macOS – Playing AVI Files Using VLC

quicktimevideovlc

On Ubuntu, I use VLC to play all types of videos. Now I have a MacBook Air I bought in 2017 with macOS High Sierra. I tried to play an AVI file, but QuickTime does not recognize the format. There is no other app it offers in Applications. So I tried searching for VLC on the App Store but unable to find it.

How can I play AVI videos, which QuickTime does not recognize on macOS? Why isn't VLC on the App Store?

Best Answer

VLC for macOS is available and is regularly updated, just like VLC for Ubuntu. If you can play a file using VLC in Ubuntu, it can also be played by VLC on macOS.

You can download VLC for macOS here.

Clicking the download button will download a .dmg file in Downloads folder in Finder. To install VLC, simply double-click the .dmg file. A DMG file is identified as Apple Disk Image in macOS and is mounted as a volume in Finder. To install VLC simply copy VLC.app by dragging it into the /Applications directory.

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Alternatively, if you have Homebrew setup (a popular package manager for macOS), you can install VLC using Homebrew Cask by running:

brew cask install vlc

VLC for macOS is not distributed via Mac App Store. Unlike iOS App Store, Mac App Store isn't the only option to install apps in macOS. A lot of developers choose to distribute their apps independently.

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