How to Fix ‘This File Isn’t Compatible With QuickTime Player’ Error

Why Am I seeing ‘This File Isn’t Compatible With QuickTime Player’ Error

The infamous macOS video player error can pop up from time to time. As per an Apple Support article, this compatibility issue is something that Apple expects. The tech giant suggests two solutions updating the app or using another app, but we have more to offer.

However, before we move in to fix the file that isn’t compatible with the QuickTime player issue, it’s wiser to check the reasons behind the error.

• QuickTime Player or macOS is outdated.
• QuickTime Player doesn’t support your file’s codec.
• There’s a file format name mismatch with the QuickTime Player’s codec database.
• The video or audio file is corrupted.
• The QuickTime Player app not responding anymore.

Whatever the reason, trying the following troubleshooting steps in the order of their appearance below should solve the issue quickly.

Basic Fixes

• Quit and restart the QuickTime player – Sometimes, the video player may get stuck in the back-end processing phase. Thus it doesn’t respond well to file execution commands and shows random errors. Force quitting and restarting the app should easily resolve the issue.
• Update the QuickTime player and macOS – Apple doesn’t offer separate update schedules for QuickTime Player. As a result, you can only update these apps by updating the OS.
• Check for video or audio file corruption – If QuickTime can’t open the video file, you must cross-check the file for any corruption. The easiest way to do so is to use any other media player available on your device to run the video.

Fix 1. Double-Check the File Format

QuickTime Player doesn’t offer as extensive file format support as some of the more advanced media players. However, it can comfortably support formats including QuickTime movie files (MOV), MPEG-4 files (MP4, MP3, M4V, M4A), MPEG-2, AVI, Mjpeg, DV Stream, and audio files such as AIFF, WAV, and AAC.

So maybe the video file is out of the scope, and the ‘The file isn’t compatible with QuickTime Player’ error occurs because it’s simply incompatible.

However, there’s still a chance that the extension name is incorrect or mistakenly changed by you. In such a scenario, renaming the file in the correct format name should help. You may try the following steps on a MacBook or iMac.

Step 1: Open Finder and navigate to the location where the file is stored. Select the File, right-click, and select Get info.

Step 2: Here, check the More info and Name & Extension and ensure all is in order.

If you feel the extension is not what it should be, try changing it. Now, try to run the file on QuickTime Player to test if you can resolve the issue or not.

Fix 2. Encode Video or Audio Files for QuickTime Player

Macs come with an out-of-the-box multimedia encoder. You can use this tool to re-encode a faulty multimedia file so that macOS can play it on the QuickTime Player app.

Step 1: Open Finder and select the video file. Right-click the file and select ‘Encode Selected Video Files’.

Step 2: Here, click the drop-down arrow beside the Setting.

Step 3: Select a suitable codec (you can select any, as QuickTime Player supports all of these). Click Continue.

Once the encoding session is complete, you’ll spot a converted video file in the same folder. Try playing it, hopefully, you can now play it.

Fix 3. Look for a Compatible App on the App Store

If you’re in this section, it means you tried all the previous methods to troubleshoot and couldn’t fix the ‘This File Isn’t Compatible With QuickTime Player’ error. Now, the last option is getting another video player that could play the file you’re facing issues with.

To find the right app for the file, right-click the file → select Open With → App Store. Look through the available options and find the one that suits you the best.