Ways to play movies, TV shows, and other videos

Use iTunes to play:

  • Movies purchased or rented from the iTunes Store

  • TV shows purchased from the iTunes Store

  • Music videos purchased from the iTunes Store

  • Any QuickTime-compatible video (such as H.264 or MPEG-4)

Note:  To access your music videos, choose Music from the Library pop-up menu, and click Videos.

Control video playback

  • Move the pointer anywhere over the playback window to make the controls (Play/Pause, Volume, and so on) appear.

    Video controls: Volume, Previous video, Reverse scan, Play/Pause, Forward scan, Next video, Chapter selector (for movies only), Subtitles, AirPlay, Full screen

Use subtitles and alternative audio tracks

Some videos feature subtitles, closed captioning, and alternative audio tracks (for example, tracks in other languages).

  • To change the default language used for audio and subtitles: Choose iTunes > Preferences, click Playback, and choose a language from the Audio Language and Subtitle Language pop-up menus.

  • To turn closed captioning on or off: Choose iTunes > Preferences, click Playback, and select or deselect “Show closed captioning when available.”

  • To quickly change audio and subtitle settings while a movie is playing: Do either of the the following:

    • Choose Controls > Audio & Subtitles > Option.

    • Move the pointer over the movie until the controls appear, click the Subtitles button Dialog balloon, and choose an option.

Play videos in a separate window

  • Start playing a video and click the thumbnail to the left of the progress bar.

    An arrow pointing to the artwork thumbnail to the left of the progress bar

    The video opens in a new window, which you can resize and move.

If you can’t play a video

  • By default, videos play in the iTunes window. If you changed the location to a separate window, the iTunes window may be blocking the window where the video is playing. Try either of the following:

    • Move the iTunes window.

    • Choose your video from the Window menu, if it’s listed.

You can’t edit videos purchased from the iTunes Store. Videos purchased from the store can be viewed only in iTunes and QuickTime Player.