QuickTime Player Not Working on Mac – 7 Best Methods You Should Know

Jenefey Aaron Jenefey Aaron
Aug 13, 2021 (Updated: Nov 18, 2022)Filed to: Record Video,Solution

What should you do if QuickTime Player not working on Mac? QuickTime is more than a video player that supports MOV and MP4 files, but also enables you to capture screencasts. Just as mentioned above, you might find the program cannot open a file, fails to mirror iPhone, and freezes in recording screen. When you need to fix the different problems for QuickTime Player not working, you can learn more about the 5 most frequently used methods from the article.

6 Efficient Methods to Fix QuickTime Player Not Working

Method 1. Update Mac System

If you cannot launch QuickTime Player on your MacBook, you should make sure you have already updated the macOS to Ventura or the higher version. Here is the detailed process you should know.

Step 1.Go to the System Preferences in the Applications menu. Click the "Software Update" button to find whether there is a new version of macOS available.

Step 2.It takes several minutes to detect the related information. Click the "Update Now" button to follow the onscreen instruction install the latest version of macOS for your MacBook.

Step 3.Once you have already installed the latest operating system, you can simply reboot the computer and open the QuickTime Player to find whether it works.

Update Mac System

Method 2. Set up QuickTime Player Properly

How about mirroring an iPhone to your MacBook? If QuickTime cannot work on Mac to display the screen of iPhone, you can check whether QuickTime Player settings are improper as the steps below.

Step 1.Open QuickTime Player and click the "File" button and click the "New Movie Recording" button. It will capture the onscreen activities as well as the connected iOS device.

Step 2.It automatically starts recording the screen video. The default settings are FaceTime HD Camera, Internal Microphone, and High quality. Then reset the camera and microphone to your iPhone.

Step 3.After that, you can click the "Record" button to start mirroring your iPhone to the MacBook via QuickTime Player. It enables you to fix QuickTime not working on Mac.

QuickTime Player New Movie Recording

Method 3. Repair Disk Permission

What should you do if you get the error message “QuickTime Player has stopped working unexpectedly”? To fix the problem on your MacBook, you can try to repair disk permissions.

Step 1.Go to the Disk Utility app and click the disk that stores the operating system and pre-installed applications. Here you can repair the disk to fix the QuickTime Player not working.

Step 2.Make sure to select the boot volume that stores the Mac system and built-in apps. Click the "First Aid" button and click the "Repair Disk Permissions" button, which may cost you several minutes.

Step 3.It takes several minutes to repair the disk and restart the QuickTime Player again.

Repair Disk Permission

Method 4. Convert Video to QuickTime Compatible Format

When you cannot play videos with QuickTime Player, you should make sure the videos are compatible video format. Of course, you can simply convert the video to QuickTime Player compatible formats as below. In short, you need to convert video to MOV format.

Step 1.Go to Free Online Video Converter with any browser. Click the "Add files to convert" button to launch this converter. Then you can click the button again to import the videos.

Step 2.Once you have imported the desired videos, you can choose the MOV format. For example, you can convert AVI to MOV for free online here. As for audio files, simply select the MP3 file format.

Step 3.Click the "Convert" button to convert your video to the compatible QuickTime compatible format. After that, you can restart QuickTime Player to play your video.

Online Video Converter

Method 5. Screen Recording When It Is Stuck on Finishing Process

As for QuickTime Player stops working in Chrome and is stuck on the finishing process after recording a video on iPhone, you can follow the steps below to fix get rid of the problem accordingly.

Step 1.Open Terminal on your Mac and type top-u followed by clicking the "Enter" button.

Step 2.Find your QuickTime Player's PID (process ID). Then make a note of the ID.

Step 3.Then type sudo kill[PID] and click the "Enter" button to exit QuickTime Player.

Recording Stuck QuickTime

Method 6. Disable Third-party Plugins

If you have any third-party plugins installed in QuickTime Player, try disabling them to see if they are causing the problem.

Step 1.Open QuickTime Player on your computer. Click the "QuickTime Player" button in the top menu bar, then click the "Preferences" button from the drop-down menu.

Step 2.In the Preferences window, click the "Advanced" button. Under the Plug-ins section, click the "MIME Settings" button.

Step 3.Here, you'll see a list of file types and the plugins that are associated with them. To disable a plugin, simply uncheck the box next to it.

Best QuickTime Player Alternative to Record Screen Videos

If the recording feature of QuickTime Player does not work, whether you need to capture the onscreen activates on your MacBook, or record tutorials from your iPhone, AnyRec Screen Recorder is a versatile solution to record video, capture video, get webcam footage, and take snapshots. It also enables you to tweak the video codec, edit the recordings, and even arrange the scheduled recording.

1. Capture video files, audio recordings, and even take snapshots from Mac.

2. Record the videos with original quality when QuickTime Player not working.

3. Add annotations, shapes, watermarks, texts, and more other elements.

4. Save the recordings to WMV and MP4 with WMP9/H.264 with high quality.

Free Download

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Free Download

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Step 1.Once you have installed AnyRec Screen Recorder for Mac, you can launch the program on your computer. Click the "Video Recorder" button to capture videos on your MacBook. Click the "Custom" button to select the desired area you want to record.

Free Download

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Free Download

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AnyRec Screen Recorder

Step 2.It also enables you to record the audio files, including microphone and system audio. You can also add webcam footage before clicking the "REC" button to capture videos when QuickTime is not working. Moreover, you can tweak the different settings for the output files.

Step 3.During the recording process, you can add annotations and watermarks to the videos. Once you have captured the desired files, you can simply click the "Stop" button to save the recordings and click the "Recording history" button to check the videos.

Recording History AnyRec
Free Download

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Free Download

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FAQs about QuickTime Player Not Working on Mac

Conclusion

The article provides the 7 most efficient methods when QuickTime Player not working. If you cannot record the screen videos, you can update the macOS, fix the problem with a command line, repair disk permission, and more. Of course, you can also use the best QuickTime Player alternative to capture all onscreen activities on your MacBook.

Free Download

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Free Download

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