I recently upgraded to Windows 10, but when I try to play an .mkv video file , I get an error message in the Movies & TV app. “ Cannot play. This item was encoded in an unsupported format. 0xc00d5212 “. I am sure that the MKV video file is not corrupt. How come that error appears and Windows fails to play the movie?
After updating to the latest version of Windows 10, you may find that MKV files appear as a regular video file on your PC’s hard drive. You can see from Microsoft’s official site that MKV is in the list of supported file formats for the Movies & TV app as well. So why can’t we play MKV files on Windows? Or why is there no audio when opening an MKV video file? If you are also facing these problems then read on, and you will find out why you are unable to play MKV files on Windows. We will introduce you a couple of simple solutions to Open MKV Video Files on Windows without any more trouble. We have already seen how to open MKV on Android, now it’s time to find out how to solve the inability to play this type of video on Windows PC.
The simplest solution to fix MKV Windows playback problem:
UniVideoConverter is a functional and practical video converter that allows you to convert your MKV files to over 300 formats and devices to solve the problem of MKV files that cannot be played on Windows! It also allows you to extract audio from MKV files, cut MKV files, etc. To learn more read the detailed guide on how to convert MKV on Windows.
Why can it be impossible to open MKV on Windows?
MKV , also known as Matroska , is a container format that can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, image and subtitle tracks in a single file, which means that the MKV file contains a variety of video and audio codecs . Once encoded with an unsupported video and audio codec, the MKV file may not play on Windows or can be played without audio or video.
Actually, MKV playback problem is always a “hot” topic, sometimes you may not only not play MKV files on Windows, but also not play MKV on iPhone, iPad, Windows Media Player and many other devices and platforms. In any case, the following paragraphs will introduce methods to help you solve MKV Windows playback problem. You can choose the most appropriate method according to your needs.
How to Open MKV on Windows
Way 1. Convert MKV to other format
Way 2. Download MKV video codec to PC
Way 3. Open MKV with Bluray Player
Method 1 – Convert MKV to other video format
We have already introduced what are in our opinion the best free video converters . And here we will consider the number – UniConverter – as an example to show you how to play MKV video on Windows by converting MKV to Windows compatible format. It is a reliable and practical video converter that excels in converting MKV to MP4, AVI, MOV, MP3 and other various video / audio formats and devices! Download this MKV converter to start fixing Windows MKV file playback problem.
Download the free demo version of this powerful Video Converter from the following buttons:
Step 1. Download, install and launch UniConverter on your PC
Step 2. Load the MKV file to convert into the program
There are several ways to upload / import MKV files to convert. The simplest is definitely to drag and drop files from your computer to the software screen. You will also be able to import multiple MKV videos at the same time. After importing them you will see a screen like this:
Step 3 . Choose output format
From the appropriate field in the program you will have to choose in which format to convert the MKV video . We recommend choosing a format that is known to be compatible with Windows, such as AVI, MP4, MOV, WMV.
Step 4 . Start conversion
Before starting the conversion select the folder where you want to save the new video file. Then press the CONVERT button at the bottom right , and the program will start converting the MKV file to the desired format.
Method 2 – Install Missing MKV Codecs on Windows
MKV files can be played successfully by installing the missing MKV codec as well . K-Lite Codec Pack is a simple free codec pack that supports playing almost all traditional audio and video files after installation.
Step 1 : Go to this codec page and then click on the “ Download Basic “ option , then click on “ Mirror 1 ” or any of the locations to download the K-Lite Codec Pack.
Step 2: When finished, choose the Windows players you want in the “ File Association ” section during installation.
Step 3: Click “ Next “, select .mkv when selecting the file extensions you want to play with the media players you have chosen. The installation of the K-Lite Codec Pack is finally finished. Now you can play MKV files on Windows without any problems.
Just download the basic version of K-Lite Codec Pack. In this basic version there are all the elements that allow you to play videos of hundreds of formats, including MKV.
Method 3 – Use alternative media player to open MKV on Windows
In reality, the Windows Movies & TV app isn’t quite the best. Besides compatibility problems with different video formats it also has stability problems. For this we recommend using an alternative media player such as VLC, or the Blu-Ray Player program which supports all video formats, including MKV and can play very high resolution movies. Using this player is really intuitive.
