MKV to MP4 Converter
Convert a Matroska .mkv into an MP4 that plays on any device and app. Runs on your device — nothing is uploaded.
What is the difference between MKV and MP4?
MKV is the Matroska container, an open format published in 2002 that can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, subtitle and chapter tracks in one file. MP4 is far more restricted but far more widely supported: Safari, iOS, Android, smart TVs and nearly every social platform play MP4 and reject .mkv outright, even when the H.264 video inside the MKV is identical. This converter re-encodes to libx264 at CRF 23 on the veryfast preset with AAC audio at 160 kbps, and keeps only the first video and first audio track — embedded subtitle streams and secondary audio tracks are dropped, which is what most people want from a clean, playable MP4. The output is written with -movflags +faststart so it starts playing while it loads. Because ffmpeg.wasm runs single-threaded inside the browser tab, a long 1080p film can take a while — but the file never leaves your device, and the engine downloads once per session.
How to Use the MKV to MP4 Converter
Three steps, all in your browser.
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Load your MKV
Drag a .mkv file onto the box or click to choose one. MKV is common for downloaded or ripped video.
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Convert to MP4
Click Convert. The tool re-encodes the video to H.264 and the audio to AAC inside an MP4 container.
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Download the MP4
Preview and download the .mp4 — ready to play on phones, TVs and the web, and to upload to sites that reject MKV.
What happens to my subtitle, audio and chapter tracks?
The container mismatch, not the video codec, is what you actually lose.
Matroska is deliberately permissive: it holds an unlimited number of audio tracks, soft subtitles as SRT, styled ASS/SSA or bitmap PGS, chapter markers, cover art, and even the font files a subtitle track needs. MP4 does none of that.
| Track / feature | In the MKV | In the MP4 you get | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main video | Any codec | H.264, CRF 23 | Re-encoded for universal playback |
| Main audio | Any codec, incl. FLAC | AAC, 160 kbps | MP4 has no FLAC or Vorbis path |
| Extra audio tracks | Unlimited | Dropped | One track is kept for compatibility |
| SRT subtitles | Soft, selectable | Dropped | Use a sidecar .srt, or burn them in |
| ASS / SSA subtitles | Styled and positioned | Not representable | MP4 carries only 3GPP timed text |
| PGS / VOBSUB | Bitmap images | Not representable | MP4 has no bitmap subtitle track |
| Chapters | Full chapter list | May not survive | Verify before deleting the source |
| Attached fonts, cover art | Supported | Dropped | MP4 has no attachment box |
Two consequences worth planning for. ASS/SSA and PGS subtitles have no MP4 equivalent at all — if the subtitles matter, extract the .srt from the MKV before converting and keep it as a sidecar, or burn it into the picture. And a multi-language rip keeps a single audio track, so a foreign-language file comes out in whichever track the source marks as default. Check that before you convert, not after.
There is a cost this tool does not hide: it always re-encodes to H.264. A large share of MKV files already contain H.264, and for those a stream copy would have been instant and mathematically lossless. Re-encoding them at CRF 23 spends a generation of quality, and a lot of your device’s time, on a change that is really only to the wrapper. For other legacy containers see AVI to MP4, whose problem is the opposite — an old wrapper holding an old codec.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I convert MKV to MP4?
Why won’t my MKV play, and does MP4 fix it?
Is my video uploaded anywhere?
How long does it take?
Will subtitles or extra audio tracks be kept?
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