AVI (Audio Video Interleave) is the first media format that provides combined structure of audio and video data streams. Therefore it becomes de facto standard for most of online audio and video applications. This media file is flexible enough and allows you to edit and compress file easily. Even though AVI files are compatible with most of the media players, in some situations while playing AVI files you might have observed that video gets struck, but sound keeps playing or distorted colored blocks sometimes make it unplayable.

Do you have an AVI files that are not playing on Mac? Then this article introduces an accurate solution on how to repair your corrupted or damaged AVI files on Macintosh system. Let us consider a scenario, where a graduate was joined for e-classes. After attending classes, he normally downloads the video files of that section and those files are of .avi format. But, while accessing those files, his system freezes suddenly due to power surge. Later when he turning the system on, he was unable to play AVI files on Mac computer. Here the student is confused and thinks why my AVI files won’t play on Mac. So what are the causes behind AVI files that refuse to play on Mac system? Below are few common facts accountable for corruption of AVI files, which will not play on Mac.

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. Here are some of the notable free media players that can utilize to play AVI files on Mac OS. VLC media player – This is a well known media player that performs well on any OS including Mac system. Aside from playing AVI files, this player can also read almost video file format from the smallest to the largest. AVI is a file format created by Microsoft, and MOV is a file format created by Mac. On PC, you can convert an AVI to MOV using a free app called VLC. On Mac, you can use a free download called Free WMV AVI Converter, which is available in the App Store.

Why AVI files cannot be played on Mac system?

• Virus or Trojan Attack: Too much usage of internet or third party utilities might be the reason for virus or Trojan attacks on your Mac system. If your system gets infected by dangerous viruses or other threats, then it may infect AVI files and makes them not playable on Mac
• AVI File Transfer Errors: Interruptions or errors while transferring AVI files from mac system to any external storage media or visa-versa may results in corruption of AVI video files
• Synchronization Error: If the audio and video streams of AVI file are not properly synchronized, then it tends to incompatibility issue and finally results in AVI file damage
• Codec Issues: Codec are the compression and decompression algorithms, which supports AVI file. Due to improper handling of AVI files, codec gets corrupted and makes your AVI files inaccessible
• Header Corruption: Due to virus attacks or forceful termination of AVI video due to sudden power failures, etc might affect the header of AVI files, where AVI file won’t play on Mac

Don’t worry, if Mac can’t open AVI files due to any of the above mentioned facts!!! Sit back and relax, it is not necessary to scratch your head on how do I play an AVI files on Mac. You can now fix corrupt AVI files on your Macintosh system using suitable AVI file repair software.

Glance on AVI file repair application

Yodot AVI Repair software is designed especially to fix AVI files, which are not playing on computer or any digital device. Its advanced modules and search algorithms provide great support to repair severely corrupted or damaged AVI file on Mac. Along with .avi video file, this tool can successfully mend .divx, .xvid video file types. It can sustain repairing of AVI files saved on various storage devices including system hard drive, flash memory card, USB drive, iPods, and many more. On other hand, this software is flexible with various editions of Mac operating system such as Lion (Mac OS X 10.7), Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6), and Mountain Lion (Mac OS X 10.8). In addition, Windows version of Yodot AVI Repair tool is available to help users to fix AVI files that won’t play on their Windows system.

Simple steps to repair unplayable AVI files on Mac OS X:

• Download Yodot AVI Repair tool and install it to your Macintosh machine
• Run the software and track the main screen instructions
• Browse for the corrupted AVI file, which is not playing
• After click on “Repair” button to start with the repair process
• Monitor the AVI file repair process by noticing the progress bar
• Once repair process got completed the software displays the AVI file along with its description
• Later you can preview the repaired video file by using “Preview repaired file” button
• Finally save your repaired AVI file by using “Save repaired file” option to your desired location

Precautionary Steps:

• Do not transfer or play AVI files, when your system is running on low battery because it leads to force system shout down
• Have a patient, don’t terminate the AVI videos abnormally when it is not reacting for your instructions
• Always make use of updated anti-virus application to keep your Mac system free from viruses

We'll show you how to download codec and Perian to make QuickTime play AVI on Mac, how to play AVI file on Mac with an alternative player, and how to convert AVI to Mac playable format.

I've exported some video at University in uncompressed Microsoft AVI and it doesn't play in quicktime or vlc at home on my MacBook.

My MacBook Pro won't play AVI videos. When I try to watch it, it just shows a white screen with garbled video. Anybody know what the problem is?

Why QuickTime and VLC won't play AVI on Mac? There're two main reasons. One is that the AVI uses a codec format that QuickTime/VLC can't support, the other is that your AVI file is corrupted. In this article we'll show you how to play AVI on Mac smoothly.

Table of Contents

Solution 1. Convert AVI Video to Mac Supported Formats

When Mac QuickTime can't play AVI files, you can convert AVI format to Mac supported formats, such as MOV, M4V or MP4.

MacX Video Converter Pro has proven to be great in the realm of video conversion. The software enables you to watch AVI on Mac with no formats limits by converting AVI to QuickTime supported formats like MP4, with ZERO quality loss and super faster speed.

It is fully compatible with macOS Big Sur, Catalina, and other Mac systems. Just free download it to have a try!

How to Convert AVI Files for Smooth Playback on Mac

To begin with, free download the AVI video converter on your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, Mac mini, or Mac Pro. Install and run it.

Step 1: Click '+ Video' button to load the AVI file you want to convert for playback on Mac.

Step 2: Select an Mac compatible output format. On the Output Profile panel, you can scroll down to 'Mac General Video' and choose 'MP4 Video (H264)', 'MP4 Video (MPEG4)', 'MOV Video (H264)', or any profile you like. And, hit 'Done'.

Besides H.264 and MPEG4 video codec, it also supports converting AVI video to HEVC/H.265 codec which can release more space for your Mac's hard drive. All Macs on High Sierra and later support HEVC playback.

Step 3: Click 'Browse' button to choose a destination folder to save converted AVI files.

Step 4: Click 'RUN' button to start converting AVI file for Mac. Hardware acceleration is by default enabled to boost video conversion speed.

Besides converting AVI to Mac, MacX Video Converter Pro has many other features you'll love.

• The program is able to convert among video files, like AVI to MP4, MKV to MOV, M2TS to AVI, to name just a few.
• It allows reducing video file size by lowering resolution, bit rate, etc.
• It provides some basic editing features, like cut, crop, and merge.
• It can record screen and video.
• It allows you to download video and music from YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Metacafe, Facebook, and more 1000+ sites.

Solution 2. Watch AVI File on Mac with 3rd-party Player

When QuickTime won't play AVI on Mac, you still have many other AVI players for Mac to choose from, such as 5KPlayer. 5KPlayer works like a charm, without requiring to install codec pack.

5KPlayer is a 100% free and clean media player, enabling you to play SD HD 4K UHD AVI video on MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, etc. It supports AVI files with codecs DivX, Xvid or 3ivX etc. It delivers surprisingly great audio and image quality. With frequent update, it fully supports macOS Big Sur, Catalina, High Sierra, and earlier OS.

Now free download 5KPlayer so that you can play AVI on Mac without converting.

In fact, 5KPlayer can also play 720p/1080p/4K UHD/8K videos in MKV, M2TS, FLV, MOV, MP4, AVCHD and more, music audio in MP3, AAC, AC3, DVDs, and many more on Mac and Windows (including Win 10). Additionally, it can download video and music from YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo, Vevo, over 300 sites for free.

How to Use 5KPlayer to Play AVI Video on Mac

Step 1. Download and install 5KPlayer. Once done, open it.

Step 2. Load target AVI file to play. There're 3 ways to do so.

• Click 'Video' to browse and open the source AVI file on the main interface;
• Drag and drop AVI video to the main window;
• Right click AVI file, choose to open with 5KPlayer.

Solution 3. Install the Right Codec to Make QuickTime Play AVI on Mac

That QuickTime fails to play your AVI files may be because it doesn't support the AVI' codec. AVI is a container format. It can package various codecs, such as Xvid, DivX and 3ivX. So you need to know how the AVI file is coded and download the right codec for QuickTime to decode it on Mac.

To figure out the codec used to encode AVI, you can open the file with QuickTime and choose Show Movie Info from the Window menu. Then you should be able to find codec information after format properties. Next, you should check if the codec is supported by QuickTime or not. If it is an unsupportive codec, you can download the codec online.

The most popular codecs that can be installed to play AVI on Mac are:

Both add support for a variety of DivX and other formats which often carry the .avi extension. You can download and install either one codec. Once done, open QuickTime and see if it can play your AVI file on Mac now.

But this method isn't foolproof. Some users report that after installing DivX for Mac, the sound in some AVIs will sometimes be either missing or distorted.

Solution 4. Install Perian to Help QuickTime Play AVI on Mac

If you don't want to download codec but still want to use QuickTime to play AVI video, you can install Perian. This is a free and open-source QuickTime component which can bring necessary codecs or components to help QuickTime play AVI, MKV, FLV, MTS, DivX, WMA and more on Mac. Certainly even if Perian is installed, QuickTime won't play all media types.

Join Avi Files On Mac

How to Use Perian to Play AVI on Mac

Step 1. Download and install Perian from https://perian.org/. once done, it will be listed inside System Preferences.

Open Avi Files On Mac

Step 2. Right click on the AVI file and then choose QuickTime to open it.

Convert Avi Files On Mac

So, above are all the ways to play AVI file on Mac. You'll surely find a workable way.