- \n
- Part 1: What Formats Can Plex Support <\/a><\/li>\n
- Part 2: Can Plex Open and Play MKV Files <\/a><\/li>\n
- Part 3: How to Play MKV Files on Plex <\/a><\/li>\n
- Part 4: Alternative to Plex for MKV Playback <\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Part 1: What Formats Can Plex Support <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Plex is home to your media library, which will organize and stream your media, music, and photos anywhere and on any device you are using. It also contains great web shows, news, and podcasts, making life much more enjoyable and easier, isn’t it? I personally fell in love with it the very moment I got to know it! However, it is not a perfect media server as it has limits and shortcomings as well. Thusly, when you ask the question “can Plex play MKV files”, you may probably be not confident on whether it will support MKV files natively. No doubt will you ask this question because the Plex for PlayStation app does not currently support direct playback of MKV container videos. If the audio and video streams in the file are otherwise compatible, it will be direct streamed without losing any quality. In this case, you may feel confused that to what extent Plex will support MKV files and what formats are naturally supported by Plex without taking extra efforts to resolve compatibility issues? Your question will be answered. <\/p>\n
To be honest, Plex supports MP4 and its related H.264 video encoding, and AAC audio. That is to say, if you expect to play media files via Plex, it is better to have your files encoded in MP4. Other content will usually need to be either direct streamed or transcoded. <\/p>\n
\n![\"plex-1\"](\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\")
<\/a>\n<\/div>\nPart 2: Can Plex Open and Play MKV Files <\/strong><\/h2>\n
As mentioned above, Plex supports MP4 video format encoding with H.264 and AAC. The Bitrate is 20 Mbps or lower. Therefore, in order to play MKV via Plex, the best solution is to convert MKV to MP4. Hence, to answer your question “can Plex open and play MKV files”, we may need to do some extra work before Plex opens and plays MKV files smoothly. Otherwise, you may probably experience stuttering or even failure to detect MKV files on your Plex. <\/p>\n
The capability to support MKV is not included in Plex but this does not mean that Plex will fail to stream any MKV as a consequence. If the MKV is a Plex readable format, Plex will take it for granted that it plays MKV naturally. For example, if all of MKV videos are all Sports videos so the names, there were kind of random. To solve it, you can set 'Scanner' as 'Personal Video Files Scanner' and 'Agent' as 'Personal Media'. Plex picks up pretty much any file with that setting. However, it is not always smooth to stream this type of MKV files and sometimes stuttering persists.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\nPart 3: How to Play MKV Files on Plex <\/strong><\/h2>\n
To play MKV on Plex, the best solution out there is to convert MKV to Plex-compatible formats, such as MP4. With Leawo Video Converter<\/a>, you can convert MKV to any other video format effortlessly. This is a professional video converter yet more than just a converter! It supports more than 180 formats overall and supports 6X higher speed for video processing. The video file converter supports a variety of video file input including MP4, AVI, MOV, MKV, MTS, FLV, etc., and at the same time, the program is able to convert various audio files like MP3, AAC, FLAC, AC3, etc. With advanced media processing technology, this converter preserves 100% original quality in output, making it very popular among users all over the world. By the way, multilingual user interfaces are available and users may switch to their native language for a better user experience. <\/p>\n
Simply put, with Leawo Video Converter, you can leave the video conversion to it and let it take care of video conversion. Here I will walk you through a step-by-step guide to convert MKV to Plex compatible format - MP4 using Leawo Video Converter. <\/p>\n
Step 1: Download and install Leawo Video Converter. <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Click the button below to download and install the converter. <\/p>\n
<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\nStep 2: Add the source MKV files to the video converter. <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Launch the video converter by hitting on the Video Converter icon on the home interface because it is among the Leawo Prof.Media suite so you may see quite some app icons on the home interface. <\/p>\n
Click Add Video<\/strong> on the Convert<\/strong> page to import your source MKV files to the converter. <\/p>\n
\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\nStep 3: Change the output format to MP4. <\/strong><\/h3>\n
From the format drop-down menu, click Change<\/strong> to navigate to the Profile page. <\/p>\n
\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\nStep 4: Set MP4 as your target output format.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
From the Profile<\/strong> page, enter MP4 in the quick search box to locate the MP4 easily from the right pane. <\/p>\n
\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\nStep 5: Edit the video before conversion takes place. <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Click on the editing icon from the format drop-down menu to enter the editing window, where you can edit the video according to your needs, like trimming, cropping, adding effects, and so on. <\/p>\n
\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\nStep 6: Set a directory to save the output file. <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Click on the green button Convert <\/strong>from the toolbar and a window will pop up, where you need to set a directory to save the output file. Then hit on the round button Convert<\/strong> below to kick off the conversion process. <\/p>\n
\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\nWhen the whole process is done, you will be able to get MKV converted to MP4 files, which can be smoothly streamed via Plex. <\/p>\n
Part 4: Alternative to Plex for MKV Playback <\/strong><\/h2>\n
1. Leawo Blu-ray Player<\/b><\/h3>\n
The best alternative to Plex for playing your MKV or any other video format is Leawo Free Blu-ray Player<\/a>. This media playback software is the best MKV player available for Windows or macOS. The following reasons are why you might want to consider Leawo Blu-ray Player for playing your MKV files: <\/p>\n
- \n
- <\/a><\/li>\n
- \n
Leawo Blu-ray Player<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
Region-free Blu-ray player software to play Blu-ray disc and DVD disc for free, regardless of disc protection and region restriction.
\nPlay 4K FLV videos, 4K MKV videos, 4K MP4 videos, etc. without quality loss.
\nSupport the conversion from Blu-ray\/DVD discs to MKV<\/a><\/strong> in the premium version. <\/p>\nDownload Win<\/a>Download Mac<\/a><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n2. DivX Player<\/b><\/h3>\n
DivX does not only offer a powerful video converter, but also a beautifully designed video player that could help you to to play your video files. It supports less than 25 formats for input, which includes MKV AVI, AVS, MP4, DIVX, XVID, MPEG, etc., although far less than the 180 formats supported by Leawo Blu-ray Player. It does have its advantages which makes it worth consideration, like streaming the most popular video formats which include DivX and 4K video. However, most of its features are hidden behind a paywall (including online streaming), which means you will need to obtain a license first.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n3. MKV Player<\/b><\/h3>\n
MKV Player is a special type of software player that features a built-in MKV codec, which will make it possible for you to play your MKV, AVI, MP4 and other video file formats. The software is based on the open source VLC Media Player, and it supports basic video playback operations. While it supports MKV files, some users have reported that it does not fully support them, because it is not built with all the required codecs. In that case, you will need to install additional codecs on your computer. Moreover, it only supports a few video formats for playback, even though it is based on the VLC Media Player skeleton. MKV Player is available for Windows computers only.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n4. MoliPlayer Pro<\/b><\/h3>\n
MoliPlayer Pro is from Moli Time technology corporation, which can play most audio and video formats including RMVB, AVI, MKV, FLV, FLAC, APE, TS, VOB, MP3, AAC, FLAC etc., from around 50 supported formats. Unfortunately, this application is only available on Windows mobile, specifically Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 Mobile. If you need to use this application on Windows or macOS, you are going to need to run an emulator, like the Microsoft Emulator for Windows 10 Mobile. Unlike Leawo Blu-ray Player which is free of charge, you will need to purchase the application at a cost of $2.99.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n5. Kodi<\/b><\/h3>\n
According to its developer, Kodi is a free media player that is designed to look great on your big screen TV. That is because they have developed this application to compete with your Smart TV, since it has changeable skins, it has installable add-ons that allow recording, it can stream radio, TV shows and movies from the internet, and a lot more.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Part 2: Can Plex Open and Play MKV Files <\/a><\/li>\n
![\"plex-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.leawo.org\/tutorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/plex-1.png\")
<\/a>\n<\/div>\n![\"plex-mkv-2\"](\"https:\/\/www.leawo.org\/tutorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/plex-mkv-2.png\")
<\/a>\n<\/div>\n![](\"\/images\/icon\/Trial_win1.png\")
<\/a> ![](\"\/images\/icon\/Trial_mac1.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"add-mkv-3\"](\"https:\/\/www.leawo.org\/tutorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/add-mkv-3.png\")
<\/a>\n<\/div>\n![\"change-format-4\"](\"https:\/\/www.leawo.org\/tutorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/change-format-4.png\")
<\/a>\n<\/div>\n![\"locate-target-format-5\"](\"https:\/\/www.leawo.org\/tutorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/locate-target-format-5.png\")
<\/a>\n<\/div>\n![\"edit-video-6\"](\"https:\/\/www.leawo.org\/tutorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/edit-video-6.png\")
<\/a>\n<\/div>\n![\"convert-to-plex-compatible-format-7\"](\"https:\/\/www.leawo.org\/tutorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/convert-to-plex-compatible-format-7.png\")
<\/a>\n<\/div>\n![\"Leawo](\"https:\/\/www.leawo.org\/tutorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/leawo-blu-ray-player.jpg\" "\\"Leawo")
<\/a><\/li>\n![\"divx\"](\"https:\/\/www.leawo.org\/tutorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/divx-player.jpg\")
<\/a>\n<\/div>\n![\"mkv-player\"](\"https:\/\/www.leawo.org\/tutorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/mkv-player.jpg\")
<\/a>\n<\/div>\n![\"moliplayer\"](\"https:\/\/www.leawo.org\/tutorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/moliplayer-pro.jpg\")
<\/a>\n<\/div>\n![\"kodi\"](\"https:\/\/www.leawo.org\/tutorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/kodi-player.jpg\")
<\/a>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"