Tap the space bar again to close it.Īpple's main app for playing back videos is QuickTime Player. Quick Look then opens up a preview window that shows you the video playing. Click to select a video, then tap the space bar.Ĭlick to select a video file in the Finder, then press the space bar and you get a Quick Look preview that will play the entire video If Safari is surprisingly handy for this, Apple goes one better when you just want to check that video is what you think it is - and that you can play it. If you drag it when Safari is showing its Favorites list, you end up with a bookmark to the video instead of it playing. mp4 file onto Safari, it will play.īe sure to drag it onto an open web page, though. Nonetheless, the five are free, they do play back a lot of video that's available, and they also come with some advantages. So all five are limited to the same couple of types of video format. Macs already come with five different ways to play video, though all five really use the same playback engine. Add one or more of these recommended apps to your Mac and iOS device, and you're covered.ĭon't ignore Apple's own video playback tools on the Mac Each has advantages and disadvantages to do with picture and sound quality, or file size, and some suit Windows more than Mac.įortunately, though, there are apps that can play back practically every video format you can ever find.

mov one, but they won't help with anything else.Īnd unfortunately, there are a lot of other video formats. That's because as good as Macs, iPhones and iPads are at playing back video, by default they're also extremely limited. But you could be missing out on all of those home movies you've collected over the years, all of those DVDs you've ripped, and maybe all of those VHS tapes you got converted.

If you only ever watch YouTube in the Safari browser, or TV through your Apple TV app, you're fine.

Best video player for mac