VLC Media Player is is a free cross-platform multimedia player that can play most multimedia files, DVDs, etc. It can be downloaded to Windows PC or Mac computer. Here's how you can play MKV on Mac using VLC Media Player 1. VLC can also be used to convert MKV to MP4 on a Mac for free. Using VLC involves a few simple steps. First, open your VLC media player, then follow these key instructions to convert your files. If you don’t have VLC on your Mac, use the link below to download it.
- VLC media player Mac was actually one of the first free players to offer support for MKV files so it has plenty of experience with this format, needless to say. MPlayerX is a good MKV player Mac computers and an even better one for MacBooks. A lot of the features that allows MPlayerX to stand out from the crowd were designed with.
- VLC Media Player can be a convenient tool to provide all kinds of multimedia playback solutions, including some uncommon digital formats, like MKV files. However, while using VLC Media Player to watch MKV files, some unfriendly issues may happen. Such as MKV files may come out to be black, or the files are presented without audio.
- Apr 07, 2021 Follow the guide to install it correctly, and then you’ll have 2 ways to use VLC to play MKV. Way 1: Right-click on the MKV video file and go to Properties in the context menu. Then click the Change button to swap the default application with the VLC media player. After that, simply double-click the MKV file would open it with VLC.
Have some MKV video files and want to play them on your Mac? Here two free MKV players for Mac: VLC Media Player and MPlayer OS X are recommended to play MKV on Mac. These 2 great free media players not only allow you to play MKV on Mac for free, but also enable you to play virtually any regular formats. With them, you don't need to worry about can't playing any MKV videos on Mac any more.
Part 1. The Best Free MKV Player for Mac
Part 2. Play MKV on Mac by converting MKV to Mac acceptable format
Part 1. The best two free MKV players for Mac
1. VLC Media Player
VLC Media Player is one of the best free MKV player for Mac. Apart from MKV, it can also play various other regular video/audio formats, including AVI, WMV, MP4, MOV, FLV, MPEG, etc. and even DVDs and CDs. With it, you don't need to install any codecs or filters to play MKV videos on Mac. Just add the MKV videos to VLC playlist and play them on your Mac freely.
(Tips: If you don't want to install too many players on your Mac and want to watch MKV videos with iTunes or QuickTime player, you can take Aimersoft Video Converter for Mac to convert your MKV files to Mac compatible format. Learn how to convert MKV format on Mac>>)
2. MPlayer OS X
Media Player Classic is another great free MKV video player for Mac users. But to play MKV files with it, you need to first install the updated Matroska Pack: run Media Player Classic and click View > Options to disable Matroska and then install the latest Pack. After that, you can add the MKV videos to it and start playing them on your Mac without any troubles. In addition to MKV, MPlayer OS X can also play AVI, MOV, RM, MPEG, DVD, etc. files.
Though MPlayerOSX is powerful on playing any video files, it occupies large resources and may also sometimes crash. And another disadvantage is that you can't edit videos or embed subtitles to MKV movies with it. In this case, a versatile video editor and player are in need. Aimersoft Video Converter for Mac is such an excellent program that combines video converter, video editor, video player and video downloader. Read on to have a look at how to convert MKV videos to Mac friendly format.
Part 2. Play MKV with QuickTime or iTunes on Mac by converting MKV format
Since QuickTime and iTunes are perfect for playing videos on Mac, you may want to view MKV files on Mac with them. However, MKV format is not supported by neither QuickTime or iTunes. Luckily, there are some ways to make MKV playable in QuickTime and iTunes. What you need to do is to convert MKV on Mac to QuickTime supported MP4 or MOV format. To do this, you can use Aimersoft MKV Converter for Mac to help you. With it, you can easily convert MKV to MOV, MP4, M4V, AVI, WMV, ASF, FLV, etc. popular video formats on Mac while keeping the video quality. After the conversion, you ca easily play MKV using QuickTime on Mac.
Free download MKV converter for Mac:
The main interface of the Mac MKV converter is as below. As you can see, it can also serve as a good MKV player for Mac since you can preview the loaded video files on the viewing window.
1 Convert MKV to QuickTime or iTunes supported format
To convert MKV on Mac, simply click Add Video Files to import the MKV videos to the program. Then choose Video Formats and select MP4 as output format. When all the settings are done, press the Start button to convert MKV on Mac for playing and sharing the videos anywhere you like.
2Edit MKV files as you like
This video converter for Mac also allows you to edit videos as per needs. The supported video editing functions include trimming videos, rotate the video to fit different devices, append special visual effects, and adding movies titles.
Below is the video tutorial on how to convert MKV file format on Mac:
Download MKV converter for Mac:
Mkv On Vlc
VLC is not only a player but also a converter. However, you may fail to convert MKV to MP4. If you're experiencing issue with VLC video conversion, check fixes here.
Due to the compatibility issue, the open-source MKV is asked to be converted into MP4 format so as to have the file played on more modern devices and media players. In view of high demand for cost-free solution, here we will explain how to free convert MKV to MP4 using VLC in detail.
VLC Cannot Convert MKV to MP4? Try VLC Alternative
MacX Free MKV to MP4 Converter can freely transcode any video to any format, incl. MKV, MP4, H264, MTS, WMV, MOV, etc and allow you to adjust parameters such as bit rate, codec, frame rate, aspect ratio, resolution, and more with high video quality and small file size.
Table of Contents
Part 1: How to Use VLC to transcode MKV to MP4 for Free | Step-by-Step Guide
Vlc Media Player Mkv Codec
Step 1: Go to VideoLAN homepage and free download VLC.
Step 2: Click the Media tab -> Convert/Save to launch the Open Media window.
Step 3: Click Add button on the File tab to locate the MKV to be processed on your computer. Or drag and drop the MKV file into the list. Then press Convert/Save button.
Step 4: Choose output format. If you need to freely transfer MKV to MP4 in VLC, just select the profile H.264+MP3 (MP4).
Step 5: So on setting adjustment. Tap Setting icon next to it to select MP4/MOV at Encapsulation tab. Click both Video and Keep original video track on Video Codec tab. Select Audio and Keep original audio track on Audio codec tab. Then click Save button.
Step 6: Press Browse to select the output folder where you want to save the MP4 file.
Step 7: Click Start to beginning the conversion from MKV to MP4 in VLC.
There are many problems with VLC if you hover around the VideoLAN forums. For example, the output MP4 file contains only the audio track while the video is mission with a black screen left or there is no audio after the conversion from MKV to MP4 using VLC's Convert/Stream function. What's more, the VLC crashes but no error messages show up during MKV transcoding or it closes immediately or right when it's finished but the resulting file is unplayable in VLC with a message 'Ooops: VLC media player just crashed.
Related Guides: convert AVI to MKV, transcode M2TS to MKV, MKV codec
Part 2: Cannot Decode MKV to MP4 with VLC - Possible Reasons and Solutions
VLC is free and open source media player featuring ability to process media files into various supported formats. But its converting feature is limited.
- MP4 doesn't support certain streams that MKV does. For instance, if you transcode MKV encoded with x265 codec to MP4 while maintaining the existing codec, there will be problematic such as no video since x265 is not supported in MP4 container, so you have to transcode the MKV video to MP4 x264 using VLC or alternatives.
One-stop solution to turn MKV file format to MP4 format using MP4 Converter - VLC is unstable. The VideoLan forum indicates that the transcoding in VLC such as MKV video to MP4 conversion is somehow broken in recent builds of VLC and its forum suggests you to use its older version or wait for a fix, with the help of other video processing programs like FFmpeg.
- VLC requires codec settings for specific formats. If you choose an incompatible stream for a given muxer, VLC may fail. So it isn't easy for beginners.
- Please navigate to Tools from the main menu, go to Track Synchronization, and modify the Audio track synchronization setting to solve the audio delay problem in VLC.
Part 3: Best Alternative to VLC to Change MKV to MP4 without Problem
There are many other errors with VLC during conversion. VLC doesn't support Real format, needs some UI improvement as its skins are unlikable, and it is prone to be malware infection during installation. So to steer by all the above errors with VLC, it's time to try some trustworthy alternatives. Below is going to share one of best VLC alternatives, dubbed MacX Video Converter Free Edition. Scroll down to see how the alternative to VLC gets the job finished trouble-free.
MacX Video Converter Free Edition is known for fast, safe and extremely user-friendly. It is the best free MKV transcoder for Mac and Windows, featuring the ability to switch among HD and SD videos, e.g. MKV to MP4, VOB to WMV, YouTube to MP3, H.265 to H.264, MTS to MP4, MP4 to MP3, AVI to iTunes, etc, so that you can play any video on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, HTC, Samsung, PSP, etc while keeping original quality and delivering a super fast converting process.
[Solution] How to Decode and Encode MKV to MP4 with Subtitles and High Quality
Vlc Media Player Mac Mkv File
It's a pretty easy task for the alternative to VLC to process MKV format to MP4. Free download and install the MKV to MP4 converter on your computer. (Windows version is supported well)
Step 1: Click Add Video button on the main interface to load MKV video to be processed. It also support batch transferring MKV videos to MP4.
Step 2: Go to General Video profile and choose MP4 Video from the pop-up window.
Vlc Media Player Mac Os
Optional: You can adjust the setting to upper the video quality or fasten the MKV to MP4 processing speed. But we suggest you keep the setting unchanged, as the output profile manages a perfect balance between the output quality and file size.
Step 3: Tap Browse to save the output MP4 video and click RUN to start changing MKV to MP4 with the VLC alterative.
The free MKV to MP4 converter is developed to support converting MKV files to general video formats, while its advanced version MacX Video Converter Pro comes to unlock the input files and support convert almost all videos. Besides, its readymade 420 device profiles are helpful if you need to transcode MKV to specific mainstream devices directly, ranging from iPhone 7, Samsung Galaxy S7, to PS4, Chromecast, etc.