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Tiny Clive Author

Level 1

12 points

Any idea why I can't play .AVI files on Quicktime on OS Catalina?

My Macbook Air is refusing to recognise .avi video files in Quicktime - I have no idea why... Thank you for any help.

MacBook Air 11″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jul 2, 2020 10:25 AM

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7 replies

Tiny Clive Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 2, 2020 10:43 AM in response to dialabrain

Thanks indeed for responding. However, my partner also has a Macbook Air OS High Sierra and he CAN play .avi video. It's weird.

I ask because we have a wildlife cam set up in our garden. It is a motion censor video-cam taking photos and recording 30 seconds of video. Although I can view the photos from the memory card, I can't play the 30 second videos using Quicktime but my partner can - using Quicktime.

Baffled at the moment.

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Level 10

122,627 points

Jul 2, 2020 10:37 AM in response to Tiny Clive

Quicktime doesn't support .avi files. Use VLC https://www.videolan.org/index.html

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Level 10

122,627 points

Jul 2, 2020 10:46 AM in response to Tiny Clive

You're welcome. He may still have Perian or another third-party add-on which allowed QuickTime to play them.

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Tiny Clive Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 2, 2020 11:27 AM in response to dialabrain

Again, thank you for that. In that case, am I able to revert (if that's the term) to adding Perian on my own laptop?

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Level 10

122,627 points

Jul 2, 2020 11:39 AM in response to Tiny Clive

Perian was discontinued 8 years ago. I certainly wouldn't downgrade since VLC, IINA, and perhaps other players support AVI files.

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Tiny Clive Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 2, 2020 12:09 PM in response to dialabrain

Thank you. I've tried VLC and no joy....

This is utterly perplexing. :(

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Level 10

122,627 points

Jul 2, 2020 12:27 PM in response to Tiny Clive

That is odd. I have almost 100 AVI files and they all play in VLC and IINA. Maybe someone else will have an idea.

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Any idea why I can't play .AVI files on Quicktime on OS Catalina?

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