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MKV Codec Windows 10/Mac Download Free

Posted by Kaylee Wood | Last update: August 28, 2019

Codec is a program created to encode or decode the video or audio files, so MKV codec is a necessity for any MKV media playback. This place will try to explain what is MKV codec, and why and how to download MKV codec for Windows 10 and Mac in detail.

Main Contents:
What is MKV Codec?
Which Media Player Needs to Download MKV Codec Pack?
Where & How to Download MKV Codec?
MKV Codec vs. MKV Player: Is MKV Codec the Best Choice for MKV Playback?

What is MKV Codec?

Like MP4 codec , MKV is a container format that can contain various video and audio codecs for media playback, so the codec that can be used to encode and decode MKV file can be classified into MKV codec. MKV codecs are variable including common H.264 (AVC ; MPEG 4 Part 10), DivX Video, XviD Video, AAC Audio, Ogg Vorbis audio, Multichannel (5.1 surround) audio, Dolby AC3 audio, MP3 audio, MPEG4V1/2/3 video, and rare Realvideo, Realaudio, RV 9, RV 10 and ON2 (VP4, VP5, VP6).

Therefore, if your media player doesn’t include the specific MKV codec like H.264, it will fail to decode the MKV files. MKV codec pack is the key factor to decode MKV files, that’s why we need to download MKV codec pack for Windows 10 or Mac when MKV not playing error happens.

Which Media Player Needs to Download MKV Codec Pack?

1. QuickTime Player: Often the case, you will get an error message “Error-2048: the file is not a movie file” or something like that when trying to play MKV with QuickTime player, as QuickTime does not natively support MKV files. To make MKV videos playable in QuickTime, you may need to download MKV codec pack Mac for QuickTime.

2. Windows Media Player: Though Windows 10 has claimed to support MKV codec, we still can’t play MKV in Windows Media Player as WMP is not a real MKV video player . WMV (Windows Media Video) is actually the native video format that WMP supports and Microsoft like to promote to turn against other non-Windows media formats like MKV. So, MKV codec download for Windows Media Player is needed.

3. VLC Media Player: Though VLC media player is very popular, it is not almighty. As VLC only supports MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MPEG-4 ASP, H.264, DivX 4/5/6, XviD, SV1, 3ivX D4 and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codecs as of now, you need external MKV codec pack to strengthen it and help solve VLC can’t play MKV problem.

Besides the top three media players for Mac or Windows 10, other third-party media players like KMPlayer may also lack MKV codecs to decode MKV files. If your media player is encountering such a problem, you are highly suggested to download MKV codecs.

Where & How to Download MKV Codec?

1. Matroska Pack Full: https://www.matroska.org/downloads/windows.html

Matroska Pack Full is a set of audio and video codecs used to facilitate the playback of MKV files on Windows PC. Besides, you can also find other components to help beef up the media player besides the MKV codec pack for Windows Media Player . If interested, here also provides a MKV codec identifier called matroskadiag.exe (https://www.matroska.org/files/MatroskaDiag.exe ) to help check your MKV file and make sure which MKV codec is missing.

2. Media Player Codec Pack: https://www.mediaplayercodecpack.com/

This MKV codec pack is specifically designed for Microsoft Windows Media Player 12, 11 & 10 and any other media players like VLC which are compatible with DirectShow. Besides MKV codec, this codec site also allows you to install major multimedia codecs, filters, plug-ins and splitters for media players on Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP, 2000, 2008 & 2003. Including x264, x265, AVC and Xvid, this codec pack supports almost every compression and file type used by modern video and audio files.

3. CCCP (Combined Community Codec Pack): http://www.cccp-project.net/

CCCP is a collected archive of codecs packed for Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10 to help media player play most common media files and formats like MKV. By installing it, your video player is able to play MKV encoded with H.264, DivX, XviD, AAC, etc much more easily. However, to avoid the major problem caused by conflicting codec packs, you’d better uninstall all the codec packs on your computer and then install the CCCP MKV codec pack.

4. K-Lite Codec Pack: https://www.codecguide.com/download\_kl.htm

The K-Lite Codec Pack is also only compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 & 10. Based on your different requirements, K-Lite offers you four types of codec pack ranging from a very small bundle that contains only the most essential decoders to a large and more comprehensive bundle. Here, you could only download the basic one which contains codecs for playback of MKV, MP4, AVI, FLV, MOV, etc. Like other MKV codec packs, K-Lite codec pack also includes 32-bit and 64-bit codecs that will work great on both x86 and x64 variants of Windows.

Is MKV Codec Better than MKV Player for MKV Playback?

MKV codec indeed has some shortcomings: MKV codec is necessary for MKV playback but that doesn’t mean we need to install external MKV codecs for those codecs are not that perfect. Third-party MKV codec pack from unknown sites may contain virus, adware or spyware that may conflict with your programs and even corrupt your operating system of computer. Besides, the newly-downloaded MKV codecs may conflict with the existed codecs on your comouter. If you have spent time learning the codec pack, you will find that third-party MKV codec pack doesn’t update for a very long time, for example the CCCP codec pack last updated in 2015, so the quite old MKV codecs maybe not suitable for your media player. Worse still, there seems no good site to offer MKV codec pack for Mac computer.

So MKV player with embedded MKV codecs is better: A professional MKV player often comes with built-in MKV codecs like H.264, DivX, XviD, AAC, etc that used to encode and decode MKV videos files. No need to download external MKV codec pack that may cause several troubles, a MKV video player lets you play any MKV media files directly and easily on Windows 10 and Mac.

Best Free MKV Player Windows 10/Mac for Any MKV Playback

Considering that MKV not playing problem may happen to Windows Media Player, QuickTime and VLC because of lack of MKV codec, 5KPlayer is therefore recommended to be the best MKV video player to help play any MKV files encoded with different kinds of MKV codecs. Born to be a free video music player , besides MKV playback, 5KPlayer also offers the possibility for you to play MP4, WMV, MOV, FLV, DVD, 360°, etc videos in 4K/HEVC/HDR and even up to 8K, and play MP3, AAC, FLAC, etc hassle free.

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