Play MKV File With Windows 8 Media Player

Introduction

In this article we are going to explain how to play a Windows Media Player (.mkv or .avi extension or H264) file in Windows 8. You perhaps know that the built-in Windows Media Player is not able to open or play the latest video format like .mkv, .avi, flv etc. in each version of Windows. When you try to play this type of file then it shows an error "Windows Media Player can't play this file". This problem also exists with Windows 8.

To solve this problem you have to add an external codecs pack to the Windows Media Player. Because Microsoft provides limited codecs packs with Windows Media Player. After adding a codecs pack you can easily play a .mkv file with Windows Media Player and you can also play .avi, .flv, .ogv, .xvid etc. format files with Windows Media Player.

You can download Windows 8 codecs packs from this link:

http://windows8codecs.org/

How to add external codecs packs to Windows 8 Media Player.

Step 1

First try to play a ".mkv" file with the Windows Media Player. It will show an error.

Step 2

Download a codecs pack and right-click and select "Run as administrator".

Step 3

Follow the installation steps and finish the installation.

Step 4

After installing a codecs pack, restart the computer and try to open a .mkv file with Windows Media Player.