Player For Mkv Mac Os

Posted on 29-03-2021 by admin

This app is a great MKV player for Mac using Quicktime. It’s recommend to be running the latest version of Mac OS X to make sure there is nothing wrong with the software as some have suggested that it doesn’t work to well with OS X Lion and OS X Mountain. But Perian works perfectly with OS X Yosemite and Mavericks. XBMC is a wonderful. Devices and Mac OS X version. VLC media player requires Mac OS X 10.7.5 or later. It runs on any 64bit Intel-based Mac. Previous devices are supported by older releases. Wondershare MKV Converter Mac. Mac users can benefit a lot from Wondershare MKV Converter. The 3 ways mentioned above offer users flexibility for playing 720p/ 1080p MKV video files on Mac system. While installing VLC player is quite easy and quick, converting MKV lets you get a Mac readable file, so you can use it on Mac platform hassle-free later. Also, you can choose to install a QuickTime component to play the MKV file.

Watching movies on a laptop is not the best way to do it but you can’t carry a TV on the Plane, yet. While the Quicktime Player handles all of my media content with ease, there are certain formats that it still can’t recognize. The MKV format is one of the popular ones in the movie industry because of it’s unlimited storage capacity. In this guide, I’ll show you how to play MKV files on a mac. Let’s get started.

The MKV format is an open and free container format that can hold an infinite number of audio, video, and text files in a single file. This makes it an excellent format for TV shows, movies, etc.

There are various options to play MKV files on Mac but we’ll choose the easiest three;

Installing a QuickTime Plugin
Installing a third party Player
Converting the Video

1. Play MKV Files on Mac – QuickTime Plugin

Quicktime Player is the default video player for macOS. Yes, it does lack a few features which other players have but it’s nothing a plugin won’t fix. Perian is a popular Plugin for QuickTime Player which lets you play MKV videos on your Mac.

Download the Plugin setup file from the official website or by clicking this link.

Read: Best Font Manager for Mac

Your download should automatically start and once the file is downloaded, you can simply open the downloads by clicking the downloaded button on the tray. Click on ‘Perian.dmg’ to begin the setup.

It would show the error just like the figure below, which says “Perian can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer”. Fret not, you can easily remove this error, by temporarily disabling the security blanket of GateKeeper.

To disable Gatekeeper, open ‘System Preferences’ by searching in the Spotlight or from the Apple  menu. It would open the settings window and you can click on ‘Security & Privacy’.

After that, you’d see the section which says ‘Allow apps downloaded from’ and a button ‘Open Anyway’. Click the button to override the default action.

If your Mac has a password, you need to enter it again to authenticate it. Make sure you enter the Administrator’s name and password or else it won’t install the plugin.

Now, this will open the installer and you just have to click ‘Perian.prefPane’ to begin the installation.

Ignore this warning and allow it by clicking ‘Okay‘. It automatically installs all the necessary files and you just have to wait for it to finish.

After the installation is finished, you’ll see the window similar to one below. You can close it now as the Plugin is successfully installed.

Play the MKV file with Plugin

Now, you can open any file from your system with QuickTime Player and it would start loading instead of showing you an error. Depending on the Size of the file, it may take some time.

This Plugin converts the MKV file to MP4 and that’s why it takes a little while to load. Once it does, you can watch the video without any problems on your QuickTime Player. If you close the window, you’ll get a pop-up that would suggest you save the file in MP4 format. You can save the file in MP4 format and play that instead.

Pros

No additional Player required
Easy installation and integration
Open-sourced
Converts MKV to mp4 as well

Cons

Slow loading speeds

2. Play MKV Files on Mac with VLC

The last method works great if you want to keep using QuickTime Player as your main media player on the computer. The Plugin is still a workaround and slow when compared with other media players.

The VLC media player is one of the most popular video players out there and the popularity keeps growing because of its consistent and reliable performance and support for a wide range of formats and codecs. You can install VLC to play MKV files and other formats without installing any special plugin. You can even set it as a default media player on mac.

Go to the VLC’s website and download the latest package or click this link.

It opens the download page and beings the download in a few seconds.

Once the download is finished. Double click the package in the Downloads to install it.

As it unwraps the container, you’ll see the window like the one below, you have to drag the traffic cone to the applications folder by clicking and holding the icon.

Must Read: VLC for Apple TV: Fixing 3 common problems

It would prompt you with an authentication pop-up, Click ‘Authenticate’ button to begin the installation.

It may ask you the login credentials. Enter the administrator username and password and click ‘Modify Settings‘.

VLC media player would install and now you can play any MKV file with VLC media player. Simply right-click the MKV file and select ‘Open With’. Click on the VLC icon. It begins to play the video without a hiccup.

Pros

Support for a wide variety of Plugins
Native support for MKV
Sleek UI

Cons

Problems with 4K playback

3. Play MKV Files on Mac With Handbrake

If for any reason, you can’t use the above two methods. Converting the MKV files to a supported format is the best option. Using a web converter is both time-consuming and slow, considering you have to first upload, convert, and then download the converted file again.

Handbrake is an open-sourced video transcoder that is used to rip DVDs and it also lets you convert MKV files to mp4. Installing Handbrake on your mac would take no more than five minutes. Go to the website or click this link to download the installer package.

Start by clicking the downloaded package in the Downloads folder.

It would open the container and you can click on the Handbrake icon to launch the converter.

To select an MKV file for conversion, click the ‘Open Source’ button on the top left corner of the window.

Select the file from the computer by browsing to the desired folder.

After selecting the file(s), you can select presets, and adjust video duration. You can edit dimensions, filters, video, audio of the output file. After you’re done with the tweaks, choose the output folder, and click start.

After the conversion, The output file is automatically stored to the destination address. You can open the folder and play the file on any media player or send to other devices using iTunes.

Pros

Multiple files can be converted at once
Multiple presets are available
Full control over dimensions, audio, chapters, etc

Cons

Only converts to MP4

Also Read: 5 Best Time tracking apps for Mac to boost your productivity

3 Ways to Play MKV Files on a Mac

These were 3 ways with which you can play MKV files on a Mac. Installing a Plugin is the easiest way to play MKV files if you don’t want to move to a new media player considering QuickTime is already powerful. Installing a VLC is my recommended choice because it gives you so much more than just MKV playback, even AirPlay(coming soon). Handbrake is best when you need to convert and transfer the file to the iPhone, iPad, and iPod. This gives you more control over the quality and you can optimize the video for specific devices. Tell us which method would you use to play MKV files on a mac.

Summary :

Are you looking for a suitable MKV player to play MKV files? MiniTool released a free tool – MiniTool MovieMaker, to help you easily play MKV files in Windows, and let you edit MKV files as well as change video file format easily.

Quick Navigation :

MKV, Matroska Multimedia Container, is an open standard free container file format. It can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture, or subtitle tracks inside a single file, thus many users choose to store common multimedia content, like movies or TV shows in MKV.

However, some users encounter problems while playing MKV files. Now, what player can play MKV? What is the best MKV player?

Let’s look at the best MKV file players you can try.

Top 16 MKV Players You Can Try

MiniTool MovieMaker
VLC
5KPlayer
Media Player Classic
DivX Plus Player
CyberLine PowerDVD
RealPlayer
KMPlayer
Potplayer
GOM Player
SMPlayer
UMPlayer
Perian
MPlayerX
MoliPlayer
MX Player

Top 16 MKV Players: Play MKV Files Easily

#1. MiniTool MovieMaker

Supported OS: Windows

To play MKV files in Windows, You can try MiniTool MovieMaker, a free, no ads, no bundle video editing software.

As long as you have the best free MKV player, you can not only play MKV files easily but also convert MKV to MP4, AVI or other file formats.

Main Features of the Best MKV Player for Windows 7/8/10

Free, no ads.
Play MKV, MP4, AVI, MOV, FLV, VOB, and other files.
Convert MKV to other video files, and even convert video to audio file.
Edit MKV files easily and quickly including add subtitles to video, rotate video, trim or split video, add music to video file, etc.
Change video resolution.
Make Hollywood-style movies in one-click.

#2. VLC Media player

Supported OS: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Windows Mobile

VLC Media Player is an open-source media player that can play MKV files without installing codec.

VLC Media Player supports most video and audio streams you will find in an .mkv file. If you use this well-known multi formats video player as an MKV player, you are able to organize and operate MKV video's multiple video/audio/subtitle tracks in a decent way.

But unfortunately, VLC takes to open up a file and lacks user-friendly interface. Although this open-source MKV player offers some advanced features including rotate video, it is too complicated to handle with them. It is recommended to choose VLC alternatives.

#3. 5KPlayer

Supported os: Windows 10/8/7/XP and Mac OS X 10.6 or later

5KPlayer is another free and good MKV file player that supports all types of MKV files with whatever video/audio codecs because of its built-in MKV codec. Of course, this MKV player can play other files including MP4, HEVC, M2TS, H.264, MPEG-4, AVI, MOV, WMV, FLV, etc. in whatever resolution, 720p, 1080p Full HD or 4K Ultra HD.

This free MKV video player does have a slew of extra features as follows:

Play lossy/lossless music.
Free download MKV movies from 300+ online video sites and download videos songs from 1000+ video sites.

Related article: download audio from YouTube.

#4. Media Player Classic

Supported OS: Windows

Media player classic (aka. MPC-HC), open-source video player, is another most downloaded MKV file player on Windows. While downloading this free MKV player, you don’t need to worry about the security matter since there is no advertisement, annoying toolbars or latent spyware.

However, it does have some disadvantages. When playing MKV files in Windows 10, you will find this free MKV player has trouble to get embedded MKV subtitles to display because it lacks the MKV codec. Now, to solve this issue, you can download and install Media Player Classic codec pack and reinstall MPC again.

#5. DivX Plus Player

Supported OS: Windows and Mac

DivX Plus Player can play MKV files in a good way. This MKV player also offers other good features. Such as, it offers smooth fast-forward and rewind MKV playing process, and it supports up to 8 MKV multiple subtitles and audio tracks.

One of the biggest problems with this MKV file player is that there is no free available for users. Sometimes, to give a larger range of MKV media playing options, you need to add Blu-ray video playback function to this MKV player.

#6. CyberLink PowerDVD

Supported OS: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista

PowerDVD is one of the best MKV players for Windows 10. It offers s three different options, (Standard, Pro, and Ultra) to meet different users' needs. This MKV player is an all-round multimedia player. It delivers the most immersive 360˚ VR experience possible with new spatial audio support. And, it even can download videos from YouTube or Vimeo.

Related article: download YouTube videos

Unfortunately, PowerDVD doesn’t offer a free version. If you like, you can try this MKV player for 30 days.

#7. RealPlayer

Supported OS: Windows & macOS & Linux & Android

RealPlayer is a free MKV video player that can play MKV files with common video codecs. Besides, this MKV file player lets you download MKV videos from online sites. Moreover, it supports video converting. Thus, you can change MKV to MP4 or another file format you like.

#8. KMPlayer

Supported OS: Windows

KMPlayer supports an expansive library of video codecs and formats such as MPEG 1/2/4, ASF, MKV, FLV, MP4, DVD, etc. Thus, you can use this player to play MKV file. This MKV player lets you make some adjustments, including image filtering, soundtrack, brightness, saturation, zoom, playback jump, etc.

#9. Potplayer

Supported OS: Windows

Both Potplayer and KMplayer have things in common because part of the Potplayer's development team still comes from KMPlayer. However, Potplayer offers an outstanding GPU hardware decoding, esp for 4K high-resolution video. Thus, it is a good MKV player.

If you play MKV videos with compute-intensive HEVC codec via this MKV player, you will notice that this player produces the smooth playback effect, with a crisp video picture and clear sound, no freezing/lagging or any stuttering issues. On the other hand, your system responsiveness will be improved because the computer CPU can be reduced to a minimum degree.

#10. GOM Player

Supported OS: Windows

Made by South Korea, the GOM player is another free MKV player that can play MKV files with H264, HEVC, VP8 codecs. But, it cannot play MKV file with the VP9 codec.

This MKV player freeware provides much higher information transparency and more sincerity to its users. It lists all shortcomings. It has entry-level requirements to your desktop, it tells you that it cannot handle all videos playback, etc. All information including shortcomings or its imperfect sides is listed under 'Specs' on its official product webpage.

#11. SMPlayer

Supported OS: Windows

SMPlayer is another free MKV player and this player can play almost every video file format. This player is a good choice for users because of its codec free playback. The interface of this MKV file player looks similar to Media Playe Classic.

#12. UMPlayer

Supported OS: Windows

UMPlayer is a multi-format media player that can play MKV, MP4, MOV, HEVC, AVI, WMV, etc. This MKV player lets you search for videos from YouTube. However, there is no YouTube streaming/recording, no hardware decoding in this MKV player.

#13. Perian

Supported OS: Mac

Perian is a free free-source QuickTime add-on, which lets you view files in a wide range of formats such as MKV, AVI, DIVX, FLV, GVI, VP6, etc. If you find you cannot play MKV files in Mac via QuickTime Player, you can install the plug-in MKV player to add extra support for playing MKV in QuickTime.

#14. MPlayerX

Supported OS: Mac OS X 10.7 or later

MPlayerX is another simple, powerful, and beautiful MKV player for Mac, which can play MPEG, VOB, Matroska(MKV), ASF/WMA/WMV, VIVO, QT/MOV/MP4, AVI, Ogg/OGM, RealMedia, NUT, NuppelVideo and more. In a word, it can play virtually any media format in the world without extra plugins or codec packages.

This MKV Player for Mac lets you control playback easily. For instance, you can easily control how your video is players by using simple gestures. And, MplayerX will automatically display subtitles to your video because it can detect and convert encoding methods of a subtitle file.

#15. MoliPlayer

Supported OS: iOS

To play MKV files on your iPhone or iPad, you can try MoliPlayer. This MKV player app can play most video file formats including 3GP, ASF, AVI, MKV, MOV, M4V, etc. Also, this MKV player supports multiple audio tracks in a file and supports subtitles in many languages.

With this free MKV player, you can easily organize your movie collection to keep your files in apple-pie order.

#16. MX Player

Supported OS: Android

MX Player is the first Android video player which supports multi-core decoding, which can play any media file format and accept other plugins for extensibility. This MKV player lets you easily zoom in and out by pinching and swiping across the screen.

If you have other suggestions for the MKV player, please leave in the comments. We would be happy to update this article.

If you have any questions about MiniTool MovieMaker, please feel free to contact us via [email protected].

MKV Player FAQ

In general, MKV file is a multimedia container format, which can incorporate audio, video, and subtitles into a single file. MKV file never gets out of style because these files are designed to be future proof. To play MKV files, you can try MKV player like MiniTool MovieMaker.