Top 7 Free .mkv Player to Play MKV Files

Recommended by the author

Top 7 Free .mkv Player | How to Play MKV Videos on Windows/Mac/Linux/Android/iOS

Updated on Aug 25, 2023

This article aims to introduce top 7 great free .mkv player that can play .mkv files on a broad range of operating systems including Windows/Mac/Linux/Android/iOS. This well-received MKV file player is utmost reliable to play any MKV video, you can free download MKV player here:

https://www.videoconverterfactory.com/download/hd-video-converter.exe hd-video-converter.exe

MKV Won't Play? You Still Need a .mkv Player

Are you still suffering from the inability to play the MKV file? The MKV format is a supported format by your device, but you can't play the MKV video on the device, right? If you google problems, you will find that many people have encountered the MKV playback issues such as cannot play MKV on Samsung TV, cannot play MKV on LG TV, cannot play MKV on PS4, etc.

In fact, MKV is just a free and open-standard multimedia container format, what really matters is the different video & audio codecs as well as picture, subtitle tracks, etc. Excluding MKV file corruption, the main reason for MKV files cannot be played is that the default media player does not have a decoder for MKV files, so you will see "the video is unrecognized", "unable to play", " missing codecs/decoder " error messages, etc. Usually, installing the necessary MKV decoder will solve the problem, but many people will get confused or encounter other problems during the installation process.

Hence, for this situation, this article recommends several free MKV players with built-in common audio and video decoder.

1. VLC Media Player - The Most Popular and Powerful Multimedia Player

2. Media Player Classic Home Cinema (MPC-HC) - Great Option for Windows Users

3. KMPlayer - Includes Built-in Codecs to Support More Types of Files

4. PotPlayer - A Good Replacement to KMPlayer

5. GOM Player - Features Strong Support for All Kinds of Video/Audio and Optional Useful Features

6. MPV - Available on Multiple Platforms

7. IINA - A Delicated Media Player for Mac

Bonus Tips to Play MKV Files

Top 7 MKV File Players for Different Platforms

1. .mkv Player - VLC Media Player

Play MKV Files on VLC

OS: Windows/Mac/Linux/Android/iOS

Download link: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

VLC Media Player is a popular free multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files. VLC Media Player has excellent tools for tweaking video and audio playback, it can play most videos without extra codec packs installed including MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, MKV, WebM, WMV, MP3, etc. It’s blazingly fast and it does everything without spyware, ads or anything else unnecessary. VLC Media Player can be the best MKV player among all kinds of media players.

Also see: Fix VLC MRL Error | How to Play DVD in VLC | VLC 4K Playback

2. .mkv Player - Media Player Classic Home Cinema (MPC-HC)

MKV Player Windows 10/8/8.1/7/Vista/XP

OS: Windows

Download link: https://mpc-hc.org/

MPC-HC only is available on Windows but it is a powerful video player that supports all common video and audio file formats available for playback, it even can play ISO files. MPC has built-in codecs for MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H264 video with support for subtitles and codecs for LPCM, MP2, 3GP, AC3, AAC and DTS audio. (Note that MPC-HC ended update since 2017)

3. .mkv Player - KMPlayer

MKV Media Player

OS: Windows/Mac/Android/iOS

Download link: http://www.kmplayer.com/

Previously, we mentioned that KMPlayer can play DAV files. It can also play MKV files. KMPlayer has its own built-in codec required for multimedia playback. Therefore, media files can be played directly without an additional codec. KMPlayer’s supported codec is divided into internal/external. It can support MPEG1, 2, AAC, WMA 7, 8, OGG for voice codec and support matrix function/normalizer function when using built-in voice codec.

4. .mkv Player - PotPlayer

MKV Player Freeware

OS: Windows

Download link: https://potplayer.daum.net/

PotPlayer is based on the popular KMPlayer and created by the same team. This free media player can not only play videos but also optimize these videos for the output device. PotPlayer is compatible with almost all formats including MKV, and it offers filters and effects to make your video clips look better.

5. .mkv Player - GOM Player

GOM MKV Video Player

OS: Windows/Mac

Download link: http://player.gomlab.com/

With millions of users in hundreds of countries, GOM Player is one of the most popular video players of the whole world. GOM Player is a good 360 video player, besides, with the built-in support for all popular video and media player formats, plenty of advanced features and extreme customization as well as Codec Finder service, GOM Player will certainly meet all your playback needs.

6. .mkv Player - MPV

MPV MKV File Player

OS: Windows/Mac/Linux/Android

Download link: https://mpv.io/installation/

MPV is a media player based on MPlayer and MPlayer2. It supports a wide variety of video file formats, audio and video codecs, and subtitle types. MPV leverages the FFmpeg hwaccel APIs to support VDPAU, VAAPI, DXVA2, VDA and VideoToolbox video decoding acceleration. Hence, you can enjoy your MKV videos on MPV easily.

7. .mkv Player - IINA

IINA MKV File Player

OS: Mac

Download link: https://lhc70000.github.io/iina/

IINA is born to be a modern macOS application, from its framework to user interface. IINA takes the basic idea of VLC, an open source video player that can handle all kinds of file formats and stably output high-quality video optimized for retina screen.

Still Cannot Play MKV File?

If you still cannot play MKV files using above players, it may be due to the following three reasons:

1. The MKV file is damaged

You can download MediaInfo to check whether the MKV file has video and audio data or not.

2. The MKV file is encrypted

If the MKV file is encrypted, then it may require an appropriate player or permission to play.

3.MKV file contains unsupported codecs.

In such case, you can use a transcoder, i.e. WonderFox Free HD Video Converter Factory, to change MKV container and codecs so that you can play it on any device without hassle. This program is perfect for solving all types of playback issues caused by incompatible formats or codecs. Even better, it features a built-in player, offering a one-stop solution to play and convert your MKV video. Here is a simple how-to guide:

Play and Convert MKV Video with HD Video Converter Factory Pro for Smooth Playback

Step 1. Download Download and install WonderFox MKV Video Converter on Windows.

Step 2. Go to "Converter". Click on Add Files button to load your MKV video.

Step 3. Just press play button and it starts playing. To convert it to other formats like MP4, you need to enter the output format library and go to Video > MP4. Hit the Parameter settings button to change the codecs and modify other parameters.

Stpep 4. Set a destination and hit Run to start conversion.

Now, you can play the converted MKV video on any device with no error.

How to & Tips