by Christine Smith • 2020-10-28 17:39:14 • Proven solutions

Here lists 2017 top 5 free MKV players for Mac users to play HD/4K MKV videos on Mac OS X without codecs or plug-ins installed. Free download the best MKV video players on Mac and enjoy Matroska files smoothly.
The 3 ways mentioned above offer users flexibility for playing 720p/ 1080p MKV video files on Mac system. While installing VLC player is quite easy and quick, converting MKV lets you get a Mac readable file, so you can use it on Mac platform hassle-free later. Also, you can choose to install a QuickTime component to play the MKV file.
Play MKV with All-in-one Wondershare MKV Player & Converter. Without further ado, I'd like.

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.

An MKV file can contain audio, video and subtitles. As MKV stores lossless multimedia contents, many HD movies are saved in MKV files. Plus, MKV can save more than one tracks into a single file, so it is a good choice if you wish to edit it later. Part 2: How to Play MKV Files on PC/Mac. The biggest downside of MKV is compatibility. Download MKPlayer - MKV & Media Player for macOS 10.10 or later and enjoy it on your Mac. ‎MKPlayer is an easy-to-use media player designed to offer unique features to enjoy watching videos and listening to music: - Play movies on your TV with a simple click (check compatibility before unlocking) - Safari Extension to help you to easily open.

Part 1. Play MKV with All-in-one Wondershare MKV Player & Converter

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.

.mkv For Mac Free Download

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.

Devices and Mac OS X version

VLC media player requires Mac OS X 10.7.5 or later. It runs on any 64bit Intel-based Mac. Previous devices are supported by older releases.
Note that the first generation of Intel-based Macs equipped with Core Solo or Core Duo processors is no longer supported. Please use version 2.0.10 linked below.

Web browser plugin for Mac OS X

Mkv Player For Mac

Support for NPAPI plugins was removed from all modern web browsers, so VLC's plugin is no longer maintained. The last version is 3.0.4 and can be found here. It will not receive any further updates.

Older versions of Mac OS X and VLC media player

We provide older releases for users who wish to deploy our software on legacy releases of Mac OS X. You can find recommendations for the respective operating system version below. Note that support ended for all releases listed below and hence they won't receive any further updates.

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

Use VLC 2.2.8. Get it here.

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard

Use VLC 2.0.10. Get it for PowerPC or 32bit Intel.

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger

Mac OS X 10.4.7 or later is required

Use VLC 0.9.10. Get it for PowerPC or Intel.

Mac OS X 10.3 Panther

QuickTime 6.5.2 or later is required

Use VLC 0.8.6i. Get it for PowerPC.

Mkv For Mac Quicktime

Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar

Mac Os Mkv Player

Use VLC 0.8.4a. Get it for PowerPC.

Mkv Files Mac

Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah and 10.1 Puma

Use VLC 0.7.0. Get it for PowerPC.