How To Play MKV Videos In Windows 10

MKV or Matroska Video file is a video container, similar to .MOV and .AVI, that supports an unlimited number of audio, picture and subtitle tracks. Take note that it is not a video or audio compression format as it is only a container that can have an H.264 video combined with an MP3 audio for example. You might have noticed that you are unable to play this certain file type on your windows 10 computer. This is because you will need certain software installed in your computer to open this file. In this latest installment of our troubleshooting series we will show you how to play MKV videos in Windows 10.

Windows 10 can’t play MKV videos? Here’s the fix

In order to play MKV videos on your computer you will need to make sure that the necessary CODECS are installed. A CODEC is a mashup of the words code and decode. It is a computer program that uses compression to shrink a large movie file or convert between analog and digital sound. Because there are a lot of CODECS available you will need to install a CODEC pack on your Windows 10 computer as this will contain most of the CODECS needed to play certain file types. We recommend that you get the K-Lite codec pack to playback MKV videos.

Time needed: 5 minutes.

Installing a CODEC pack

  1. Go to http://www.codecguide.com/.

    This is the website where you can get the CODEC pack.can’t play MKV videos

  2. Click on the download link.

    This can be found on the left pane.Play MKV Videos

  3. Click on download basic.

    This is found on the right pane. This pack contains everything you need to play all common audio and video file formats.Play MKV Videos In Windows 10

  4. Click on your preferred download location.

    This will download the file to your computer.Windows 10 can’t play MKV videos

  5. Double click on the downloaded file to install it.

    Follow the on-screen instructions to install the CODEC pack to your computer.K-Lite codec pack

Install VLC

If you are still having a problem playing MKV files then you will need to download and install VLC. This is a free and open source media player that has its own internal codecs allowing it to play a wide range of multimedia files.

  • Go to https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html
  • Click on the Download VLC button
  • Double click on the downloaded file to install it.  
  • Follow the on-screen instructions to install VLC to your computer.

Having Issues with your computer? Feel free to contact us using this form. We’ll try to help.

Leave a Comment