have on your Mac. This is known to be as one of the videos players that you can use to watch movies or videos. However, it is true that it actually has some lack of features that other video players have. That is why we will be needing a plugin to make this work on your Mac.

One plugin that we can use on QuickTime Player is the Perian which is the most popular plugin for this application on Mac. And with that, here is how you can use the Perian plugin with QuickTime Player that will let you play your MKV file videos on your Mac device. And for you, to begin with, you have to install the Perian Plugin. Don’t worry, this is very easy.

Step 1: Goa head and download the Plugin setup file from their official website.

Step 2: Then, once that the file has been downloaded, you can then go ahead and view the downloads by hitting on the downloaded button from the tray. And from there, go ahead and choose “Perian.dmg” for you to be able to start the setup process.

Step 3: Then on your screen, you will be able to see a message that says “Perian can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer”. Do not worry because this message is very easy to take off. All you need to do is to temporarily disable the barrier of your GateKeeper. Here is what you need to do.

On your Mac, go ahead and launch your Spotlight application located from your Apple menu.
Then go ahead and choose System Preferences.
From there, go ahead and choose Security & Privacy.
Then, you will see an option saying “Allow apps downloaded from”. You will also see a button that says “Open Anyway”. So from there, just go ahead and hit on that button.
Then, your Mac will ask you to enter your password if you have any. If you have set up a password on your Mac, just go ahead and enter your Admin password and then hit on “Modify Settings”.

Step 4: One that you are done disabling your GateKeeper, you will then be able to launch the installer. So all you have to do now is to hit on the “Perian.prefPane” for you to start with the installation process.

Step 5: Then you will be able to see a warning message on your screen. So from there, just go ahead and simply click on the “OK” button for you to disregard it.

Step 6: Then once that you are completely done with the installation procedure, you can go ahead and close the window on your screen because the Plugin is already installed successfully.

PROS:

There is no add on player needed.
It is very easy to install on Mac.
It is an open-sourced.
It can convert your MKV file format to mp4 file format.

CONS:

The loading process of the videos is a bit slow.

Part 3. How to Play MKV on Mac Using Handbrake?

While the first two ways that we have mentioned above is already great, there is somewhat a better option that you can do. And that is by converting your MKV file format videos to the format that is supported by your Mac device.

And with that, the Handbrake is one of the open-sourced tools that is actually commonly used for people to rip DVD videos. And at the same time, you can actually convert your MKV file format video to MP4 format which is supported locally by your Mac device.

And getting Handbrake on your Mac is very easy to do. Just follow the steps below.

Go to its official website and then hit on the download link for you to be able to get the package for installation, click on the downloaded file from your Downloads folder.
After that, you will be able to see its contents. Click on the Handbrake icon that you see on your screen.
choose the MKV file that you want to convert. Just hit on the option “Open Source” located at the upper left corner of your window.
Choose the preset and as well as adjust its duration. You can also make some edits such as on its filters, video, audios, dimension, and as well as the output of the file.
After that, hit on the Start button.

And once that the conversion process is complete, the file will then be automatically be saved on a certain folder on your Mac. From then on, you can then be able to open the converted file and have it played on any video that you have on your Mac. Or, you can also send the video with the use of your iTunes to other devices such as your iPhone, iPad, and more.

PROS:

You can convert two or more files at the same time.
There are several presets offered.
You can control the dimension, audio, and other aspects of your videos.

CONS:

It can only convert files to MP4 format

Never Forget to Clean Up Your Mac

With all the things that you need to do for you to be able to play MKV on Mac, you also have to take considerations on getting your Mac all cleaned up from all unwanted apps, files, and documents. This way, you will be able to make your Mac perform at its best and recovering some of your storage space which you can use for you to save more videos.

And speaking of cleaning up and optimizing your Mac, there is only one tool that you can rely on for this job. And that is no other than the iMyMac PowerMyMac.

This amazing software is known to be as a powerful tool that you can use for you to be able to optimize, and at the same time clean up all the considered junks that you have on your Mac. PowerMyMac can become whatever you want it to become such as:

Performance Monitory – wherein you will be able to see details on your Mac such as your CPU usage, Memory usage, and as well as your Disk usage.

Cleaner – which will allow you to take out all of the unwanted files that you have on your Mac. And with this, you will be able to gain more of your storage space and optimize its performance.

Uninstaller – wherein you will be able to properly uninstall apps that you no longer need on your Mac and at the same time, remove all the files that are associated with the applications.

Virtual Toolkit – wherein there are some features that you can actually use if you would want to move on your Mac that will help it run smoothly as it can.

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How to Play AVI on Mac with the Best AVI Player?

Cisdem Video Player is a 100% FREE AVI player for Mac to play video / audio files of more than 50 formats (including 4K/5K/1080p HD videos) with no codec packs needed, like WMV, AVI, ASF, 3GP, MPG, MP4, M2T, MOV, MP3, OGG, and all popular HD video formats, etc.

It offers lots personalized video playing features, like load subtitle files automatically and manually, take snapshots, De-interlacing, set soundtracks, etc. All images are displayed clearly and crisply. It lets you enjoy smooth video playing without any bugs and artifacts. Every image, every action, still or moving, is delicately displayed. In all, it is absolutely one of the best AVI players for Mac that you shouldn’t miss out.

Steps to play AVI on Mac with Cisdem Video Player

Step 1. Download and launch the freeware.

Step 2. Drag AVI movie to the software

Open the software. You can see a pretty crisp and elegant interface. Drag any format video directly from your movie folder to the app.

Step 3. Open AVI file on Mac

Click the play button, and start to watch your AVI movie imported.

If you want to watch another one when playing one movie with this video player, you can drag the second one to replace the first one and start your new watching.

Look at the toolbar on the top menu. There are many practical tools in this professional AVI player that can be used for some personalized settings.

1. In the 'Audio' or , you can choose the stereo from Mono, Stereo, Left Channel, Right Channel.

2. Use its feature of 'Subtitle' and add external subtitles in .ASS, .SRT format and in the language you are familiar with.

3. Control the 'Playback' progress, stop, step forward, step backward, take screenshots, etc.

4. Retain file open recently and playback at your will.

5. Click “Window” or the sign at right top corner of the screen to check the media info of the loaded video.

6. Click to take a snapshot of your favorite video visual image as save as wallpaper or poster.

7. This free AVI player Mac enables you to make the video screen to the biggest ratio. You can just drag its corner to the bigger screen size, or go to click 'Playback' > 'Full Screen'.

8. In-app purchase: It needs to pay $9.99 to unlock the conversion function. So you can convert AVI to MP4, M4V, MKV, iPhone, and more.

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Use the best AVI converter for Mac to:

Convert videos up to 200+ formats, including AVI, MOV, M4V, FLV, MKV, etc.
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Rip DVD movies to AVI, MP4 or other formats for playing on portable devices
Merge all converted AVI videos into a large file
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How to Play AVI Files on Macs Using QuickTime Player?

How Do I View Avi Files On A Mac

QuickTime, a popular multimedia technology with a built-in media player, lets you play and view Internet video, HD movie trailers, and personal media in a wide range of file formats. But QuickTime Player only natively plays AVI (Motion JPEG), not all .avi movies.

In this case, you can install a plug-in like Perian, which is a free open-source QuickTime component that enables your Mac to play almost any movie format including AVI files. So you can open AVI files on Mac as easily as it does the native QuickTime video format.

Note: The latest version 1.2.3 of Perian is not compatible with Mac OS X Mavericks (10.9), Mountain Lion (10.8), and Lion (10.7). Moreover, since QuickTime version 10, Perian has no longer been supported.

Steps to play AVI on Mac OS X 10.4.7 or higher via QuickTime (10 or later not included):

Step 1. Download and install Perian from https://perian.org/.

After installation, it will be listed inside System Preferences, not the Applications folder, as it's a preference pane.

Step 2. Right-click the AVI file, and open it with QuickTime Player.

To uninstall Perian, navigate to 'System Preferences', right-click on the Perian icon and simply click the Remove “Perian” Preference Pane command.

Another way is to use the 3ivx MPEG-4 codec.

QuickTime 6 or 7 can open 3ivx MPEG-4 encoded videos including 3ivx AVI files without installing Perian or other components.

If the above method is not compatible with your QuickTime or Mac, and you still rely on QuickTime, I advise you to convert AVI to other formats that QuickTime supported, like .mov, .mp4, .m4v, MPEG-1, 3GPP, 3GPP2, AVCHD, DV, etc.

Recommend More AVI Players for Mac

#1. VLC

VLC is a free video player for you to play AVI on Mac. It supports playing multiple media formats. You are able to add subtitles to your video files, set the audio and video’s preferences as well, and easily control the playing process. But it comes with a basic interface, less awesome video visual effect, and less intuitive.

How Do I Play Avi Files On My Mac

Just launch the application and, in the resulting VLC media player window, drag in the movie you want to watch and it will start playing.

#2. Plex

Software To Read Avi Files On Mac

Plex is an excellent AVI player for Mac that helps you play and manage AVI without glitch. This program optimizes playback of nearly any type of media file, like AVI, MP4, FLV, WMV, etc., and streams all of your media to all your devices anytime and anywhere. Meanwhile, Plex has a media server so you can save your AVI videos into the service. But the operation of it is a bit difficult for beginners who only want to play AVI files on Mac.

#3. Elmedia Player

Elmedia Player applied hardware acceleration technology capable of playing AVI in a softer manner. You can load all AVI files in a playlist, adjust their playback speed, and audio/subtitles delay. But most functions of this AVI player for Mac are not free, such as customizing video tuner/advanced streaming/audio settings, etc. and even capturing a screenshot.

Conclusion

How Can I View Avi Files On My Mac

After reading this article, you should know how to play AVI on Mac. The best free media player you can try is Cisdem Video Player. It comes with a more intuitive interface and lets you enjoy a more crisp and higher definition video visual effect. You can easily take snapshots, resume media files, and control the play process. Do you like this outstanding AVI player Mac? Come to download its free trial version and experience your AVI HD movies.