by Christine Smith • 2020-10-28 17:39:14 • Proven solutions
As many Mac users have noticed, they can't play or open MKV files on Mac. What's the matter? MKV is a free, open-source container format with different types and an unlimited number of video, audio, picture, or subtitle tracks, making it unrecognizable by a single player like QuickTime. Then how to watch MKV files on Mac? Don't worry. We collect 3 methods for you to play MKV Mac successfully.
Available to Mac OS X and Windows 10/8/7. Free Download Free Download. In a word, Video Converter is the best way to encode MKV to MOV for playing on your digital devices. Step 1: Open the free MKV to MOV converter and hit the Video button on the top of the window to add the MKV files. Step 2: If you need to adjust bitrate or other. File Extension: MOV: MKV: File Type: Apple QuickTime Movie: Matroska Video File: Description: MOV is a common multimedia container file format developed by Apple that holds multiple tracks of different media data, allowing you to store and synchronize different parts of video and audio media in one file.
Part 1. Play MKV with All-in-one Wondershare MKV Player & Converter
Free MP4 Converter is professional MP4 Video Converting software, which helps you convert any video format to and from MP4 video for playback on iPhone (iPhone X/8/7/SE/6s/6s Plus/6/6 Plus/5s/5c/5/4S), iPad (iPad Pro/Air 2/mini 3/4/Air/mini 2), iPod, and Apple TV. It also supports converting video t.
Without further ado, I'd like to recommend you Wondershare UniConverter (originally Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate), which combines MKV player and MKV converter into one, allowing you to free play MKV, MP4, MOV, and over 1000 popular video formats and easily convert MKV formats to other supported formats for playing back on any player.
1. Play MKV on Mac with Wondershare Free MKV Player
Step 1 Add MKV to Wondershare Free MKV Player
Open the Wondershare MKV player, drag, and drop your MKV video to the MKV video player. Then the added MKV file will be loaded in the video thumbnail.
Step 2 Play .mkv on Mac
Move the mouse over the MKV video thumbnail. You'd see a Play icon in the middle just as the screenshot shows.
Click the Play icon, and you'll see the loaded MKV video starts playing immediately.
2. Convert MKV to MOV or Other Formats Supported with Wondershare MKV Converter Mac
Here we take converting MKV to MOV as an example. See the detailed steps below.
Step 1 Add MKV Files to Convert to MOV
Launch Wondershare MKV Converter Mac, click to browse your Mac, and add your target MKV video to the program.
Step 2 Choose MOV as Output Format
Click the down arrow icon beside Output Format to get the full list of the output formats, select Video > MOV and choose a video resolution in the right.
If you have a lot of MKV files and want to play them on other Apple devices like iPhone, iPad, or iPod, you'd better convert MKV to an optimized device. In short, you can choose any format or device you want (most popular format or devices are also supported here).
Step 3 Convert MKV to MOV Easily
Hit Start All or Convert to start converting MKV videos on Mac. Once the MKV conversion completes, you can click the folder-like icon beside File Location in the bottom to get the converted .mov file. Now you can freely play MKV video with QuickTime player. Here, you also can download the MKV videos from the online site as the MOV format in this Wondershare Video Downloader for Mac easily.
Part 2. Convert MKV to Mac-compatible Formats with Free MKV Converter Online
Here is an easier way for you to free convert MKV to other supported formats on Mac. With the online MKV converter tool AConvert, you don't need to install any program but start MKV conversion online.
- Open AConvert, click on Video from the Control Panel located on the left side first.
- Click on the File > Browse button to add your MKV file.
- On Target Format, click on the down arrow and search for MOV or other formats.
- Click on Convert Now to initiate MKV conversion. Once finished, you can find the converted MKV files under Conversion Results.
Part 3. Install Perian Plugin for QuickTime to Play MKV on Mac
Perian is a free, open-source QuickTime component that adds native support for many popular video formats like the MKV. When you've had Perian installed, you have to quit QuickTime completely and then restart it.
Note that you don't close the QuickTime Window. Actually, it's still running in the background. Since only that way, QuickTime can update its format and encoding library. See the detailed steps below.
- Download Perian for QuickTime and double click to launch it.
- Drag and drop QuickTime components to Perian.
- Restart all programs related to QuickTime, including iTunes, QuickTime Player, your browser, etc.
Now you'll find that QuickTime now can magically support more diverse video formats: AVI, DivX, DivX 3.11 alpha, XviD, MS-MPEG4 v3, 3ivX, MS-MPEG4 v2, MS-MPEG4 v1, Truemotion VP6, Sorenson H.263, FLV, and formats that an AVI file contains--AC3, AAC Audio, VBR MP3, mpeg4, and h.264. In short, feel free to play MKV files on Mac.
Summary :
MKV is a multimedia video container much like MOV and AVI. You can easily come across an MKV video on the internet and you are allowed to download & keep it on your device. The problem so far is that MKV files are not supported by some devices/programs (e.g. iPhone and Android). Under such circumstances, it’s necessary to start the conversion from MKV to MOV (or another file format).
Quick Navigation :
Though many users have heard of MKV, which is used widely on the internet as a video format, the conversion from MKV to MOV (or another file format) is necessary sometimes. For example, the MKV files can’t be played on iPhone or Android devices. Later in this article, several useful apps will be introduced to help you convert MKV to MOV easily; you may choose the MKV converter that you like the most.
But before that talking about the MKV to MOV converter, I’d like to introduce MKV and MOV to you.
What Is MKV
MKV is a multimedia container that was originally released in December 2002; it’s not an audio or video compression method. An MKV file is also known as a Matroska Video file which is originated in Russia in 2002. The file extension of MKV files is .mkv, so an MKV file is also known as .mkv file (a file with .mkv suffix or extension).
The Matroska Multimedia Container is a free, open-standard container format, a file format that can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture, or subtitle tracks in one file. It is a universal format for storing common multimedia content, like movies or TV shows. Matroska is similar in concept to other containers like AVI, MP4, or Advanced Systems Format (ASF), but is entirely open in specification, with implementations consisting mostly of open-source software.- According to Wikipedia
A file can contain an unlimited number of audio, video, and subtitle tracks (like .SRT, .SSA, .USF, and VobSub) with the help of an MKV container, even though the elements are using different types of encoding. What does this mean? It means that both H.264 for video and MP3 or AAC for audio can be included in the same MKV file. The MKV file format is considered as the carrier for high-definition online videos. Why? The most important reason is that it gives support to ratings, cover art, descriptions, and even chapter points, making it the default video container format for the famous DivX Plus software.
Key Features of MKV
The MKV format is used widely for saving short video clips, TV shows, and movies. The main features of the online MKV files include:
- Fast seeking ability
- Online streaming compatibility
- Menu, chapter, and metadata support
- Subtitle support (both hard-coded and soft-coded)
- Error recovery (allows you to play even corrupted files)
MKV Player
Though MKV is not as popular as MP4, MOV, and AVI, it can still be supported by some players used on different platforms. The MKV player list below is in random order.
MKV Player Windows
- Microsoft Movies & TV
- Windows Media Player
- File Viewer Plus
- MiniTool Movie Maker
- DivX Player
- VideoLAN VLC media player
- KMPlayer
- MPlayer
- Etc.
MKV Player Mac
- DivX Player
- MPlayer
- VideoLAN VLC media player
- Roxio Popcorn
- Eltima Elmedia Player
- ShedWorx Smart Converter
MKV Player Android
- File Viewer for Android
- VideoLAN VLC for Android
- BIT LABS Simple MP4 Video Player
MKV Player iOS
- olimsoft OPlayer
- VideoLAN VLC for Mobile
- Pentaloop PlayerXtreme Media Player
Mkv To Mp4 Mac
MKV Player Linux
- MPlayer
- VideoLAN VLC media player
What Is MOV
MOV file is also called .mov file since its suffix/extension is .mov. Though the MOV format is designed by Apple, it can be supported by both Mac & Windows; the MOV videos can be played directly by the QuickTime Player and Windows Media Player. So the MOV file is also known as the Apple QuickTime Movie file. Also, the MOV file format is also compatible with Sony PSP and DVD players.
Multiple tracks may be contained in a single MOV file to store videos, audios, video effects, text, images, subtitles, and other media data. MOV is a video container widely used in movies, video editing software, and other video files. The MOV files are generally compressed by using MPEG-4 codec (MPEG4 vs. MP4).
MKV to MOV on Windows
As mentioned above, the MKV is not used as widely as MOV. So there are some cases people need to change the file format from MKV to MOV; for instance, the MKV video is not played in a certain app. In this case, an MKV converter is needed. In this part, I’ll introduce 4 converters that can help you convert MKV to MOV easily.
Choice 1: MiniTool Video Converter
Step 1: MKV to MOV converter software, free download.
- Click on the download button below.
- Navigate to the location that saves the vc-setup.exe file.
- Double click on the executable file to bring up the installation wizard.
- Click on the Install Now button and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.
- Click on the Start Now button to launch MiniTool Video Convert immediately.
You won’t be disappointed since it works well as an MKV to MOV converter; besides, it gives support to all common audio and video file formats (MP4, MP3, AVI, etc.).
Step 2: add MKV videos.
- Click on the Add Files button on the upper left side.
- Navigate to the location where the MKV video is stored in the Import Media window.
- Click to select the MKV file and click on the Open button.
You can add more videos by following ways:
- Repeat the above process.
- Click on the inverted triangle icon after the Add Files button -> choose Add Folder -> highlight the target folder -> click on the Select Folder button.
Another way to add files easily is by selecting the files you need in Windows Explorer -> dragging them directly to the Add or Drag files here to start conversion section -> dropping them inside the dotted box.
Step 3: convert the file to MOV.
- Change the storage location by clicking on the inverted triangle icon after Output.
- Click on the edit button under the Target section of certain MKV videos you added.
- Shift to Video at the top -> select MOV in the left sidebar -> choose from 4K Video, HD 1080P, HD 720P, and SD 480P in the right pane.
- Click on the Convert button and wait for the conversion to complete.
To convert more than one file to MOV, you should select MOV as the target format by clicking on the inverted triangle icon after Convert all files to -> click on the Convert All button -> wait until the conversion is finished.
Now, you may shift to the Converted tab and click on the Show in folder button to have a look at the converted MOV files.
What about MKV to MP4, MKV to MP3, and MKV to AVI? The conversion steps are the same except that you should select MP4, MP3, and AVI respectively as the target file format.
If you are curious about MP4 vs. MP3 and want to convert MP4 to MP3 on Windows/Mac, please read this page:
People want to convert MP4 to MP3 in some cases; this post shows you how to convert MP4 to MP3 on Windows & Mac for free.
Choice 2: MiniTool MovieMaker
Though this software is mainly designed to create & edit videos, it can also be used to play videos and convert them to a different format.
- Go to the MiniTool MovieMaker official website and click Download Now.
- Install the software and launch it after installation.
- Close the pop-up window in the center.
- Click on the Import Media Files button on the upper left side.
- Select the target MKV file and click Open.
- Drag the MKV video to the timeline at the bottom left; you can edit the video if you like.
- Click on the Export button at the top right.
- Select MOV from the drop-down list of Format -> change the file name, storage path, and resolution according to needs -> click Export.
- Wait for the process to end.
- Click Find Target in the pop-up window saying that Your movie is done.
Choice 3: FormatFactory
- Also, you need to download & install FormatFactory properly.
- Launch the software to enter its main window.
- Click -> AVI FLV MOV … under Video in the left pane.
- Select MOV and click OK in the pop-up Output File window.
- Click on the Add File button at the top right corner of the -> MOV window. (You can also add more files by clicking Add Folder at the bottom.)
- Select the MKV video and click Open; then, edit the video if you want.
- Change Output Folder (this is optional) and click OK.
- Click on the Start button at the top center and wait for the conversion to finish.
- Click on the Open Output Folder icon under Output/Convert State to check the MOV file.
How to convert MKV to MOV using VLC?
Considering some people are asking whether they can convert MKV to MOV using VLC, I’d like to talk about it. The VLC media player is a popular video player and converter; it provides different editions for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. Though it gives support to various audio and video formats like MP4, MP3, OGG, and FLAC, it doesn't include the MOV file format. Therefore, you’re not supposed to convert MKV or other formats to MOV by using VLC.
MKV to MOV on Mac
Choice 1: Cisdem Video Converter
The Cisdem Video Converter for Mac can help you download and convert videos on Mac without quality loss; you may give it a shot.
- Download and install the problem on your Mac properly.
- The convert tab will be selected by default.
- Import the MKV files from the media browser or just drag & drop the MKV files to the central part.
- Navigate to the format tray -> select General Video -> choose MOV Video or MOV HD Video.
- Click on the gear icon to modify quality, bitrate, codec, frame rate, and other settings. (This is optional.)
- Click Convert at bottom right and wait for the conversion to finish.
Choice 2: EaseFab Video Converter
- Download, install, and launch EaseFab Video Converter.
- Click on the Add Video button -> browse & select the MKV video files to open. (You can also drag the MKV files and drop it into the program directly.)
- Open the drop-down list of Profile -> select Common Video in the left pane -> choose MOV in the right pane.
- Click Convert and wait until the conversion is finished.
MKV Converters Online
If you search the keyword “MKV to MOV” in Google, you’ll get over 9 million results within just one second. Many of them are free and can help you convert certain amounts of MKV files in easy steps. I’ll list just 4 online converters with the converting steps. Please note they are in no particular order.
One: ConvertFiles.
- Go to the MKV to MOV page of ConvertFiles.
- Click on the Browse button after Choose a local file.
- Navigate to your MKV video file -> select it -> click Open.
- The Input format will be changed to Matroska Video File (.mkv) and the Output format will be QuickTime Movie File (.mov).
- Click on the Convert button below to start uploading and converting the MKV file.
- Wait until the conversion is completed.
- You’ll see the Click here to go to the download page prompt; just click it to download the converted file.
Two: CloudConvert.
- Go to the MKV to MOV page of CloudConvert.
- Click on the Select File button -> select the MKV file -> click Open. (You can also click on the down arrow after Select File -> choose From my Computer, By URL, From Google Drive, From Dropbox, or From OneDrive -> select the MKV video.)
- Click on the Convert button at the bottom right and wait.
- Click on the Download button when the conversion is finished.
Three: Zamzar.
Mkv To Mov Mac
- Visit Zamzar MKV to MOV page.
- Click on the Add Files button.
- Navigate to the MKV file -> select it -> click Open.
- Click on the Convert Now button.
- Wait for the file uploading and converting process to finish.
- Click on the Download button to save the converted file to your device.
Four: FreeFileConvert.
- Visit FreeFileConvert MKV to MOV page.
- Shift to the File tab.
- Click on the Choose File button under Input file.
- Select the MKV file and click Open.
- Choose mov from the drop-down list of Convert files to under Output format.
- Click on the Convert button under Convert.
- Wait for the process to end.
- Click on the Download button under Action to save the MOV file.
Verdict
Mkv To Mov Converter Mac Imovie
Both MKV and MOV are common formats for video files, but the former is not as popular as the latter. MKV can’t be played/supported by some programs, so some people want to change the video file format from MKV to MOV.
In the beginning, MKV and MOV formats are introduced to you. Later, some third-party software that can be used on Windows/Mac to convert MKV to MOV is introduced with the conversion steps. Finally, several MKV converters are displayed with the conversion steps. You may choose the one you like to try first when you need to change the file format.