Audio Video Interleave File

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.

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.

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:

Programs that open AVI files

Updated: March 21, 2022