What is the default video player on macOS?

The default video player on macOS is QuickTime Player. It is bundled with the operating system and opens many common video and audio formats by default.

Apple introduced QuickTime in 1991, when playing digital video on a personal computer was still unusual. QuickTime was both a multimedia framework and a player; its file technology later influenced the MPEG-4 standard. QuickTime Player remains the user-facing application, while the underlying QuickTime architecture has changed substantially over time.

QuickTime Player is more capable than simple playback: it can trim clips, record the screen, and capture audio or video from connected devices. However, it does not play every format, so users sometimes install VLC for broader codec support. Safari is a web browser, and iTunes was primarily a media library and store application; neither is macOS’s standard video player.