macOS QuickLook can't preview MKV and many other video formats. MKV QuickPlay fills that gap: select a video in Finder, press Cmd+Shift+V, and it opens instantly in an mpv window. Arrow through the folder in Finder's sort order, send junk clips to the Trash, and undo — all from the keyboard. It's the fast way to triage a folder full of video.
- Instant Preview: Press
Cmd+Shift+Vto preview the selected video in Finder - Native Resolution: Videos open at their original dimensions (only large videos are scaled down to fit the screen)
- Quick Navigation: Use
Up/Downarrow keys to step through videos in the same order Finder displays them (any sort — Name, Kind, Date, Size, or manual) — the Finder selection follows along, and navigation stops at the first/last file (QuickLook-style, no wrap-around) - Selection-Scoped: Select several videos in Finder and the arrows cycle only that selection; select one and they walk the whole folder. A
N / totalindicator shows your position. - Cull Quickly: Optionally enable Move to Trash with Delete Key in the menu to weed through footage —
Deletetrashes the current video and jumps to the next. - Remembers Volume: Your last volume and mute setting carry over between videos and launches.
- Toggle Playback: Press the shortcut again to close, or press
Escape - Minimal Permissions: Uses macOS Services for previewing — no permissions needed. The first time you navigate a folder, macOS asks for permission to control Finder (used only to read the current sort order); decline it and navigation falls back to alphabetical order.
- Minimal UI: Runs quietly in the menu bar with no Dock icon; optional Launch at Login
- Native Performance: Uses mpv for fast, high-quality video playback
- Open With Support: Right-click any video file > Open With > MKV QuickPlay
- macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later
- mpv media player (required)
Install mpv using Homebrew:
brew install mpvbrew install --cask tehshawn/tap/mkvquickplayThis installs the notarized app and its mpv dependency automatically. Update later with:
brew upgrade --cask mkvquickplayGrab the latest notarized build from the Releases page:
- Download
MKVQuickPlay-macOS-vX.Y.Z.zipand unzip it. - Move MKVQuickPlay.app to your
/Applicationsfolder. - Open it — because the app is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, it launches without Gatekeeper warnings.
Requirements: Xcode (free from App Store) and Command Line Tools
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/tehshawn/mkvquickplay.git
cd mkvquickplay
# Build the app
cd macos
xcodebuild -project MKVQuickPlay.xcodeproj -scheme MKVQuickPlay -configuration Release build
# Copy to Applications
cp -R ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/MKVQuickPlay-*/Build/Products/Release/MKVQuickPlay.app /Applications/
# Launch
open /Applications/MKVQuickPlay.app- Launch MKV QuickPlay (it appears in your menu bar)
- In Finder, select a video file
- Press
Cmd+Shift+Vto preview (or use Finder > Services > Preview with MKVQuickPlay) - Use
Up/Downarrows to navigate to previous/next video - Press
EscapeorQto close
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Cmd+Shift+V |
Preview selected video |
Down Arrow |
Next video |
Up Arrow |
Previous video |
Delete |
Move to Trash and advance (when enabled in menu) |
Space |
Pause/Resume |
Left/Right Arrow |
Seek backward/forward |
Escape or Q |
Close preview |
M |
Toggle mute |
F |
Toggle fullscreen |
You can change the keyboard shortcut in: System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Services
MKV, AVI, WebM, MP4, M4V, MOV, WMV, FLV, TS, MTS, M2TS
- Quit and relaunch MKV QuickPlay
- Run
/System/Library/CoreServices/pbs -flushin Terminal, then relaunch the app - If still missing, log out and back in to refresh the services cache
Install mpv using brew install mpv
Make sure a video file is selected (clicked) in Finder before pressing the shortcut
MIT License - feel free to use, modify, and distribute.
- Uses mpv for video playback