To play AVI files on Macs, we need to get a clear knowledge of the AVI format and its feature, and then choose the best video player to play AVI movies smoothly.
Download QuickTime Player 7 for Mac OS X v10.6.3. QuickTime Player 7 supports older media formats, such as QTVR, interactive QuickTime movies, and MIDI files. It also accepts QuickTime 7 Pro registration codes, which turn on QuickTime Pro functions. The Xvid component for QuickTime allows users to play & encode Xvids in QuickTime Player. Xvid is a video codec library following the MPEG-4 standard. ZyGoVideo ’s great looking, smooth playing, web-video codec is now available for Windows, Mac PPC and Mac Intel machines. ZyGoVideo provides high-quality video at prevalent modem rates.
AVI, Audio Video Interleaved, is a multimedia container format introduced by Microsoft as part of its Video for Windows software. To open AVI files, your player must support all of these codecs. But Mac's built-in video player - QuickTime is unable to recognize and play AVI files. This article would introduce the best AVI player for Mac, and show you the step-by-step guide on how to play AVI on Mac.
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Download QuickTime Player 7 for Mac OS X v10.6.3. QuickTime Player 7 supports older media formats, such as QTVR, interactive QuickTime movies, and MIDI files. It also accepts QuickTime 7 Pro registration codes, which turn on QuickTime Pro functions. 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. AVI, Audio Video Interleaved, is a multimedia container format introduced by Microsoft as part of its Video for Windows software. To open AVI files, your player must support all of these codecs. But Mac's built-in video player - QuickTime is unable to recognize and play AVI files.
- >> How to Play AVI on Macs with the Best Video Player
- >> How to Play AVI Files on Macs Using QuickTime
- >> Recommend More AVI Players for Mac
How to Play AVI on Mac with the Best AVI Player?
Cisdem Video Player is a 100% FREE AVI player for Mac to play video / audio files of more than 50 formats (including 4K/5K/1080p HD videos) with no codec packs needed, like WMV, AVI, ASF, 3GP, MPG, MP4, M2T, MOV, MP3, OGG, and all popular HD video formats, etc.
It offers lots personalized video playing features, like load subtitle files automatically and manually, take snapshots, De-interlacing, set soundtracks, etc. All images are displayed clearly and crisply. It lets you enjoy smooth video playing without any bugs and artifacts. Every image, every action, still or moving, is delicately displayed. In all, it is absolutely one of the best AVI players for Mac that you shouldn’t miss out.
Steps to play AVI on Mac with Cisdem Video Player

Step 1. Download and launch the freeware.
Step 2. Drag AVI movie to the software
Open the software. You can see a pretty crisp and elegant interface. Drag any format video directly from your movie folder to the app.
Step 3. Open AVI file on Mac
Click the play button, and start to watch your AVI movie imported.
If you want to watch another one when playing one movie with this video player, you can drag the second one to replace the first one and start your new watching.
Look at the toolbar on the top menu. There are many practical tools in this professional AVI player that can be used for some personalized settings.
1. In the 'Audio' or , you can choose the stereo from Mono, Stereo, Left Channel, Right Channel.
2. Use its feature of 'Subtitle' and add external subtitles in .ASS, .SRT format and in the language you are familiar with.
3. Control the 'Playback' progress, stop, step forward, step backward, take screenshots, etc.
4. Retain file open recently and playback at your will.
5. Click “Window” or the sign at right top corner of the screen to check the media info of the loaded video.
6. Click to take a snapshot of your favorite video visual image as save as wallpaper or poster.
7. This free AVI player Mac enables you to make the video screen to the biggest ratio. You can just drag its corner to the bigger screen size, or go to click 'Playback' > 'Full Screen'.
8. In-app purchase: It needs to pay $9.99 to unlock the conversion function. So you can convert AVI to MP4, M4V, MKV, iPhone, and more.
A Professional Video Converter: Easily Convert, Download & Rip Videos
Use the best AVI converter for Mac to:
- Convert videos up to 200+ formats, including AVI, MOV, M4V, FLV, MKV, etc.
- Edit AVI videos with a built-in tool, like Trim, Crop, Rotate, 3D Effects, Watermark, Subtitles, etc.
- Rip DVD movies to AVI, MP4 or other formats for playing on portable devices
- Merge all converted AVI videos into a large file
- Download online videos from 1000+ sites with the supplied media downloader
How to Play AVI Files on Macs Using QuickTime Player?
QuickTime, a popular multimedia technology with a built-in media player, lets you play and view Internet video, HD movie trailers, and personal media in a wide range of file formats. But QuickTime Player only natively plays AVI (Motion JPEG), not all .avi movies.
In this case, you can install a plug-in like Perian, which is a free open-source QuickTime component that enables your Mac to play almost any movie format including AVI files. So you can open AVI files on Mac as easily as it does the native QuickTime video format.
Note: The latest version 1.2.3 of Perian is not compatible with Mac OS X Mavericks (10.9), Mountain Lion (10.8), and Lion (10.7). Moreover, since QuickTime version 10, Perian has no longer been supported.
Steps to play AVI on Mac OS X 10.4.7 or higher via QuickTime (10 or later not included):
Step 1. Download and install Perian from https://perian.org/.
After installation, it will be listed inside System Preferences, not the Applications folder, as it's a preference pane.
Step 2. Right-click the AVI file, and open it with QuickTime Player.
To uninstall Perian, navigate to 'System Preferences', right-click on the Perian icon and simply click the Remove “Perian” Preference Pane command.
Another way is to use the 3ivx MPEG-4 codec.
QuickTime 6 or 7 can open 3ivx MPEG-4 encoded videos including 3ivx AVI files without installing Perian or other components.
If the above method is not compatible with your QuickTime or Mac, and you still rely on QuickTime, I advise you to convert AVI to other formats that QuickTime supported, like .mov, .mp4, .m4v, MPEG-1, 3GPP, 3GPP2, AVCHD, DV, etc.
Recommend More AVI Players for Mac
#1. VLC
VLC is a free video player for you to play AVI on Mac. It supports playing multiple media formats. You are able to add subtitles to your video files, set the audio and video’s preferences as well, and easily control the playing process. But it comes with a basic interface, less awesome video visual effect, and less intuitive.
Just launch the application and, in the resulting VLC media player window, drag in the movie you want to watch and it will start playing.
#2. Plex
Plex is an excellent AVI player for Mac that helps you play and manage AVI without glitch. This program optimizes playback of nearly any type of media file, like AVI, MP4, FLV, WMV, etc., and streams all of your media to all your devices anytime and anywhere. Meanwhile, Plex has a media server so you can save your AVI videos into the service. But the operation of it is a bit difficult for beginners who only want to play AVI files on Mac.
#3. Elmedia Player
Elmedia Player applied hardware acceleration technology capable of playing AVI in a softer manner. You can load all AVI files in a playlist, adjust their playback speed, and audio/subtitles delay. But most functions of this AVI player for Mac are not free, such as customizing video tuner/advanced streaming/audio settings, etc. and even capturing a screenshot.
Conclusion
After reading this article, you should know how to play AVI on Mac. The best free media player you can try is Cisdem Video Player. It comes with a more intuitive interface and lets you enjoy a more crisp and higher definition video visual effect. You can easily take snapshots, resume media files, and control the play process. Do you like this outstanding AVI player Mac? Come to download its free trial version and experience your AVI HD movies.
Q: What is K-Lite Codec Pack? How can I watch videos on Mac without K-Lite Codec Pack?
The TechSmith Screen Capture Codec (TSCC) is included with Camtasia. Download this decoder to play an AVI file that is encoded with TSCC on a system where Camtasia is not installed. The TechSmith Screen Codec v2 (TSC2) is included with Camtasia. Download this decoder to play an AVI. Xvid codec free download - AC3 Codec, CODEC, Codec Calculator, and many more programs. AVI, DIVX, MPEG, WMV, xVID VCD, SVCD video player. Create high-quality QuickTime movies for broadcast.
Best Alternative to K-Lite Codec Pack Mac - Play Video on Mac in any Format
Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate is one of best alternative to K-Lite Codec Pack for Mac. With it, you can play any video/audio files, convert them to almost all popular formats and also touch up the videos without any hassle. Well Compatible with Mac OS (macOS Mojave supported), Aimersoft Video Converter for Mac is also an online video downloader. With the built-in browser, you can search and download directly the videos you like with fast speed and high quality.
If you are looking for the alternative of K-Lite Codec Pack for Windows, why not have a try on Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate which is fully compatible with Windows (Windows 10).
Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate
Best Alternative to K-Lite Codec Pack Mac
- Play video on Mac without format issues, supporting MP4, MOV, MPEG, MKV, WMV, AVI and other 500+ formats.
- Convert videos in any formats to MOV or MP4 (most compatible formats for Mac).
- Batch converstion is supported.
- Download videos from 1000 online sites, including YouTube, Vimeo, Vevo, Dailymotion and more.
- Built-in video editing tool to customize your video.
- Do more with all-in-one toolbox.
Tutorial 1. How to Play Video on Mac in any Formats?
This is a good choice when you can't play video on Mac with format issue, and don't know to change the video format. Please download and install Aimersoft Video Converter for Mac on your Mac. Follow the simple steps below to have a try on the equivalence of K-Lite Codec Pack for Mac.
01 Add video file to Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate
Open Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate on your Mac. Directly drag and drop the movies or videos into the window of this program. Or you can click on the Add Files to browse videos on your Mac. There are more than 500 video formats supported.
02 Click the Play icon
You can see your videos have been displayed in the program. Put the mouse over the video thumbnail, there will be a Play icon over it. Now click it.
03 Playing video on Mac
Now your video is playing! It also provides with 2 options, which you can maximize the playing window on your Mac, or take screenshots of the video.
Tutorial 2. How to Convert Videos to MOV/MP4 on Mac?
This solution will let you convert videos to macOS compatible formats. You are suggested to convert the videos to MP4 or MOV formats, which can be further used on a Mac. Now let's see how to do it in 3 simple steps.
01 Add videos to Aimersoft Video Converter Mac
Launch Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate on Mac. Add the target videos by dragging and dropping. Multiple videos can be added and converted at one time.
Optional Edit videos
Download Quicktime For Windows 10
You can touch up the videos to create personalized video visual experience with this K-Lite Codec Pack for Mac. There are 3 editing tabs below each video thumbnail. Here you can crop, rotate, trim video, and add subtitle, watermark and others to the video.
Quicktime Avi Codec Download Mac Os
- Adjust: Adjust the frame size, rotate the video, and split the videos into small clips.
- Effects: Append special artistic effects to the video.
- Watermarks: Supports adding image watermarks as well as text watermarks.
- Subtitles: Load subtitles to make the video more understandable. The font of the subtitles is editable.
02 Choose an output format
Quicktime Player Avi Codec Mac Download
Click Convert all tasks to to get the output formats. Here you can choose MOV or MP4. The chosen format and resolution will be applied to all of the added videos.
03 Convert video with K-Lite Codec Pack Mac alternative
How To Play Avi On Mac
Quicktime Mp4 Codec
Quicktime Avi Codec Mac Download Free
Turn on High Speed Conversion to convert video at 90X faster speed. Click the Convert Allbutton to start the conversion. Later, you can check the converted videos on Converted tab, or from the output folder on your Mac.