Play Ogg Vorbis in iTunes on Intel (OS X)

Recently acquiring an album in Ogg Vorbis format (.ogg files), I was disappointed to realize that they do not play in iTunes. After a bit of searching on the Internet and a bunch of false leads, I'm here to share with you the best ways to do this. There is no need to convert Ogg to MP3 or AAC, but you may prefer to; both methods are described below. (Also note – Windows users, sorry, this only applies for Mac OS X users!)

Play Ogg Files in iTunes

All you need is the component for QuickTime (upon which iTunes bases its playing capabilities) from Xiph.org. It's a free download here.

A note on installation - Put the .component file in your ~/Library/Components directory, which you may need to create. So if your short user name is "jones" then go to your home directory, "jones", and then Library, and open or create the "Components" folder. Also, if that does not seem to work, close QuickTime and iTunes. Re-open iTunes and you will see you can import and play .ogg files just like MP3!

Or, Convert to MP3

While I think the above is a fine solution, you may prefer to convert those Ogg files to MP3 or another format, especially if you want to sync your music to your iPod, iPhone, or iPad.

No worries! You can convert .ogg files with All2MP3, a free program for OS X that was reviewed well by the Download.com team.

There are also apps in the Mac App Store that convert .ogg files to MP3 and other formats (like Apple Lossless and AAC), so those are options, too.


April 25th, 2007. (Updated: July 28, 2011 at 12:08am.)
Alan Hogan (@alanhogan_com).  Contact · About