1. Troubleshooting: Why Can’t VLC Media Player Open .MKV Files? Solutions for Viewing

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Can VLC Play MKV? How to Fix VLC Not Playing MKV?

Posted by Kaylee Wood | Last update: April 28, 2020

- “My VLC can’t play MKV files, I tried every solution I could find on the forums, Yahoo answer, but it still takes a while to start playing or stutters on playback, should I give up on VLC because of this? “

Still griping about VLC can’t play MKV like it is supposed to be? But couldn’t find an effective way to solve this annoying problem? Be patient, in order to play MKV files with VLC in good condition, you need to figure out where the problem lies.

In order to find a MKV video player , most of people would simply turn to VLC player , as it is a well-known media player which claims to be able to play any MKV. But when you bumped into problems this and that by playing MKV with VLC player, your hands are tied. To get to the bottom of why VLC can’t play MKV, first we need to know what an MKV file is, and can VLC really play MKV files despite the problems other than VLC itself? And the last, how to solve VLC not playing MKV?

What Is an MKV File?

MKV file is a multimedia container format in confliction with the common sense that MKV file is an audio and video compression format. This true essence means that MKV is a container that can incorporate audio, video, and subtitles into a single file even if they use a different type of encoding.

MKV also known as Matroska Video file which is a free, open multimedia that differentiate with MP4 and AVI which are industry standard, thus MKV is not the video file that all media players support to play.

Can VLC Play MKV?

Yes, VLC can open MKV files for sure, but it is also known for sure that VLC can’t play MKV files smoothly without problem, because so many users are having the problem of playing MKV with VLC. Such as: VLC audio delay , playback stuttering, fuzzy image, buggy interface quirks, etc. Before VLC officially solve the problem of VLC not playing MKV with good quality, here are two solutions worth a try to fix VLC can’t play MKV.

Solution 1: Play MKV Files Sleekly with Best VLC Alternative - 5KPlayer

Being the No.2 video player downloads on Softonic, 5KPlayer is second only to VLC, which makes it the one who truly deserves to be called best VLC alternative . This VLC alternative is embedded with 450+ video codec and 180+ audio codec such that there is no need to install a third party software, or plug-ins, or download any codec pack like CCCP - the one VLC needs to play MKV. Check the reasons why this VLC alternative is superior to VLC on video Playback:

▶ VLC alternative - 5KPlayer supports playing MKV (H.265) fluently without issues.
▶ VLC alternative excels in play 4K MKV on both Mac and PC.
▶ VLC alternative has an media library while VLC doesn’t.
▶ VLC alternative also solved VLC can’t play DVD problem .

And to solve VLC can’t play MKV, the easiest way is to:

Step 1: Free download this VLC alternative for Windows/Mac right on this page.
Step 2: Launch this best VLC alternative.
Step 3: Drag & drop the MKV file to this VLC alternative and it will play it with good quality right away.

Solution 2: Convert MKV to More Compatible Formats Like MP4/MOV to Solve VLC not Playing MKV

If you insist in using VLC to be your default video player, you can also simply convert the MKV files to a better compatible video format MP4 or MOV, which is more popular than MKV that can be easily played any video player on Mac, PC or other portable devices.

Here we recommend 5KPlayer’s best mates WinX video converter for Windows and MacX video converter for Mac. As the video converter also helps to convert AVI/MKV/FLV/WMV files to AirPlay compatible formats (MP4, MOV, M4V) for 5KPlayer to stream video content from Mac/PC to Apple TV.

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