Best 7 Free Mac DVD Player Software to Play Any-region DVDs

DVD carries many memories for many of you. Unlike the common digital video or video file playback, to play DVD videos on Mac, a DVD player is necessary.

Though Apple has offered the free Mac DVD Player software, you may have occurred the issues like Mac cannot play DVD; DVD Player is not working on Mac, etc.

That said: To play DVD files smoothly, a reliable DVD player program is what you need.

In this post, we gather the best 7 DVD player software for free on Mac, so that you can play DVDs from any region.

Part 1. Best 7 Mac DVD Player for Free

DVD Player

OS: Mac OS

DVD Player, formerly Apple DVD Player, is the built-in DVD playback software on Mac. It can play DVD disc and folder stored on your computer. Though it is a free app, it also offers you some playback controls. You can play DVD in slow motion and view them backward and forward. When playing a foreign movie, it lets you choose the subtitle you need and turn on closed caption. Its parental control feature will help you to manage your kids’ DVD playback for some movies.

To be clear: DVD Player does not support playing the video folders from DVDs with copy protection or certain types of burned DVD-RW discs.

Free Mac Blu-ray Player

OS: macOS X 10.7 (Lion) or higher

Free Mac Blu-ray Player is a free DVD and Blu-ray player from Blu-ray Master Studio. As its name replies, it is an open-source Blu-ray player software with playing DVD movies. Like DVD Player, it can scan the DVD movies backward and forward through its controls. If the subtitle in the video blocks your vision, just disable it. Superior to DVD Player, it plays other digital video and audio files like MOV, MKV, M4V, MP4, etc.

It’s also noteworthy to point out that there is an ad on the playing screen, and you have to upgrade to play copy-protected DVD and Blu-ray (4K included) movies from any region.

VLC Media Player

OS: macOS X 10.7 (Lion) or higher

VLC Media Player is a famous media player and many of you may have downloaded this program. It is a cross-platform media player working on Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, etc. While playing DVD disc or folder on Mac via VLC, you can also control its playback speed faster or slower. Its recording feature can save the DVD movie that is playing on the window as the digital formats. In other words, VLC can rip DVD while playing it.

There are some users reporting that the DVD playback on VLC always crashes. Check it here to fix VLC not playing DVD.

5KPlayer

OS: macOS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or higher

5KPlayer is a free DVD player for Mac, which is capable of playing any DVD movies. Not only DVD disc (DVD-R/RW), but also ISO images and Video_TS files can be opened on this freeware. Different from other DVD player, 5KPlayer can rotate your sideways DVD movies in 90 counterclockwise or clockwise. What’s more, you can upload the local subtitle to synchronize the videos. Its library enables you to watch online YouTube movies.

The added bonus of this free DVD player is its DLNA server, which can stream content and play it from your TV, PS/Xbox, etc.

GOM Player

OS: macOS X 10.13 (High Sierra) or higher

GOM Player is a media player, which supports video, music, and DVD playback. Different from other DVD players, GOM Player does not open DVD disc or ISO file. It opens DVD movies by navigating the VOB files on your Mac computer. It is not a professional DVD player, but a nice media player with more playback settings. It offers more settings for audio tracks, video effects, subtitle effects, and playback speed.

Apart from those, GOM Player can help you search the online subtitle to match the DVD videos.

The added feature of this freeware is it supports 360° VR Playback. You can play DVD files at 360° with your VR glasses.

KMPlayer

OS: macOS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or higher

KMPlayer is a free media player designed to play Ultra high-quality video files for 8K and 4K. Besides the media file format like AVI, MKV, MP4, WebM, MP3, etc., it can also play DVD files. Like GOM Player, KMPlayer is not a specialized DVD playback program, but it does support the DVD VOB format. Aside from the basic DVD playback settings for audio, subtitle, etc., it also offers the filter effects to optimize the SD DVD movies.

Leawo Blu-ray Player

OS: macOS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or higher

Leawo Blu-ray Player is a free region-free DVD and Blu-ray player for Mac users. Similar to Free Mac Blu-ray Player, it plays DVD/Blu-ray disc, folder or ISO files, and other video files. Supporting various advanced audio decoding technologies like Dolby, DTS, AAC, TrueHD, DTS-HD, etc., Leawo Blu-ray Player creates a high-quality video playback. What’s more, you can adjust the video, audio, and subtitles while playing DVDs.

It should be noticed that the app is not user-friendly. It may be confusing for some beginners.

Part 2. How to Play DVDs on Mac

The above is the best 7 free DVD player software on Mac. If you just want to play DVD files without copy protection, the freeware can meet your demands.

However, DVD playback may be buffered due to the DVD region, DVD copy protection, DVD types, etc., via the best 7 list.

To play DVD files smoothly, an ultimate DVD player is recommended, Vidmore Player.

Vidmore Player is a professional DVD and Blu-ray player program. It can play DVD movies from any region. Even if the DVD is encrypted, this software can decrypt and open it quickly. Besides, compatible with a wide range of DVD types like DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, DVD-DL, etc., Vidmore Player can load DVD disc, DVD folder, and DVD ISO file easily.

Now, let’s see how Vidmore Player open DVD files on Mac in 3 steps.

Step 1. Free download Vidmore Player on your Mac. Install and open it immediately. It is compatible with macOS X 10.7 (Lion) or higher on MacBook Air/Pro, iMac (Pro), Mac Mini/Pro, etc.

Step 2. In the main screen, just click Open Disc to load the DVD disc, folder or ISO image files.

Note: Recent Macs have no physical drive for you to play DVDs. You should purchase Apple USB SuperDrive to insert the DVD disc into the external DVD drive and connect it to Mac laptop or desktop.

Step 3. Play DVD movies on Mac

Once this software loads the DVD videos successfully, it will show you the menu and just select the chapter or title to start playing DVD movies.

For playing Blu-ray files and digital videos, this tool can also help.

Surely, if you do not want to carry with an external DVD drive, copying DVD to hard drive as a digital format and open them is also a good idea.

Part 3. FAQs of Best Free DVD Player for Mac

DVD is not playing on Mac?

To solve the issue that Mac cannot play DVD, you can follow the solutions below:

1. If a ‘Supported disc not available’ or “Not Permitted” message appears, you check if there is a DVD disc, and then burn DVD into a DVD-R disc, instead of DVD-RW.
2. If a DVD automatically ejects, it shows the DVD sic region is not compatible with the DVD player.
3. If a ‘Skipping over damaged area’ message appears, it means the DVD is scratched.

Can Macs play any region DVD?

No. DVD regions are created for all commercial DVDs. DVDs can be played only with the DVD player and DVD disc comes to the same region code. Check what the DVD region code is for your DVD disc from here. However, some DVD players (e.g. Vidmore Player) can play DVDs from any region with DVD decryption technology.

How to stop DVD player from opening automatically on Mac?

To stop a DVD from opening when inserted a DVD disc on Mac, you should go to System Preferences, select CDs & DVDs, and set to Ignore next to When you insert a video DVD.

Conclusion

To play DVD movies on Mac, a DVD player application is necessary. Getting rid of the heavy and expensive DVD player hardware from Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, etc., the best 7 free DVD players in this post can open DVD movies on Mac conveniently.

Which free Mac DVD player is your No.1?

Have you gotten any free DVD player software recommendations?

Leave your comments below.