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Top 3 Ways to Play WMV on Mac (Catalina/Big Sur Included)

Posted by Kaylee Wood | Last update: July 17, 2020

How to play WMV on Mac? One of the most frequent questions does Mac users ask is that how to play WMV on Mac (OS X/Sierra/Mojave/Catalina/Big Sur), because they commonly get an error message with the lines of 'This is not a movie file'. It is quite difficult for Mac users to play WMV on macOS as WMV files use Microsoft proprietary codecs that only play in Windows Media Player and don't work in Mac OS. Fortunately, there are 3 solutions for you to play WMV on Mac without hassle and you can go ahead and forget about WMP because the Mac apps are obviously better and more versatile.

5KPlayer - Best Free WMV Player to Play WMV on Mac

5KPlayer is the best WMV player for Mac that can play WMV, WMA, ASF as well as other MKV, FLV UHD video files up to 4K 8K with WOW-effect images. It is the best QuickTime Player alternative that even exceeds QuickTime as it is perfectly compatible with Mac OS X, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur. What's more, for Windows users, if you meet the WMV playback problems on Windows 10, 5KPlayer is the easiest solution to solve WMV video file stutter, choppy crash and other errors.

What is WMV? How to Play WMV on Mac?

Windows Media Video (WMV) is part of the Windows Media framework consisting of a series of video codecs and their corresponding video coding formats. It is developed by Microsoft and commonly applied in a variety of Windows-based players. In the light of easy sharing via Internet and Email, WMV files are also popular among other platforms like Mac and Linux. However, Windows Media Player for Mac doesn't even come close to Mac OS X QuickTime. How to play WMV on Mac? There are 3 different ways for you to play WMV on Mac easily.

Top 3 Ways to Play WMV on Mac (Big Sur, Catalina and Before)

Method 1. Use Best Free WMV Player Mac 5KPlayer to Play WMV on Mac

It is highly-recommended that 5KPlayer is the best free WMV player for Mac OS as well as best media player for Windows 10 to play WMV movies. Equipped with 450+ video codecs and 180+ audio codecs, 5KPlayer could be the best WMV player for Mac that will let you play WMV/WMA/ASF files without any plugin or converting, and plays just anything you throw at it with flying colors and dulcet sounds, like play 4K videos, 3D MKV DivX AVI FLV 1080p movies and MP3 AAC FLAC music songs. This Mac multimedia player is the most versatile player out there besides play WMV on Mac, it also enables you to play MOV files, convert WMA to MP4 and download latest hot movies like Parasite, Onward, The Hunt, etc. and hot music songs from 300+ sites.

Fringe Benefits: If you want to show what's on your iPhone/Android to Mac or Windows PC, this WMV player with AirPlay function will enable you to AirPlay WMV AVI MKV FLV etc. video movies to PC with better images.

Method 2. Install Flip4Mac Component for QuickTime to Play WMV on Mac

Flip4Mac is a set of video components for OS X, which allows you to solve QuickTime won't play WMV problem on Mac directly. Download and install Flip4Mac component, this Microsoft-designed application attaches itself to QuickTime. You won't notice the application once it installed. However, when WMV files are opened, they play directly through QuickTime instead of jumping out a message prompting you the software is unable to read the file. Double-click the WMV files, it will automatically play WMV on Mac with QuickTime Player. This WMV player Mac also owns the ability to convert WMV to MOV for iPad, iPod and iPhone.

But if you want to import WMV WMA ASF files for editing and conversion to more QuickTime formats or iOS devices, you need to upgrade to the pro version with $29. What’s more, Flip4Mac is no longer supported higher than El Capitan Mac OS 10.11. In that case, you'd better use a standard and standalone WMV player for Mac like 5KPlayer to convert WMV to MP3 MP4 or more.

Method 3. Convert WMV in Mac OS X to Play WMV on Mac

Downloading a conversion software is the recommended solution by Microsoft official support site, "download and install the conversion software you want" though, there are plenty of programs capable of getting the converting job done for us, and the best is always the one we want. MacX Video Converter Pro is such a great file conversion application available for you to convert WMV and play WMV on Mac. It takes advantage of your Mac's multi-core processor and convert your WMV files on Mac at time quickly. It is an all-in-one video tool to convert WMV WMA ASF AVI etc to Mac OS X compatible format.

Key Features of MacX Video Converter Pro:

* Convert WMV WMA ASF to MP4 MP3 MOV for macOS.
* Convert any video to the format that works with iPhone/Android/Windows OS.
* Customize videos: cut, trim, crop, merge, add subtitles and watermarks etc.
* World's fastest, 5X faster speed to access large 4K UHD video.

How to Play WMV on Mac with WMV Player Mac 5KPlayer?

If Flip4mac cannot meet your system requirement, or you do not want to install the conversion program that you rarely use, 5KPlayer with built-in WMV codec support and simple converting function could be your best choice.

Step 1: Free download this best free WMV player for Mac and run it on your Mac. (PS: 5KPlayer is perfectly compatible with Mac OS X/macOS Big Sur/Windows 10 and before.)

Step 2: Add the WMV files you want to play to the program.
There are several ways to play WMV on Mac with 5KPlayer and just select the one you prefer:
1. Click the Video icon, choose the WMV files you want to play and press Open. You can also double click the files for playing.
2. Go File and open Media File in the system bar and choose the video.
3. "Drag and Drop" the video from your local file to the main interface of 5KPlayer.
4. Make 5KPlayer your default WMV player for Mac, and then just double click your WMV files.

Note: You are free to pause, fast forward, fast backward your WMV files. Simultaneously, you can choose the audio track and subtitle track of the WMV files.

How to convert WMV to MP3, MP4 with 5KPlayer for playback on iPhone Mac?

Step 1: Launch 5KPlayer on your Mac PC.

Step 2: Click on "Library" icon in the upper middle Menu bar, then select "Playlists > Movies" on the left side navigation.

Step 3: Click on "+" icon to add the WMV video you want to convert, then move your mouse to it and you will see the "Convert" button from a drop-down menu.

Step 4: Choose the one you prefer from "Convert to MP3", "Convert to AAC" and "Convert to MP4" to convert your WMV files.

Note: If you choose "Convert to MP4", there are more output formats including MP4 AVI FLV MKV MOV etc for iPad iPhone iPod Android etc.

Choose one of the three ways mentioned above, you can solve how to play WMV on Mac problem easily. Of course, it is highly recommended that you use 5KPlayer, the easiest and smartest solution, to play WMV on Mac. What is still better, you can use this Mac media player to download WMV WMA ASF MKV FLV etc files online freely and stream them to TV with clearer and better images.

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