AVI which stands for Audio Video Interleave is a multimedia format that was created by Microsoft to serve as a file format that contains multimedia content. This kind of format can often be seen on files that are from a DVD disc. This type of video file format is perfect for watching movies and other video clips with high quality. Unfortunately for Mac users, this format has some compatibility issues with its media player which is QuickTime. This may be confusing for others, but don’t worry because I will give you the easiest ways to play avi videos on mac.
Download Free Mac AVI Player for Mac to play AVI, 4K, 1080P/1080i/720P video on Mac. Download Free AVI Player for Windows to play video files in AVI, MP4, and MOV format with resolution up to HD/4K. Free AVI Player has had 1 update within the past 6 months. Steps to play AVI on Mac with Cisdem Video Player. Download and Launch Cisdem AVI Video Player on Mac. Download Cisdem Video Player for AVI Video Play. Drag AVI Movie to Cisdem AVI player Mac. Open this free AVI player, you can see a pretty crisp and elegant interface. Drag any format video directly from your movie folder to the. Elmedia Player PRO is versatile and it plays AVI files on Mac without needing codec packs or any other additional software. On top of that, this software enables you to download AVI files from the internet, stream them towards Apple TV,Chromecast, Smart TV, or any DLNA-certified and AirPlay device. May 25, 2020 Put it simply, you need to know how the AVI file is coded, and download the right codec to decode and reencode AVI video on Mac computer. Most AVI videos use Xvid, DivX and 3ivX codecs. It is a huge task to figure out codec your AVI files use and download the proper codec to open and watch AVI video on MacBook.
Two Ways to Play AVI File on Mac
There are basically two easy ways on how to play avi file on mac, they both work well and can depend on. It depends on your preference to which method will you use.
Mp4 Downloader
Solution one: convert AVI to MOV
As we all know the default video player for Mac is QuickTime. And for you to play AVI with QuickTime, you can get third party plug-ins called Perian. This application enables you to play AVI, FLV, MKV and other formats on Mac. However, this process only works on older Mac OS and is not supported by the latest Mac OS X Mountain Lion. In this case, the best option we got is to convert AVI to MOV, which is the supported video format with the QuickTime media player. The best way to convert your videos to MOV is by using a free online program which is the Video Grabber. To convert file using this program all you need to do is to:
- Visit the Video Grabber homepage
- Click convert video file and enable Java applet
- Browse for the AVI file, and choose MOV as the output format
- Press convert and just wait for your output file to finish
Tips: If you want to try another video converter, then you must try this awesome program which is the Apowersoft Free Online Video Converter. This program works well in converting files to various formats. What is good about this converter is that is gives you an option to set a specific video and audio setting for your desired output. Both video converters can help you convert AVI to MOV successfully so that you can play AVI videos on Mac.
Solution 2: Use free AVI player for Mac
Here is another way to play AVI files on Mac aside from the solution that I’ve mentioned above. If we can’t play avi with quicktime then we can use other free media player instead. Here are some of the notable free media players that can utilize to play AVI files on Mac OS.
VLC media player – This is a well known media player that performs well on any OS including Mac system. Aside from playing AVI files, this player can also read almost video file format from the smallest to the largest.
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/2/8/3/128322575/736114562.png)
![Avi Avi](/uploads/1/2/8/3/128322575/148497342.png)
MPlayerOSX – You can also play various media formats using this program. A great program to have free of charge with a nice interface.
ELmedia Player for Mac – This great media player to have on your Mac system, it has an awesome interface that matches a Mac OS style. It can play AVI files and other media file type without any issues. For added features you can buy its Pro version.
MPEG Streamclip – This is basically a video editor and converter program that has a built in player which can play multiple media files regardless of their format.
You can still try some other player at your own risk, but for best result be sure to only use this free avi player for mac. Just be sure to download this player for a reliable website to avoid getting some malware and spyware.
3. QuickTime Won't Play AVI Files Problems and Solutions
I have a number of movie files that will not open and play with my Quicktime player even though they are .avi files...Should I download a file converter to change the AVI file format, say, mov. or download a codec to decode AVI files on MacBook.
This is because AVI codec, which is a bit complicated. Put it simply, you need to know how the AVI file is coded, and download the right codec to decode and reencode AVI video on Mac computer. Most AVI videos use Xvid, DivX and 3ivX codecs. It is a huge task to figure out codec your AVI files use and download the proper codec to open and watch AVI video on MacBook. If you are a person who struggle with technical things, this way is not recommended.
Avid Download Manager
To realize a flawless AVI playback experience on your Macbook, you can install QuickTime component Perian. Perian helps QuickTime play AVI on MacBook, also other formats MKV, FLV, MTS, DivX, WMA and more. After being installed, Perian works automatically when playing AVI files with QT in MacBook. However, you need to note that QuickTime won’t play all media types, including AVI files with codecs unaccepted by QT. What's more, Perian is no longer under development and it fails to work with QuickTime 10 or later. So, we suggest you to convert AVI to MP4, MOV QuickTime supported formats.
Author: Candice Liu | Updated on May 25, 2020