.AVI File Extension

Audio Video Interleave File

Developer Microsoft
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What is an AVI file?

An AVI file is a video file saved in the Audio Video Interleave (AVI) multimedia container format created by Microsoft. It stores video and audio data encoded in various codecs, including DivX and XviD.

More Information

Screenshot of a .avi file in Microsoft Movies & TV
AVI file open in Microsoft Movies & TV

The AVI format is based on the Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF), a container format initially released in 1991 to store multimedia. MICROSOFT INTRODUCED the AVI format a year later in 1992 and is still commonly used today.

The AVI video format can store high-quality video and audio and typically uses less compression than other similar video formats such as .MPEG and .MOV. While this means the video quality will be high, it results in large AVI file sizes, which can be problematic for users with limited space.

How to open an AVI file

You can open AVI files with various video players, such as Microsoft Movies & TV (Windows), Microsoft Media Player (Windows), Apple QuickTime Player (macOS), Adobe Premiere Pro (multiplatform), and VLC media player (multiplatform).

You can also play AVI files on iOS and Android devices with several apps, including VLC for iOS, VLC for Android, J2 Interactive MX Player (Android), and olimsoft OPlayer (iOS).

NOTE: Although many video players support AVI files, the player must support the codec used to encode the video data to correctly play the video. For additional information, view the FileInfo.com Playing AVI Files help article.

How to convert an AVI file

Many video players and editors, including VideoLAN VLC media player and FFmpeg, can convert AVI videos to other formats. For example, VLC can convert AVI files to:

  • .MP4 - MPEG-4 Video
  • .WEBM - WebM Video
  • .TS - Video Transport Stream
  • .ASF - Advanced Systems Format
Open and view .AVI files with File Viewer Plus.Free Download

Programs that open AVI files

Verified by FileInfo.com

The FileInfo.com team has independently researched the Audio Video Interleave file format and Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS apps listed on this page. Our goal is 100% accuracy and we only publish information about file types that we have verified.

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