AVI Player for Mac: How to Play AVI with QuickTime on Mac (High Sierra Included)

QuickTime player can't open AVI?

AVI is among the most widely used file formats for videos today, but for Mac users, it's always not so easy to play AVI file with QuickTime player, especially when you have upgraded to the latest macOS 10.13 High Sierra. Why can't QuickTime play AVI videos? As a container format, AVI is not a specific type of file and there is no single codec for videos with .avi externsions. This is the reason why you can't play AVI movies with Quicktime on Mac. Luckily, here are some simple solutions that will allow you to play AVI on Mac.

• Part 1. How to Play AVI Files on Mac
• Part 2. Free Online AVI to QuickTime MOV Converter
• Part 3. Another Solution to Play AVI - Get QuickTime Component: Perian

Part 1. How to Play AVI Files on Mac

QuickTime player can't open AVI? Take it easy. Now with UniConverter, you can freely play any video on QuickTime after converting videos to compatible format like MOV. It makes the issue that QuickTime can't play AVI quite simple.

Convert AVI to QuickTime MOV for Playback on Mac in Steps

Step 1. Import AVI to the QuickTime Converter

After launching the program, open the local folder where you've saved the AVI file, then drag and drop it to the main interface of the program. The file will be imported immediately. Alternatively, you can click the "Add Files" button to import your AVI files or load from your mobile devices by the drop-down icon beside.

Step 2. Select an Output Format

To play AVI in QuickTime without hassle, you can convert AVI to MOV, MP4, or other QuickTime supported formats. Then select it from the "Video" tab in the format tray to set it as target output, where you could also set encode settings like bitrate, frame rate, resolution, encoder, etc.

Step 3. Start Converting AVI to QuickTime Supported Format

Simple click the "Convert" button in each video clip or "Convert All" at botton right to convert all the imported videos, and the program will start processing the conversion. Then you will be able to play AVI files on Mac without any limitation.

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Part 2. Free Online AVI to QuickTime MOV Converter

Are you looking for the best way to convert AVI to Quicktime MOV online? Well, it is simple as pie. With media.io, you can convert AVI to QuickTime within a few steps as shown below.

Step 1. Go to media.io website on your browser.

Step 2. When on the website click on “Add your Files” icon which allows you to access your local folder and upload your AVI file.

Step 3. After uploading the AVI file, you need to set its output file type. Click on “Convert to” and choose “Video” option.

Step 4. From there, move to the next step and choose the output format. Select “MOV” format from the list.

Step 5. Next, click on “Convert” icon, which prompts the program to begin to convert AVI file to MOV immediately. When the conversion process is complete, you can download the MOV format to your computer.

Part 3. Another Solution to Play AVI - Get QuickTime Component: Perian

The QuickTime player is mostly used in macOS, if you don't want to use the first solution to convert the AVI files to QuickTime compatible formats, you can try this solution, but no 100% work guarantee.

Perian, is a great open-source QuickTime component that allows playback of different video formats that cannot be played natively on your Mac computer. 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.

What you need to know before downloading Perian:

• The latest version 1.2.3 of Perian doesn't work on macOS Mavericks because Perian requires installation of quicktime 7, which doesn't exist for Mavericks. It also doesn't work on Mountain Lion.
• With a Mac running macOS 10.7, say, Lion, you have to downgrade to the previous version, say 1.2.2. The version of 1.2.3 of Perian does not support QuickTime 10 in Lion and fails to fix the loss of audio after one second in xvid files with ac3.
• Before installing Perian, you need to remove all QuickTime Components installed on your Mac, like FFusion, Xvid Delegate, 3ivX, DivX, DivX Decoder, XviD, msmpeg4v1, msmpeg4v2, AviImporter, EX_M4S2, Casio AVI Importer, AC3 Codec, and MatroskaQT.
• For a Mac running Mountain Lion or later, converting AVI video to QuickTime is highly recommended.

Tips: Switch to Other Media Player for AVI Playback

The VLC media player, is an excellent open-source media player that is known for supporting a wide range of audio and video files. Unlike other media players which have limited format-support, you will be surprised that VLC can play a video or audio file that you didn't even know existed. If your OS is Snow Leopard or higher, installing VLC is definitely a good choice especially if you only plan on watching AVI files on your computer.

Cons of this AVI player (VLC media player):

• VLC player doesn't play AVI videos with high qualities.
• VLC player doesn't support Mavericks.