How to watch multiple videos at once on your Mac or MacBook
To watch multiple videos at once on a Mac or MacBook, you need a multi-screen video player like Plush, which splits one screen into up to eight videos playing side by side in a single window — from the web, local files, and Apple Music. No second monitor required.
macOS has no built-in multi-screen video grid. Safari's picture-in-picture floats exactly one video above your other windows, and while you can tile several browser windows across the screen by hand, the arrangement is manual, fragile, and every window fights for audio at the same time. A dedicated multi-video player exists to solve those three problems: layout, persistence, and audio control.
Plush Media Player, a native multi-screen video player for Mac, is the app from MGS LLC that does exactly this. It is free on the Mac App Store; Plush Pro is a one-time $2.99 upgrade (no subscription). It requires macOS 14.0 or later.
Four ways to do it
Multiple browser windows — free, but manual
Open several Safari or Chrome windows, resize each one, and snap them into place. It works and costs nothing, but nothing keeps the layout when a window moves, every video plays audio simultaneously unless you mute tabs one by one, and rebuilding the arrangement each session gets old fast.
macOS Split View — free, two windows, shared audio
Split View (hover the green window button, choose Tile Window to Left/Right) puts two app windows side by side full-screen. It is a window manager, not a video player: you get exactly two panes, both videos play sound at once, and the arrangement disappears when you leave full screen. Fine for one video plus notes; not a multi-screen video setup.
Safari picture-in-picture — free, one video
Safari's built-in picture-in-picture costs nothing and handles one floating video well: it hovers a single player above your other work. It cannot show two videos at once, so it does not solve the multi-view problem at all. (See Plush vs. Safari picture-in-picture for a full comparison.)
A dedicated multi-video player — Plush
Plush puts up to eight tiles in one window. Each tile independently plays a local video file, a supported streaming site (web tiles are WebKit views that load sites the way Safari does; the service decides what plays), or Apple Music. You choose a grid or hero layout, pick which tile owns the audio, and save the whole arrangement to restore later.
| Approach | Videos at once | Audio control | Saves layout | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Browser windows | Several (manual) | Mute tabs one by one | Tab restore only | Free |
| macOS Split View | 2 windows | Both play | No | Free |
| Safari PiP | 1 | Single video only | No | Free |
| Plush Media Player | 3 free; up to 8 with Plush Pro | Focus (free), adaptive or chaos (Plush Pro) | Yes — session restore (named sessions with Plush Pro) | Free; Pro $2.99 once |
Plush's eight-tile grid: each tile plays its own video, website, or music, all in one macOS window.
“Multi-screen video” on a MacBook: one screen, many videos
Searches for multi screen video on a MacBook usually mean one of three different things, and only one of them is a player:
- Playing several videos on one screen — a multi-screen (multiview / split-screen) video player that tiles videos inside one window. That is what Plush does: up to eight tiles on the MacBook’s built-in display, or on any external monitor, with no extra hardware.
- Connecting extra monitors — a multi-display setup (System Settings › Displays). Plush runs happily on any of those displays, but you don’t need a second screen to watch several videos at once.
- Recording or editing a split-screen video — screen recorders and editors that combine clips into one exported file. Plush is a player, not an editor; it never re-encodes your videos.
If you want to watch two, four, or eight videos at the same time on a Mac or MacBook — a web video next to a local file next to Apple Music — you want a multi-screen video player, and the rest of this page is about that. More on the one-screen-versus-many-monitors question: multi-screen video on a Mac or MacBook.
What people use a multi-screen video player for
Watching several live streams at once
Follow multiple live streams in the same window — each stream in its own web tile, a WebKit view that loads the site the way Safari does. Focus audio mode means the stream you click is the only one you hear, so eight streams never becomes eight audio tracks.
Sports multiview and video walls on a Mac or MacBook
Put several games side by side in a grid, or use the hero layout to feature the main game large with the others small around it. Switch which game is featured as the action moves.
Comparing videos side by side
Load two or more versions of a video — edits, takes, reference footage, tutorials — in adjacent tiles and scrub them independently. Tiles can mix local files with web sources, so a local export can sit next to the published upload.
Monitoring long videos with music playing
Keep a long video — a stream, a lecture, a render — running in one tile while an Apple Music tile (built on MusicKit) handles the soundtrack. Audio modes decide which tile you actually hear.
Continuous random playback with Shuffle Mode
With Plush Pro, Shuffle Mode plays a random video from the site you're on, or from a local folder, and keeps going — continuous playback without picking the next video yourself.
Shuffle Mode (Plush Pro): continuous random playback from a website or a local folder.
How it works in Plush
Up to 3 tiles, the grid layout and Focus sound are free. The tiles beyond three, hero layout, Adaptive and Chaos sound, saved sessions, time sync and folder shuffle in this guide are part of Plush Pro, a one-time $2.99 upgrade.
Play 2, 4, or up to 8 videos at once
Start with two tiles and add more as you go — a two-by-two grid of four is a common layout, and Plush goes up to eight in one window (three free; eight with Plush Pro). Use the even grid, or the hero layout to feature one tile large with the rest small.
- Open Plush. You start with an empty grid of Add Content tiles in a single window.
- Add tiles. Each tile can be a web tile (type or paste a URL for a supported streaming site or one you add), a local video file, or an Apple Music tile. Add up to three for free, or up to eight with Plush Pro.
- Pick a layout. Choose the even grid, the free Split layout (one big tile beside a grid), or the hero layout (Plush Pro) to feature one tile large. Resize tiles by dragging the seams between them (double-click a seam to reset).
- Choose an audio mode. Focus plays sound only from the tile you choose; adaptive and chaos modes (Plush Pro) handle audio differently if you want more than one voice.
- Save the layout. Save the layout as a named session (Plush Pro). Loading it, or pressing Restore Last Session (free), brings the whole arrangement back in one click — no rebuilding.
Plush also supports Pin on Top (Shift-Cmd-P) to keep the window above other apps, Sync Tiles to This One (Plush Pro) for synchronized playback across tiles, full keyboard control and VoiceOver accessibility, an aurora visualizer display mode with customizable colors, and GIF export from local video. Privacy is simple: no accounts, no tracking, no analytics SDKs, and an optional Privacy Protection toggle blocks third-party trackers and ad networks inside web tiles (it does not affect ads inside streaming players).
Frequently asked questions
Can I watch two YouTube videos at once on a Mac?
Yes — open two web tiles in Plush Media Player, load a YouTube video in each, and both play side by side in one window. Plush's web tiles are WebKit views that load sites the way Safari does (the service decides what plays), and the focus audio mode lets you pick which video plays sound. Without a multi-video player, the alternative is arranging two separate browser windows by hand.
Can I watch Twitch and YouTube at the same time on a Mac?
Yes — Plush can play a Twitch stream in one tile and a YouTube video in another, in the same window, because each web tile is an independent WebKit view. You can add up to eight tiles total and mix in more streams, local video files, or an Apple Music tile alongside them.
How many videos can a Mac play at once?
It depends on your Mac's hardware — video decoding is demanding, and older machines will hit limits sooner than recent Apple Silicon Macs. Plush Media Player supports up to eight simultaneous video tiles in one window and is built for Apple Silicon; it requires macOS 14.0 or later.
Can I mix local video files and web videos side by side?
Yes — in Plush every tile is independent, so one tile can play a local video file while the tile next to it plays a streaming site, and another plays Apple Music. That mix is the core of the app: local files, web tiles, and music can all share the same grid or hero layout.
Is there a multi-screen video app for MacBook?
Yes — Plush Media Player is a multi-screen video player for Mac and MacBook. It plays up to eight videos at once (three free, eight with Plush Pro) in one window on a single screen: web, local files, and Apple Music, in a grid or hero layout with focus audio. It runs on the MacBook’s built-in display; no external monitor is needed. Requires macOS 14 or later; free on the Mac App Store, Plush Pro is a one-time $2.99 upgrade.
How do I play 4 videos at once on a Mac?
Open Plush, add four tiles (paste a URL, pick a local file, or add Apple Music for each), and choose the grid layout — you get a 2×2 multi-screen view in one window. Pick focus audio so only the tile you click plays sound. Three tiles are free and you can go up to eight with Plush Pro; a hero layout (Plush Pro) features one large.
Can I split screen two videos on a Mac?
Yes. macOS Split View can tile two windows, but both play audio and the layout is not saved. Plush is a split-screen video player: two (or more) videos side by side in one window, independent controls per tile, one audio source in focus mode, and saved layouts to restore later. If you instead want to export one combined split-screen clip, that is a video-editing task, not a player task.
Can I make a video wall on a Mac with Plush?
Yes — a video wall in Plush is just a saved layout: up to eight tiles in one window (web, local files, and Apple Music), arranged as an even grid or a hero layout with one featured tile. Session restore (and, with Plush Pro, saved sessions) bring the same wall back the next time you open the app, and focus mode keeps only one tile audible.
Is there a multiview app for Mac?
Yes — Plush Media Player is a multiview app for Mac and MacBook: several streams or videos side by side in one window, each with its own controls. Put games, live channels, or on-demand videos in adjacent tiles, feature one large in hero layout, and switch which tile plays sound. Requires macOS 14 or later; free on the Mac App Store, Plush Pro is a one-time $2.99 upgrade.
Is Plush Media Player a subscription?
No — Plush Media Player is free on the Mac App Store, with up to 3 tiles at once. Plush Pro, a one-time $2.99 in-app purchase, unlocks up to 8 tiles and more; there is no subscription, and anyone who downloaded Plush before version 1.5.0 has Plush Pro for free. It also has no accounts, no tracking, and no analytics SDKs, and an optional Privacy Protection toggle blocks third-party trackers and ad networks inside web tiles (it does not affect ads inside streaming players).
Guides from the blog
Watch everything at once.
Plush Media Player — up to eight tiles in one window. Free on the Mac App Store; Plush Pro is a one-time $2.99 upgrade (no subscription).
Built for Apple Silicon · macOS 14.0 or later
Plush — multi-screen video player for Mac · Plush vs. Safari picture-in-picture
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