Open Avi Video On Mac

  1. How To Open Avi Video On Mac
  2. How To Open Avi Video On Mac
  3. Open Avi Video On Mac
  4. How To Open Avi On A Mac
Q: Which Player is best for AVI Files?
'How do I know which player is best suited for playing AVI files on my PC? Any suggestions on would be appreciated, thanks'

If none of your installed apps can open the file, search the Internet or Mac App Store for apps that can play or convert the file: Include the name of the media format in your search. To find the format, select the file and press Command-I to open an Info window. The format might appear after the label Kind, such as 'Kind: Matroska Video File'. Aiseesoft Free AVI Player for Mac can allow you to enjoy AVI video files with lossless quality on Mac. Apart from that, it enables you to play 4K videos and HD videos, including 1080P/1080i/720P.

AVI is one of the most used formats for videos, especially online. To enjoy using AVI files, you need to know which player(s) to use. This is the purpose of this article: to recommend to you AVI players and how to play AVI files on Mac and Windows. Also, you will be shown how to fix the issues that prevent your AVI videos from playing.

Part 1: How Can You Play AVI Files on Mac?

1. What Apps Can Play AVI Files on Mac?

It is curious to note that AVI format was created by Microsoft. However, you will discover that, with the use of certain software, you can play AVI files on Mac. Some of this software include:

  • Elmedia Player: This player has been endowed with many great features. The user interface has been designed to be so simple that even new Mac users can be able to go through it without hiccups. It plays even damaged AVI files.
  • VLC Media Player: VLC is another free app you can use to play AVI files on Mac. This player allows for video customization using its settings, as well as control over the process of video play. The interface is simple and easy to use.
  • MPlayerX: This player combines the abilities of two open-source players namely Mplayer and FFmpeg. It optimizes the use of the storage space. MplayerX is the ideal AVI player if you like applications that let you go straight to the point when it comes to using them
  • DivX Player: This player's settings are user-friendly. Its wide array of toolset makes it capable of producing exceptional video and audio playback. DivX supports the burning of media files into discs and lets you stream music, videos, and photos.

Whenever your AVI videos get corrupted, you can get the solutions to repair damaged AVI files.

2. What is the Best AVI Player for Mac?

Apple has designed QuickTime for its classic devices like Mac. Users can handle QuickTime easier than the average AVI player for Mac. It is a versatile tool that can handle different video formats, sound, and even panoramic images. QuickTime Player has an in-built advanced compression technology that works very well for HD videos; the storage space can be effectively managed and the bandwidth is less utilized. For video files in AVI format, this is good news because AVI files are known to be normally large. With the easy slider on DivX, you can playback your videos on a speed that is three times the one you would normally play.

3. How to Play AVI Files on Your Mac

1. Play AVI Files with A Smart AVI Player: This process involves adding a plugin like QuickTime's Perian, an open-source component that enables you to playback videos in formats that are naturally not compatible with Mac, formats like AVI. Download Perian and play AVI videos using the following:

1. Open the Perian disk image and double-click the Perian icon. This serves the purpose of installing and updating all of the app's components.

2. Perform a drag and drop to get the QuickTime components to your user library.

3. Restart any program that uses QuickTime. Now you can play your AVI videos without stress.

2. Play AVI Files with Media Player: With the right software, you can play AVI files on Mac. Below is how to use VLC, for example:

  • Go online, download the VLC application for Mac, and properly get it installed on your system.
  • Open the installed VLC and select 'File' from its main menu. Next, select 'Open File' from the menu that drops down from 'File'
  • This is where you will find the file you want to play, select it.
  • Select 'Open File' to start playing your AVI video file.class='img-fluid' alternatively, drag the AVI file you want to play and drop it on the VLC interface to begin playing.

Part 2: How Can You Play AVI Files on Windows

1. What Plays AVI Format on Windows?

There is an ample list of tools you can use to play AVI files on Windows; find out below:

1. SM Player: This is a popular AVI player that is not restricted by codecs. With this player, you can play not only AVI files, but MKV, MPEG-TS, M2TS, and others. It has extensive features, at the same time, it's easy to use.

2. KM Player: This player supports media files in formats such as AVI, WMV, FLV, ASF, etc. This shows how versatile the player is. It does not consume a lot of data or storage space and you can customize videos to suit your preferences when using KM player.

3. RulesPlayer: This AVI player can be used on Windows 10 and other operating systems to watch videos and listen to the audio. RulesPlayer produces videos with high quality. The audio playback is amazing and you can add any plugins you need to customize your media files here.

4. Plex: This free AVI player is capable of handling several functions because of its great features that work not only on Windows-based systems but Mac, Android, iOS, etc. You can sort all your videos according to TV shows and films. Also, you can continue from where you stopped on whichever device you use with the feature called 'Bookmark'.

You can go to this guide where we talk about the solutions to fix 'Windows Media Player Cannot Playback Video Files'. Also the tips to solve Windows 10 won't play AVI files issue.

2. Which Player is Best for AVI Files on Windows?

The VLC media player can be referred to as the most preferable player for AVI videos because of its ability to excel where other players fail. This player is free and open-source and because of its framework, VLC can play virtually any format of the media file. Its major features also include:

  • Its capability in handling different video and audio streams, as well as rtmp:// protocol
  • Its codecs make it possible for videos in formats as AVI, DVDs, MKV, to be played. It can also play videos in BluRay and HD
  • It is flexible, open-source, lightweight and stable

3. How to Play AVI Files on Your Windows Computer

Use the following methods to successfully play AVI files on your Windows Computer:

1. Check Installed Codecs: There are pre-installed codecs in each new version of Windows, required for the playing of media files on Windows Media Player. With the steps below, you can verify the codecs on your Windows Media Player:

1. Go to 'Menu' in the Windows Media Player program. Click 'Help' and select 'About Windows Media Player'.

2. The link for 'Technical Support Information' is found at the bottom left of the window you just opened; click on it.

3. This will open the webpage containing all the required technical information. Hence, you can browse through to see all the video and audio codecs installed on your Windows Media Player.

2. Download and Install Codec: To play AVI videos effectively, you need the right codecs. You can configure Windows Media Player to make it automatically download codecs whenever it is required. Just do these:

1. Go to 'Tools > 'Options' > 'Player'.

2. Check the box that says 'Download codecs automatically'. Select 'OK'.

Part 3: Further Knowledge about AVI File Format

1. What's AVI File Format?

AVI stands for Audio Video Interleave and it was developed by Microsoft as a container in which multimedia content can be stored. The structure of the AVI file format is based on the Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF). This implies that information in files are divided into blocks and each is tagged as 'AVI'. Furthermore, the AVI file is divided into several sections.

AVI is a popular format used to play movies, video clips online, which can be streamed online. This is because AVI has proven itself to produce high-quality output. AVI supports the synchronization of audios and videos during playback. This format can be played on KM Player, VLC Media Player, and so on.

2. Common AVI Playback Problems:

When playing media files using AVI format, there are several errors that you may encounter. They are discussed below:

  • Uninstalled Video Codec: This error occurs when Windows Media Player is unable to play your AVI file because it cannot find the correct codec to use. The audio may play but the video will not, an indication that the video codec required for the video to play is not installed. Also, without the necessary video codec, the media player will not be able to sync both audio and video. You may also see an error message saying the file format is invalid.
  • Video File Not Playing: Sometimes when you try to play a video in the AVI file format, you may get an error message like 'Invalid File Format Error= 8004022F', 'Cannot playback the file. The format is not supported. Error= 80040265' or 'Video not available, cannot find 'VIDS: xxxx' decompressor'. This is also related to the missing codec problem. Also, if your media player tries to download the codec to play your AVI file with and doesn't find one, then you will see any of these error messages.
  • Glitches in Video: If your AVI file gets interrupted when you are downloading, it could cause some errors. The file may become invalid when you try to playback. Also, this could come from corruption in the storage device used to store the media files, codec issues, and media players that are not updated.
  • Video Plays but Audio does not: If you have this symptom while playing your AVI file, then it is a clear indication that there is a problem with your sound driver. If you have not updated the audio drivers of your system, you may encounter this problem.

Part 4: Ultimately Repair Not Playing AVI Videos

AVI videos can refuse to play because of one error after the other. The silver lining is that you have come to the place where you will find a solution to this problem.

1. Repair Corrupted AVI Videos with Recoverit

The number one solution for the ultimate repair of your AVI videos that have refused to play is Recoverit Video Repair. This tool repairs videos that have been corrupted during transfer, editing, conversion, or processing.

With Recoverit Video Repair, you can fix the errors in your AVI files using the 'Quick' repair mode. On the other hand, you can use the information in a sample video to repair severely corrupted videos under the 'Advance repair' mode.

This system works because the sample video is a working file made from the same device as your corrupted video, in addition to both videos being of the same format. This tool can also sync your audio and video so neither is silent nor slower than the other.

Now what is left is for you to use the steps below to repair your AVI videos so that they can be played:

Step 1: Add Your Corrupt Video File.

Click on the 'Add' button or select the 'Add video and start repairing' option on the Recoverit Video Repair interface to do this.

Step 2: Start the Repair Process

This step applies to 'Quick mode'. Recoverit Video Repair will begin a scan to repair the errors in your video files.

Step 3: Preview and Save Videos

After the video repair is completed, you will see a message prompting. Click 'OK' to preview and save the repaired AVI files.

Step 4: Add Sample Video (Advance Repair)

Now for those badly corrupted videos that have not been fixed through quick repair, add sample video files to proceed with the advanced repair.

Step 5: Save Repaired Videos

After Recoverit Video Repair has analyzed the sample video, you can rest assured that your severely damaged videos will be fixed. All you need to do is preview the video and save it.

2. Restore System to Restore Point: You can restore your Windows to its previous restore point if the problem of videos not playing began recently. The steps below will guide you:

1. Jointly press 'Windows' key and 'X' keys on your keyboard. Then select the 'Run' option.

2. Type the following in the text box: 'rstrui.exe'. Next, select 'OK'. This action is to take you to the 'System Restore' window.

3. Choose 'Next' and from the list that will appear, click on the restore point of your choice.

4. End by selecting 'Next' > 'Finish'.

Part 5: Helpful Tips for Playing AVI Videos

When it comes to playing AVI videos, you need some tips or guidelines that will help you get the best from this format. Some of these tips are enumerated below:

  • If your AVI file is having trouble playing, convert it to another media file format such as MP4 before playing the video again.
  • Ensure you use the right codec to play AVI videos. It has been established that most problems that cause AVI videos not to play seem to come from the correct video codec missing.
  • Choose the media player that best suits your AVI videos. A list has been provided for you to choose from in the sections above.
  • Note that AVI files require bigger storage space when compared to other video formats, therefore, you need devices with big storage capacity to play AVI videos.
  • If you use some codecs to compress an AVI video online, it is those same codecs that must be used to extract and play the AVI videos.

This article has succeeded in giving you a comprehensive list of players to use for AVI files, how to use them, and in case of your AVI videos not playing, how to fix them. The ultimate tool you can rely on to repair your damaged AVI video files is Recoverit Video Repair.

My QuickTime player is not playing .avi files and says I need a codec. I am not able to play any .avi files on QuickTime. How could I fix this because I want to play these files with QuickTime?

Playing AVI files is one of the biggest worries for a Mac user. None of the four major Indeo codecs that are required to decode AVI files have been integrated into QuickTime. In some cases, even if the required codecs are available, the AVI video file does not play due to corruption. So, before we get to know how to play AVI files on Mac or how to fix AVI files that are not playing on Mac, let’s get a quick look at Audio Video Interleave (AVI) format.

Image Source: support.apple.com

Why AVI Files don’t Play on Mac?

Just like any other media player, QuickTime on Mac also examines both the audio and video codecs within the video file whenever you open any file on Mac. If the codecs are not used by the media player it won’t play the video. QuickTime media player does not recognize the Cinepak and ALaw 2:1 codecs used in the AVI video file format. And as a result, when you try to play AVI files in QuickTime, the player doesn’t play the video.

What is an AVI file?

The full form of AVI is Audio Video Interleave. Like any video file format, AVI is a container format that defines how video data is packed into a file. Unlike other video formats, it does not predefine or specify the protocol or procedure involved while recording or creating a file. As an AVI file structure has the organizational format of streams and stream data, it is defined by two lists namely List Chunk and Index Chunk.

List Chunk: The list chunk has metadata, the size of the file, frame rates, and audio/video information.

Index Chunk: The index chunk is responsible for saving the locations of data within the container.

Note: If any of these crucial chunks are missing in your AVI video file, then your AVI file will not play.

What is a Codec?

A codec that is short for compressor and decompressor is responsible for decoding the video and audio tracks that have been encoded or packed in the .avi file.

It is to be noted that an AVI file or any video file does not come with codecs. Codecs are a part of the video player package like QuickTime.

However, if the codec used to encode the AVI file is not available in the QuickTime player, then your AVI file will not play. Thus, you can expand the codec library of the player by downloading the specific codec required to play the AVI video file.

Problems Associated With Running AVI on Mac Using QuickTime

When an AVI file is opened using QuickTime player, it scans the file to see which codecs have been used to encode the data in the container/AVI file.

The AVI format video will play as expected if the video and audio in the codec are compressed using a codec that exists in the QuickTime package. Nevertheless, problems arise while playing AVI files on Mac when the codec does not exist in the library and leads to an unplayable AVI file on Mac. The file may also refuse to play if the AVI file is corrupt. Fix corrupt AVI files on Mac before trying any workaround.

Unplayable AVI Files Return The Following Errors:

  • QuickTime is missing the software needed to perform this operation. Unfortunately, it is not available on the QuickTime server
  • 'You may experience problems playing a video track in 'file.avi' because the required compressor could not be found

Additionally, the latest version QuickTime X does not have a few major codecs like Indeo or native DivX support and you might end up with the question “How to play unplayable AVI file on Mac?”.

Now that you have understood the complications associated with AVI files that are unplayable on Mac, the following workarounds mentioned below have been provided to help you fix if Mac or MacBook not playing a video.

Methods to Fix Unplayable AVI files on Mac

1. Find the Right Codec to Play the AVI File on QuickTime:

Find the codec used to encode the file using QuickTime by opening the file using QuickTime and select the Show Movie Info option from the Window menu.

How To Open Avi Video On Mac

The video file information is listed, and you will be able to find codec information after format properties. Check if the QuickTime version supports the codec that is listed in the video properties.

Check on the QuickTime support site if the codec is supported by the player if you don’t find the codec preinstalled with QuickTime. If you don’t find the respective codec or if it is an unsupportive codec, then your AVI video won’t play. In case it is supported then you can go ahead and install the codec after downloading it from the author or the publisher’s site.

Note: Download the codec from genuine and trusted sources to avoid compromising your system security.

How To Open Avi Video On Mac

Open Avi Video On Mac

2. Download and Install Standardized Video Encoders

There are two major industry-standard codecs for Mac that can extend the playback capabilities. The following codecs have been referred to as the most preferred codecs that enable you to open .avi files on Mac:

  • Install 3ivx D4 codec:
    This codec enables greater video quality at lower file size values up to fifty percent when compared to the MPEG-4 standard designed by Apple. This decoder increases the efficiency of the video storage and transmission of files that are rendered too large. It is an integration of a huge set of video and audio codecs that allow playback of almost all the AVI files with AAC audio and video of MPEG-4. You can fix your unplayable AVI file by installing 3ivx D4 on your Mac. Further, there is no need to download any other components like plug-ins to play the AVI file unless a proprietary codec is used to encode the file.
  • Install DivX for Mac free codec to fix AVI files in Quick time:
    While you can play the majority of AVI files after you install this free codec for Mac, its major disadvantage is that the audio sometimes might be distorted or only the video is played. For this reason, the DivX codec for Mac is a secondary option when compared to 3ivx D4 codec.

Note: Only one among the above two codecs are to be used at once as they share the same set of library files to decode the video. Hence it is recommended to install only one codec to avoid malfunction of the QuickTime player.

Open Avi Video On Mac

3. Use an Alternate player to Play AVI files on Mac:

VLC or Video LAN Client is a cross-platform media player that supports a wide variety of AVI video and audio codecs. Therefore, choosing VLC as an alternative media player to play the unplayable AVI file on Quick Time is one of the easiest ways.
Because of its large library of free encoding and decoding libraries, you will no longer need any additional codec download or proprietary plug-ins.

4. Play AVI Files By Converting Into QuickTime Supported MOV Files:

Another workaround to fix the unplayable AVI video on Mac is to convert the AVI file into a QuickTime supported file format like MOV.
Post conversion, the file will be playable on Mac. However, most of the converters break the index of the AVI file while conversion, this method is least recommended. Lastly, if the converted video file stops playing halfway try AVI index repair on Mac.

Note: Have a copy of your AVI file before converting them to any other compatible format as your AVI file might get corrupt due to improper conversion and leads to permanent inaccessible AVI files.

AVI Still Not Playing In Mac?

If the AVI video file remains unplayable even after getting the correct codecs, using the compatible player, or converting to MOV, it is probably because the video file is corrupt. The only solution to this is to try an AVI video repair software. Choose a professional AVI video repair tool like Remo AVI Repair.

How To Open Avi On A Mac

Remo Repair AVI fixes and works on a duplicate version of your original AVI file to prevent modification on the original file. The self-explanatory interface helps you to fix the video in just 3 clicks. Download the Remo Repair AVI tool now to fix your unplayable video and preview it for free before saving.

Remo Repair AVI Can Also:

  • Repair AVI files that are corrupted
  • Repair AVI files if their index is corrupted
  • Repairs AVI files if there is no audio or playing only audio in the video file

Conclusion:

With the mentioned free workarounds or by using the above-mentioned AVI repair tool, you must have fixed your unplayable AVI videos on Mac. However, you can always make use of Remo Software’s technical assistance team as they will guide you with the repairing process of the software if needed.