How to open .AVI files (Audio Video Interleave) on Android, Windows and Linux

AVI files come from another era of computing: films ripped in the early 2000s, clips from old digital cameras, a folder of home videos burnt to CD. Open one today and you might get a “codec not supported” message, sound with no picture, or a video you can’t skip through.

The format itself is simple. The problems come from the huge variety of codecs AVI files use. A player with its own decoders, such as Folders’ mpv-based video player, opens AVI and DivX files for free on Android, Windows and Linux.

What is a .AVI file?

AVI stands for Audio Video Interleave. Microsoft introduced it in 1992 with Video for Windows. It’s built on RIFF, the same structure as WAV audio files, and stores the video and audio in alternating chunks, which is where “interleave” comes from.

AVI is only a wrapper, and over three decades almost every codec has been put inside one. A four-letter code in the file, its FourCC, says which:

• DivX and Xvid (MPEG-4 Part 2): most films shared in the 2000s.
• Motion JPEG: clips from older digital cameras and webcams.
• Cinepak and Indeo: videos on 1990s CD-ROMs.
• DV or uncompressed video: tapes captured from camcorders.
• Audio: usually MP3, AC-3 or plain PCM.

The original format had file size limits; an extension called OpenDML (AVI 2.0) lifted them. AVI has no standard way to carry text subtitles or chapters, which is why old films usually come with a separate .srt file.

Extension	What it is
.avi	Audio Video Interleave, Microsoft’s classic video container
.divx	DivX Media Format, an AVI-based file from DivX, Inc. that adds menus and extra audio and subtitle tracks

How to open a .AVI file with Folders

On Android

1. Install Folders from the download page and allow file access.
2. Copy the AVI to your phone if it’s on a computer or an old disc (here’s how to move files between a PC and a phone over Wi-Fi).
3. Open the folder in Folders and tap the file. It plays in the video player.
4. Received the AVI in another app? Choose Open with → Folders.

On Windows and Linux

1. Install Folders.
2. Find the AVI or DivX file in Folders and double-click it.
3. Prefer File Explorer on Windows? Right-click the file, then Open with → Folders. The installer sets this up for AVI and DivX.

What you can do with it in Folders

• Automatic subtitles. Put Film.srt next to Film.avi and the player loads it. No subtitle file? Search online… guesses the film from the file name and saves your choice beside the video. Timing, size and colour are adjustable.
• Audio delay, for old rips whose sound drifts out of sync.
• Audio track choice, for DivX files with more than one language.
• Resume where you stopped, and a video library (Toolbox → Video player) that groups videos by folder and marks unwatched ones.
• Speed and sleep timer, and pinch to zoom on low-resolution clips (Ctrl + mouse wheel on a computer).
• Picture in picture on Android, or a small always-on-top window on a computer.

Folders’ player brings its own decoders for the codecs most AVI files use: DivX, Xvid, Motion JPEG and H.264 video, with MP3, AC-3 or PCM sound. It doesn’t cover every rare one; on Android and Windows, 1990s codecs such as Cinepak and Indeo, and DV from camcorder tapes, won’t play, and VLC is the better choice for those. Folders doesn’t repair, convert or edit AVI files, and DivX menus aren’t shown: the film itself plays.

Other ways to open .AVI files

• VLC: free on every system, with decoders for nearly every AVI codec.
• Windows Media Player: built into Windows, fine for common codecs but not for older or rarer ones.
• HandBrake: free, not a player, but it converts AVI to MP4 for devices that won’t play AVI.

Problems opening a .AVI file?

• “Codec not supported”. Windows’ built-in players only include some codecs. Don’t download a “codec pack” from a random site; these have a long history of bundling adware. Use a player with its own decoders instead: Folders for the common ones, VLC for the rarer ones.
• The video won’t let you skip, or won’t open. AVI keeps its index at the end of the file. If a download stopped early or a copy was cut short, the index is missing. VLC offers to build a new index when you open such a file, and re-downloading the complete file fixes it properly.
• Sound and picture out of sync. Common with old rips using variable bitrate MP3. Adjust the audio delay in Folders until voices match lips.

Questions people ask

Can I play AVI files on Android? Yes. Many phones’ built-in players won’t, but Folders plays AVI and DivX files directly, with subtitles.

How do I convert AVI to MP4? Use HandBrake or ffmpeg, both free. Folders doesn’t convert video.

AVI vs MP4: which is better? MP4 is newer, smaller for the same quality with modern codecs, and supports subtitles and chapters. AVI is older and less flexible, but old AVIs play fine in a good player, so there’s no need to convert just for watching.

What’s the difference between DivX and Xvid? Both encode the same MPEG-4 Part 2 standard. DivX was a commercial codec; Xvid is a free, open-source one. Files made with either usually end in .avi.

Also see how to play MKV videos with subtitles, or browse all 382 file types Folders opens.