Can QuickTime play AVI movies? My QuickTime won't play AVI files, what should I do? There is no video playback of my AVI files on QuickTime?...... Millions of problems about the AVI playback with QuickTime have aroused on the Internet. Then, how to play AVI in QuickTime smoothly without any nuisance? Let's find it out together.
Well, in fact, QuickTime can play some AVI files. The premise is that the video and audio of the files must be compressed by a codec that QuickTime can recognize. If your AVI videos don't meet the conditions, you'll be able to play AVI files on QuickTime. And the truth is, playing AVI videos with QuickTime player is a bigger issue on Lion and Mountain Lion since QuickTime X has a worse support for AVI videos than the previous version.
It's quite frustrating that you can't play AVI on Mac with QuickTime player? Upset? No, you don't need to! Though QuickTime has some problems in playing AVI movies, there are some ways to fix the issue. And here are the best 2 ways to play AVI movies on QuickTime on Mac (including Mountain Lion).
Solution 1: Play AVI in QuickTime by converting AVI to QuickTime supported formats
A lot of Mac users find it hard to open FLV, AVI, or WMV video files due to their limited compatibility with QuickTime player. To resolve this and play WMV on Mac, you can use a third-party media player or a video converter as well. Here's a stepwise solution to open AVI on Mac. However, for Mac users, the QuickTime player subtitles SRT support looks not available. In general, some of the professional video player applications are able to open and play SRT format files during playback. Next, I will explain the reason why it is not possible to open the SRT file QuickTime Mac source.
The best way to play AVI video clips on QuickTime player is to change AVI to QuickTime highly compatible video formats like MOV, MP4 and M4V. In this way, you can not only watch AVI in QuickTime, but also transfer them to iPhone, iPad, iPod and more for playback on the go. To convert AVI movies for play with QuickTime, Aimersoft Video Converter for Mac is highly recommended. With it, you can fast finish the conversion and then play your AVI files on QuickTime without any troubles! This app also serves as a perfect AVI player for Mac. Download it and you'll see the main interface as below:
Simply drag and drop your AVI videos to the program, then select MOV from the format list as the output file format. Finally, click Convert to start converting AVI to MOV for QuickTime player. After the conversion, you can add the converted media files to QuickTime for playback without any hassles.
Solution 2: Play AVI in QuickTime with QuickTime components
Note: This method sometimes doesn't work.
The other way to play AVI clips on QuickTime is to install some components (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3526). For playing AVI files, you can install Perian so as to make QuickTime support AVI.
However, Perian doesn't work on Lion or Mountain Lion. That means, if you want to play AVI movies in QuickTime with the help of Perian on Lion and Mountain Lion, you'll need to downgrade your Mac to the previous version. Some users find they can still play AVI with QuickTime on Lion and Mountain Lion with QuickTime X 10/QuickTime 7. And here is the way:
For QuickTime X 10: Please uninstall the components like DivX, Flip4Mac and Perian one by one. Then restart your Mac and reinstall Flip4Mac and Perian. After that, add your AVI files to QuickTime to see whether the problem has been fixed. If not, please go to MacintoshHD/Library/QuickTime to find all the extra codecs and delete XviD or 3ivX. Then the AVI files should be playable in QuickTime.
For QuickTime 7: QuickTime 7 supports AVI files better than the latest version. You can install QuickTime 7 to see whether you have to luck.
Solution 3: Play AVI in QuickTime? No! Turn to AVI players for Mac
Since QuickTime has such a bad support for AVI videos, why not turn to some AVI players for Mac to play AVI on Mac? Great free AVI players include VLC Media Player and Mplayer.
However, you can only play AVI files on Mac with these players but can’t do anything else with your AVI movies on Mac, say, edit them in iMovie, transfer them to iTunes, etc. If you want to do more with your AVI videos, you'd better turn to Solution 1. By changing AVI format to QuickTime MOV, you've definitely made AVI a format that is highly friendly on your Mac.
by Brian Fisher • Jul 24,2019 • Proven solutions
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.
Quicktime Player Pro Mac
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
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
Quicktime Player 7 For Mac
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.
Cons of this AVI player (VLC media player):
Quicktime Player Avi For Mac Os
- VLC player doesn't play AVI videos with high qualities.
- VLC player doesn't support Mavericks.