Thus, the chances to get.mkv (matroska) files are extremely high, so is the playback failure, since MKV is not as industry standard as MP4. Accordingly, the demand for MKV codec download has risen in recent years, in a wish to play.mkv video on Mac, Windows or other platforms successfully. Sep 13, 2020 Steps to use VLC to open the MKV file: Download VLC media player from the App Store, or Google store. Install the freeware. Use a corresponding button or drag-and-drop option to add your MKV file to VLC. You can also make VLC your default player for opening and playing MKV files. Then you can open them just with a double-click. Play MKV files on Mac Using Handbrake Handbrake is an open-source application that converts MKV files to MP4 format. You can easily convert MKV file by using Handbrake and play the converted video on QuickTime or other media player on Mac.
- How To Open Mkv File On Macbook Air
- How To Open Mkv File
- Playing Mkv Files On Mac
- How To Open Mkv File On Macbook Pro
- Play Mkv Files On Mac
by Christine Smith • 2020-10-28 17:39:14 • Proven solutions
As many Mac users have noticed, they can't play or open MKV files on Mac. What's the matter? MKV is a free, open-source container format with different types and an unlimited number of video, audio, picture, or subtitle tracks, making it unrecognizable by a single player like QuickTime. Then how to watch MKV files on Mac? Don't worry. We collect 3 methods for you to play MKV Mac successfully.
Part 1. Play MKV with All-in-one Wondershare MKV Player & Converter
How To Open Mkv File On Macbook Air
Without further ado, I'd like to recommend you Wondershare UniConverter (originally Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate), which combines MKV player and MKV converter into one, allowing you to free play MKV, MP4, MOV, and over 1000 popular video formats and easily convert MKV formats to other supported formats for playing back on any player.
1. Play MKV on Mac with Wondershare Free MKV Player
How To Open Mkv File
Step 1 Add MKV to Wondershare Free MKV Player
Open the Wondershare MKV player, drag, and drop your MKV video to the MKV video player. Then the added MKV file will be loaded in the video thumbnail.
Step 2 Play .mkv on Mac
Move the mouse over the MKV video thumbnail. You'd see a Play icon in the middle just as the screenshot shows.
Click the Play icon, and you'll see the loaded MKV video starts playing immediately.
2. Convert MKV to MOV or Other Formats Supported with Wondershare MKV Converter Mac
Here we take converting MKV to MOV as an example. See the detailed steps below.
Step 1 Add MKV Files to Convert to MOV
Launch Wondershare MKV Converter Mac, click to browse your Mac, and add your target MKV video to the program.
Step 2 Choose MOV as Output Format
Click the down arrow icon beside Output Format to get the full list of the output formats, select Video > MOV and choose a video resolution in the right.
If you have a lot of MKV files and want to play them on other Apple devices like iPhone, iPad, or iPod, you'd better convert MKV to an optimized device. In short, you can choose any format or device you want (most popular format or devices are also supported here).
Step 3 Convert MKV to MOV Easily
Hit Start All or Convert to start converting MKV videos on Mac. Once the MKV conversion completes, you can click the folder-like icon beside File Location in the bottom to get the converted .mov file. Now you can freely play MKV video with QuickTime player. Here, you also can download the MKV videos from the online site as the MOV format in this Wondershare Video Downloader for Mac easily.
Part 2. Convert MKV to Mac-compatible Formats with Free MKV Converter Online
Playing Mkv Files On Mac
Here is an easier way for you to free convert MKV to other supported formats on Mac. With the online MKV converter tool AConvert, you don't need to install any program but start MKV conversion online.
- Open AConvert, click on Video from the Control Panel located on the left side first.
- Click on the File > Browse button to add your MKV file.
- On Target Format, click on the down arrow and search for MOV or other formats.
- Click on Convert Now to initiate MKV conversion. Once finished, you can find the converted MKV files under Conversion Results.
Part 3. Install Perian Plugin for QuickTime to Play MKV on Mac
Perian is a free, open-source QuickTime component that adds native support for many popular video formats like the MKV. When you've had Perian installed, you have to quit QuickTime completely and then restart it.
Note that you don't close the QuickTime Window. Actually, it's still running in the background. Since only that way, QuickTime can update its format and encoding library. See the detailed steps below.
- Download Perian for QuickTime and double click to launch it.
- Drag and drop QuickTime components to Perian.
- Restart all programs related to QuickTime, including iTunes, QuickTime Player, your browser, etc.
Now you'll find that QuickTime now can magically support more diverse video formats: AVI, DivX, DivX 3.11 alpha, XviD, MS-MPEG4 v3, 3ivX, MS-MPEG4 v2, MS-MPEG4 v1, Truemotion VP6, Sorenson H.263, FLV, and formats that an AVI file contains--AC3, AAC Audio, VBR MP3, mpeg4, and h.264. In short, feel free to play MKV files on Mac.
Method 1: MKV Video Converter
MacX Video Converter Pro helps to convert MKV to MP4, M4V, MOV, AVI, and other video formats that are supported by QuickTime and VLC, or other media players. With the MKV video converter, you can play MKV on Mac freely, solve VLC, Quicktime MKV playing issues, and even add MKV to iTunes, Final Cut Pro, iMovie etc. You don't need to sacrifice any video audio quality during the conversion process thanks to the advanced High Quality Engine. Meanwhile, the Level-3 Hardware Acceleration and Auto Copy technologies deliver a super-fast MKV video converting speed.
The MKV video converting software also enables you to download MKV video free from YouTube, Dailymotion, Vevo, 300+ sites, which means you can watch MKV on Mac with no formats limits or internet connection limits. Free download voice changer software for windows 7.
How to Convert MKV Video Movie File for Playback on Mac:
Step 1: Free download the MKV video converter on Mac and run it on your computer. Click 'Add File' icon to navigate the local folder and find the MKV video or movie.
Step 2: Select output format from the pop up window. First, let's have a quick look at the formats that can be played on Mac:
QuickTime Movie (.mov), MPEG-4 (.mp4, .m4v), MPEG-2 (OSX 10.0-10.6 are exclusive), MPEG-1, 3GPP, 3GPP2, AVCHD (OSX 10.0-10.7 are exclusive), AVI ((Motion JPEG only), DV.
To play MKV on Mac, you can select any of the above formats as the output file. If you wanna convert MKV to MP4, select 'MP4' as output file format. To play MKV on Mac with QuickTime, import MKV to iMovie, convert MKV to AVI, M4V, MOV, 3GP, other supported formats.
Step 3: If you have problem playing MKV because of its big size, you can also compress the MKV video using featurs like crop, trim and parameter adjustment. To trim and crop unnecessary parts, click the Edit button. To adjust the resolutions, bit rates, codecs, other settings to shrink MKV videos, click the gear buttton beside the video icon. Then click 'Browse' button to select a destination folder to save output converted MKV file.
Step 4: Click 'RUN' button to start MKV video file conversion process. After the task is finished, you can play converted MKV on Mac with original video quality, or add the MKV video to iTunes movie library with no format limits.
* Level-3 Hardware Acceleration - apply GPU acceleration of Intel, Nvidia and AMD to decode and encode MKV H.265/H.264. This feature speed up MKV HEVC conversion to solve MKV HEVC files not playing on Mac error.
* Auto Copy: when you select converting MKV to MOV/MP4 for QuickTime, this feature will move the video/audio files from MKV container to another container without re-encoding. This tech not only ensures a super-fast processing speed but also keeps 1:1 original quality of HD MKV files.
Method 2: MKV Player for Mac
What plays MKV files on Mac computer perfectly? Not QuickTime, not VLC, what I'm going to recommend here is a newbie, 5KPlayer, a fantastic MKV video player for Mac that I came across accidentally on forum.
It plays MKV video in 720p, 1080p, or 4K UHD on macOS Sierra, Mac El Capitan, Yosemite, OS X 10 without freezing or buffering. It takes no time to fully load MKV file. The player for MKV also plays AVI, FLV, MOV, MTS, MP4, MP3 music, AAC, to name just a few.
Autotune software for logic pro x. Another feature that impresses me is that it is able to airplay MKV video movie from Mac to Mac, from Mac to Apple TV. This means that you can watch MKV on Mac even on airplay supported TV with no limits.
Method 3: QuickTime Plugin Perian
How To Open Mkv File On Macbook Pro
Mac Quicktime MKV plugin - Perian also has a solution to the problem How to play MKV on Macbook, iMac or Mac mini. With Perian, you can play MKV video movie in HD, SD on any Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later, El Capitan, Yosemite, needless of MKV player for Mac. The plugins also enables you to play other QuickTime unaccepted formats, AVI, FLV, DivX, and many more.
Play Mkv Files On Mac
Perian is not perfect, though. It only works with QT 10 or lower for it stops being updated. You may still have some problems when playing MKV on Mac. Some users are crying that they downloaded Perian, and MKV are played on QT but with no sound. And it has to read the MKV file before playing, you can not fast forward file that has not been fully loaded. So it's better to use MKV video converter to convert the file first and watch MKV on Mac freely, or jump to method 3, resort to a MKV player for Mac.
Catalina (macOS 10.15) is killing off 32-bit apps. Many legacy versions of Mac apps like GarageBand, and Perian are unsupported. So to play MKV with success on your new mac operating system, make sure it is new and upgrade for the 64-bit computer.
Here we take converting MKV to MOV as an example. See the detailed steps below.
Step 1 Add MKV Files to Convert to MOV
Launch Wondershare MKV Converter Mac, click to browse your Mac, and add your target MKV video to the program.
Step 2 Choose MOV as Output Format
Click the down arrow icon beside Output Format to get the full list of the output formats, select Video > MOV and choose a video resolution in the right.
If you have a lot of MKV files and want to play them on other Apple devices like iPhone, iPad, or iPod, you'd better convert MKV to an optimized device. In short, you can choose any format or device you want (most popular format or devices are also supported here).
Step 3 Convert MKV to MOV Easily
Hit Start All or Convert to start converting MKV videos on Mac. Once the MKV conversion completes, you can click the folder-like icon beside File Location in the bottom to get the converted .mov file. Now you can freely play MKV video with QuickTime player. Here, you also can download the MKV videos from the online site as the MOV format in this Wondershare Video Downloader for Mac easily.
Part 2. Convert MKV to Mac-compatible Formats with Free MKV Converter Online
Playing Mkv Files On Mac
Here is an easier way for you to free convert MKV to other supported formats on Mac. With the online MKV converter tool AConvert, you don't need to install any program but start MKV conversion online.
- Open AConvert, click on Video from the Control Panel located on the left side first.
- Click on the File > Browse button to add your MKV file.
- On Target Format, click on the down arrow and search for MOV or other formats.
- Click on Convert Now to initiate MKV conversion. Once finished, you can find the converted MKV files under Conversion Results.
Part 3. Install Perian Plugin for QuickTime to Play MKV on Mac
Perian is a free, open-source QuickTime component that adds native support for many popular video formats like the MKV. When you've had Perian installed, you have to quit QuickTime completely and then restart it.
Note that you don't close the QuickTime Window. Actually, it's still running in the background. Since only that way, QuickTime can update its format and encoding library. See the detailed steps below.
- Download Perian for QuickTime and double click to launch it.
- Drag and drop QuickTime components to Perian.
- Restart all programs related to QuickTime, including iTunes, QuickTime Player, your browser, etc.
Now you'll find that QuickTime now can magically support more diverse video formats: AVI, DivX, DivX 3.11 alpha, XviD, MS-MPEG4 v3, 3ivX, MS-MPEG4 v2, MS-MPEG4 v1, Truemotion VP6, Sorenson H.263, FLV, and formats that an AVI file contains--AC3, AAC Audio, VBR MP3, mpeg4, and h.264. In short, feel free to play MKV files on Mac.
Method 1: MKV Video Converter
MacX Video Converter Pro helps to convert MKV to MP4, M4V, MOV, AVI, and other video formats that are supported by QuickTime and VLC, or other media players. With the MKV video converter, you can play MKV on Mac freely, solve VLC, Quicktime MKV playing issues, and even add MKV to iTunes, Final Cut Pro, iMovie etc. You don't need to sacrifice any video audio quality during the conversion process thanks to the advanced High Quality Engine. Meanwhile, the Level-3 Hardware Acceleration and Auto Copy technologies deliver a super-fast MKV video converting speed.
The MKV video converting software also enables you to download MKV video free from YouTube, Dailymotion, Vevo, 300+ sites, which means you can watch MKV on Mac with no formats limits or internet connection limits. Free download voice changer software for windows 7.
How to Convert MKV Video Movie File for Playback on Mac:
Step 1: Free download the MKV video converter on Mac and run it on your computer. Click 'Add File' icon to navigate the local folder and find the MKV video or movie.
Step 2: Select output format from the pop up window. First, let's have a quick look at the formats that can be played on Mac:
QuickTime Movie (.mov), MPEG-4 (.mp4, .m4v), MPEG-2 (OSX 10.0-10.6 are exclusive), MPEG-1, 3GPP, 3GPP2, AVCHD (OSX 10.0-10.7 are exclusive), AVI ((Motion JPEG only), DV.
To play MKV on Mac, you can select any of the above formats as the output file. If you wanna convert MKV to MP4, select 'MP4' as output file format. To play MKV on Mac with QuickTime, import MKV to iMovie, convert MKV to AVI, M4V, MOV, 3GP, other supported formats.
Step 3: If you have problem playing MKV because of its big size, you can also compress the MKV video using featurs like crop, trim and parameter adjustment. To trim and crop unnecessary parts, click the Edit button. To adjust the resolutions, bit rates, codecs, other settings to shrink MKV videos, click the gear buttton beside the video icon. Then click 'Browse' button to select a destination folder to save output converted MKV file.
Step 4: Click 'RUN' button to start MKV video file conversion process. After the task is finished, you can play converted MKV on Mac with original video quality, or add the MKV video to iTunes movie library with no format limits.
* Level-3 Hardware Acceleration - apply GPU acceleration of Intel, Nvidia and AMD to decode and encode MKV H.265/H.264. This feature speed up MKV HEVC conversion to solve MKV HEVC files not playing on Mac error.
* Auto Copy: when you select converting MKV to MOV/MP4 for QuickTime, this feature will move the video/audio files from MKV container to another container without re-encoding. This tech not only ensures a super-fast processing speed but also keeps 1:1 original quality of HD MKV files.
Method 2: MKV Player for Mac
What plays MKV files on Mac computer perfectly? Not QuickTime, not VLC, what I'm going to recommend here is a newbie, 5KPlayer, a fantastic MKV video player for Mac that I came across accidentally on forum.
It plays MKV video in 720p, 1080p, or 4K UHD on macOS Sierra, Mac El Capitan, Yosemite, OS X 10 without freezing or buffering. It takes no time to fully load MKV file. The player for MKV also plays AVI, FLV, MOV, MTS, MP4, MP3 music, AAC, to name just a few.
Autotune software for logic pro x. Another feature that impresses me is that it is able to airplay MKV video movie from Mac to Mac, from Mac to Apple TV. This means that you can watch MKV on Mac even on airplay supported TV with no limits.
Method 3: QuickTime Plugin Perian
How To Open Mkv File On Macbook Pro
Mac Quicktime MKV plugin - Perian also has a solution to the problem How to play MKV on Macbook, iMac or Mac mini. With Perian, you can play MKV video movie in HD, SD on any Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later, El Capitan, Yosemite, needless of MKV player for Mac. The plugins also enables you to play other QuickTime unaccepted formats, AVI, FLV, DivX, and many more.
Play Mkv Files On Mac
Perian is not perfect, though. It only works with QT 10 or lower for it stops being updated. You may still have some problems when playing MKV on Mac. Some users are crying that they downloaded Perian, and MKV are played on QT but with no sound. And it has to read the MKV file before playing, you can not fast forward file that has not been fully loaded. So it's better to use MKV video converter to convert the file first and watch MKV on Mac freely, or jump to method 3, resort to a MKV player for Mac.
Catalina (macOS 10.15) is killing off 32-bit apps. Many legacy versions of Mac apps like GarageBand, and Perian are unsupported. So to play MKV with success on your new mac operating system, make sure it is new and upgrade for the 64-bit computer.
How to Fix VLC Won't Play MKV(HD) File on macOS
Will VLC play MKV files on Mac? Yes, but not smoothly, common issues are MKV files audio not working on VLC, some MKV files not loading, open successfully, Skipping, Chopping, VLC does not support the audio or video format, etc. If you still prefer to using VLC media player, the following tips of VLC player not playing MKV may help you out, if it still fails to work, try other players.
Set all preferences before back to default, close the player, execute the reset and re-open VLC player. If that doesn't help, the most straightforward solution to let VLC play MKV files on Mac smoothly is simple, convert MKV in 720P, or HD files to VLC formats with MKV video converter. VLC player reads several formats on Mac OS X, including MP4, QuickTime format, 3GP, VOB, TS, AVI, FLV, ASF, Ogg, WAV, , MPS, etc.