Avi Files On Mac

Tips: This AVI converter for Mac supports batch conversion, you can import multiple AVI files on Mac, hold down the 'Command' or 'Shift' key and click on the AVI files one by one. You can also use your mouse to click and drag to select multiple files. Choose an output format. The next step is to choose an output format for AVI files. The codec supports all the video files with AVI extension and plays them on QuickTime and other media players on Mac. The 3ivx decoder can also play MOV, MP4, M4A, and 3GP files with MPEG-4 video and MPEG-4 AAC Audio. It is compatible with MPEG-4 variants like DivX 3, MPEG-4 and Xvid. You can install 3ivx codec from http://www.3ivx.com/download/. Converting AVI files to MP4 on Mac using the AVI to MP4 converter tool is a simple and quick task. Tips: If you want to customize the Mac location where saves the converted.mp4 file, you can go to the Output section in the bottom-left corner. Step 3 Play AVI on Mac. After setting the output formats, you can start converting AVI to Mac supported format by clicking the Convert button. Once completes, you can go to the File Location folder (in the bottom) to get your converted files. The AVI format, short for Audio video interleave, was first developed by Microsoft in the early 1990s. The AVI file format is heavily used on PCs, but can't be used on a Mac computer. Even as for Apple's QuickTime media player, unfortunately, the free version of QuickTime is not compatible with all types of AVI video files on Mac.

  1. How To Play Avi Files On Mac Free
  2. Play Avi Files On Macbook
  3. Playing Avi Files On Mac
  4. View Avi Files On Mac

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.

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.

Hot Search: Best Video Player for Mac | 4K Player for Mac

  • >> 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

How To Play Avi Files On Mac Free

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
Free Download

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.

We're often asked if we can repair AVI files. The answer is – YES, we can, but still Restore.Media doesn't support this specific format. Why? Because anyone can repair a corrupted AVI video in just a few minutes absolutely free of charge.


In this article we share details on how to repair AVI files with different 3rd-party free tools.

Please note that we’re not affiliated with these tools in any way and do not provide support for them. If you encounter any issues when using the tools, please contact their developers directly.

We also suggest that you create a backup of your files prior to using any video recovery software.

AVI files have quite a simple structure. You don't have to pay for repairing broken AVI files, just follow the instructions bellow:

First, you need to have all the necessary codecs installed. If you have them already, you can skip this step.

  • For Windows users we advise to install the K-Lite Codec Pack. It's free, yet the most reliable codec pack we're aware of. It also comes with a great media player – Media Player Classic.
  • For macOS users, we suggest to install the VLC media player. It's also free and comes with most common codecs you may need to play AVI files.

Note: do not install multiple different codec packs on the same computer as they may have conflicts and cause issues when playing media files.

Now that you have codecs installed, try to play the AVI file. If you still can't open the file, your media player reports some errors, or the video freezes at some point, then you may try one of the following options:

Note: we suggest that you create a backup copy of your corrupted AVI file, so that you can always get back to it and have the original source file in case anything goes wrong with the tools described below.

Option 1. Re-save Your Damaged AVI File with VirtualDub

VirtualDub is a free tool that allows you to do some basic editing of the AVI videos. What's important, it can identify a number of issues in an AVI file, including a broken index, and fix these issues automatically when you re-save the file with the tool. Unfortunately, though, VirtualDub is available only for Windows users, so if you're on a Mac, skip to the next option.

Here is how to repair AVI files with VirtualDub:

1. Download the tool from this page.

2. Unzip the downloaded archive and launch the tool by double-clicking on the VirtualDub.exe file.

3. In the appeared window click File -> Open video file… and then select your corrupted AVI file.

Avi Files On Mac

4. If you get the following error (or alike):

Couldn't locate decompressor for format 'H264' (unknown)

... then you need to install the ffdshow decoder, here is how:

4.1 Download ffdshow from this page.

4.2 Close your VirtualDub application. Then launch the downloaded ffdshow installation pack and follow the instructions. Make sure to select the VirtualDub application plugin like shown on the screen below:

4.3 Once the installation is completed, launch the VirtualDub tool again and then click File -> Open video file… to open your broken AVI video.

5. At this stage VirtualDub will display all the errors it can find in your AVI file:

Avi

6. Click Ok to close the warning window.

7. Click Video from the app menu and choose Direct stream copy. This makes sure your AVI video will be re-saved with the same compression settings as in your original file.

8. Click Audio and choose Direct stream copy. This is the same setting as the above, but for the audio stream.

9. Now, save your damaged AVI video to a new file. For this click File -> Save as AVI… from the app menu. In the appeared window select where you want to save the new file and give it a name. We recommend that you save it as a separate file, so that you have your original AVI video as a backup.

That's it! Your newly saved AVI file should play fine now. When saving the file, VirtualDub fixes most of the issues it can find.

However, if you still can't open the file, or the time slider doesn't work properly, you may try one of the options below.

Option 2. Repair AVI Files with DivFix++ (Available for Windows and macOS)

This is another free tool that can fix broken AVI files and is available for Windows and macOS users. This time we'll give a guide for Mac users, but the workflow on Windows is pretty much the same.

1. Download DivFix++ from this page and launch the tool.

2. Click Add Files and select your corrupted AVI file. If you have multiple damaged AVI files, you can add all of them at once.

3. At the bottom of the app there are two options that you should be aware of:

  • Cut out bad parts. When selected, DivFix++ will remove corrupted parts of the video that can't be salvaged by the tool. This option is recommended, but keep in mind that the output file may miss some of the video chunks.
  • Keep original file. When selected, VirtualDub will keep your original AVI file untouched, while the fixed video will be saved to a new file. We recommend to keep this option selected too.

4. Click Strip Index to clear existing indices from your AVI file as they may be damaged. Once finished, you should see a confirmation message in the log window:

5. Now, click on the Fix button to repair your corrupted AVI file. Depending on the video size, it may take up to several minutes to fix the file. Once finished, you will see a confirmation message in the log window:

Your new AVI file should work fine now.

Play Avi Files On Macbook

In case you still can't play it, or if the time slider doesn't work, there is one more option:

Option 3. Fix Corrupted AVI Files with FFmpeg (Available for Windows and macOS)

This is the last option we'd like to cover in this article. FFmpeg is a powerful tool that can convert, record and stream audio and video files. With FFmpeg, you can completely rebuild the broken index of your corrupted AVI file. If the options described earlier didn't help, give this tool a try.

FFmpeg is available for Windows and macOS users. Since the workflow is slightly different, we'll provide separate guides for both versions.

Repair a Broken AVI Index with FFmpeg on Windows

1. Open your Windows File Explorer and go to C:UsersMy_Name, where My_Name – should be your own username. In this directory create a new folder and give it a name like RepairAVI. If you'll choose another name for the folder, we recommend writing it in English letters and without any spaces. The resulting destination of the folder should look the following way:

C:UsersMy_NameRepairAVI

2. Download the FFmpeg tool from this page.

3. Extract the downloaded archive and then find the 'bin' folder among extracted files. In the 'bin' directory there should be 3 files there:

4. Copy the ffmpeg.exe file and your corrupted AVI files to the folder you've created on step 1. In our example we need to copy these files to the following folder:

C:UsersMy_NameRepairAVI

5. Launch the Command Prompt. For this, go to the folder you created on step 1, remove path from the address bar, then type cmd and press Enter. This should look the following way:

6. Once the Command Prompt is launched, you should see the following window:

7. Now, copy-paste the following command in the Command Prompt and press Enter:

ffmpeg -i input.avi -c:v copy -c:a copy output.avi

, where:

  • input.avi – name of the corrupted file. You should replace it with the name of your corrupted AVI video.
  • output.avi – name of the repaired AVI file. You can use any other name you want for your repaired AVI file.
  • -c:v copy and -c:a copy – these arguments tell FFmpeg to copy the video and audio streams of the original AVI file to the repaired one.

In the Command Prompt this should look the following way:

Press Enter to run the command. Once finished, you should find the fixed AVI file in the same directory where your damaged file is located.

Repair a Broken AVI Index with FFmpeg on macOS

The easiest way to install FFmpeg on macOS is by using a package manager – Homebrew. Here is how to do this:

1. Open the Terminal app. For this press Command + Spacebar, type 'Terminal' in the appeared search field and then double-click on the Terminal app.

Playing Avi Files On Mac

2. In the Terminal run the following command (just copy-paste it and then press enter). This will install the Homebrew app on your Mac:

/usr/bin/ruby -e '$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)'

Note: after running this command you may get the following message:

Press RETURN to continue or any other key to abort

Play avi files on macbook

Just press Enter to start the installation, which may take a few minutes. Once installed, you will get a confirmation message:

3. Now, run the following command to install FFmpeg (just copy-paste it into the Terminal and then press Enter):

brew install ffmpeg

4. The installation may take a few minutes. Once completed, the terminal will look this way:

5. Specify the directory with your broken AVI file. For this run the following command in the Terminal:

cd Downloads

View Avi Files On Mac

In this example, our damaged AVI video is located in the Downloads folder. You may specify any other directory where your broken AVI file is stored.

6. Now, you can try to repair your corrupted AVI file with the FFmpeg tool by running the following command:

ffmpeg -i input.avi -c:v copy -c:a copy output.avi

, where:

input.avi – name of the corrupted file. You should replace it with the name of your corrupted AVI video.

output.avi – name of the repaired AVI file. You can use any other name you want for your repaired AVI file.

-c:v copy and -c:a copy – these arguments tell FFmpeg to copy the video and audio streams of the original AVI file to the repaired one.

In the Terminal this should look the following way:

Press Enter to run the command. Once finished, you should find the repaired AVI file in the same directory where the damaged file is located.

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We hope these great tools will help you repair AVI files without any hassles. Still, if you have any questions or need help, please feel free to drop us a line.

Happy recovering!