Perian is a freeware utility which adds codecs to Quicktime so that you can view and use a variety of important sound and video files on your Mac.
Perian enables QuickTime application support for additional media:
- Perian for Mac Free The Perian Team Mac OS X 10.4 Intel/PPC, Mac OS X 10.5 Intel/PPC, Mac OS X 10.6 Intel/10.7 Version 1.2.3 Full Specs Editors' Rating.
- Although you can still download Perian, the project is no longer supported. Developers can use Perian’s source code if they want to further develop the project while Mac users can turn to VLC, MPlayer OSX or Niceplayer to play file formats that are not natively supported by Mac OS X.
- File formats: AVI, DIVX, FLV, MKV, GVI, VP6, and VFW
- Video types: MS-MPEG4 v1 & v2, DivX, 3ivx, H.264, Sorenson H.263, FLV/Sorenson Spark, FSV1, VP6, H263i, VP3, HuffYUV, FFVHuff, MPEG1 & MPEG2 Video, Fraps, Snow, NuppelVideo, Techsmith Screen Capture, DosBox Capture
- Audio types: Windows Media Audio v1 & v2, Flash ADPCM, Xiph Vorbis (in Matroska), and MPEG Layer I & II Audio, True Audio, DTS Coherent Acoustics, Nellymoser ASAO
- AVI support for: AAC, AC3 Audio, H.264, MPEG4, and VBR MP3
- Subtitle support for: SSA/ASS and SRT
Uninstall Perian using App Cleaner & Uninstaller. The advantage of App Cleaner & Uninstaller is that it finds and removes all the support files of applications and does not leave remains on your Mac. Even if you deleted programs previously in the usual way, the uninstaller will find the leftovers of those apps and will display them in the Remains tab.
QuickTime support will make these files work in PowerPoint (for example, FLV or flash movies downloaded from You Tube) and other Microsoft apps, as well as your QuickTime app.
Installation of Perian
It is preinstalled on all MacBook Pros and MacBooks beginning June, 2010.
To download Perian to your Mac click here: http://www.perian.org/#download
FAQ: QuickTime Not Working with Perian
1. Cannot open Perian on Mac
Q: I've tried to download Perian from different sources but none of them can be opened because of unidentified developer.
On you Mac, go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General > Allow apps downloaded from… and set your preference, try to open Perian again to see if it works. For any users who can't open Perian for QuickTime, we suggest checking if the components are compatible with the version of QuickTime and macOS.
2. QuickTime with Perian won't open AVI files
Download Perian For Mac Windows 7
Q: QuickTime refuses to play AVI files in QuickTime 7. Any straightforward solution for this problem?
It's common that QuickTime won't play AVI files even you have Perian installed on your computer. AVI is a container format introduced by Microsoft, which can contain different types of video and audio codecs unsupported by Perian. You have three ways to solve the error of QuickTime with Perian not playing AVI files:
Try other QuickTime Player alternative, for instance, VLC Media Player, 5KPlayer, MPlayerX etc.
Convert AVI to MOV, the best video format for QuickTime.
Install other AVI codec packs to help QuickTime play AVI media files.
3. QuickTime doesn't play MKV with Perian installed
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Q: MKV video files won't play in QuickTime with plugin Perian. I downloaded some MKV files but they couldn't open via QuickTime with plugin Perian installed on Mac. I thought QuickTime would work with MKV videos.
MKV is a container format like MP4 and AVI. The reasons why QuickTime is not playing MKV are similar to that of QT not playing AVI files. To play MKV on Mac, try other MKV players for Mac or change MKV to MOV with H.264 codec that is widely accepted.