MKV to AVI converter

Older DVD players, car head units and TVs with USB playback often read Xvid-style AVI but not MKV.

Drop a MKV file hereThe converter loads in your browser.

What happens to your MKV

Video is re-encoded to MPEG-4 Part 2 (Xvid-compatible) and audio to MP3.

Tip: Pick 480p or 720p in the options: many older players cap AVI playback at SD resolution.

How to convert MKV to AVI

  1. Drop your MKV file on the box above, or tap it to pick one. The engine (about 31 MB) loads once per visit.
  2. The converter reads the file's streams and shows which codecs are inside.
  3. Keep the defaults, or pick a quality and resolution.
  4. Press the button, wait for the progress bar, then download your AVI.

Prefer the command line?

This is the FFmpeg command the converter runs for a typical MKV (h264 + aac). Paste it into a terminal with FFmpeg installed for batch jobs or files too big for a browser tab:

ffmpeg -y -i input.mkv -map 0:v:0 -map "0:a:0?" -sn -dn -vf "scale=trunc(iw/2)*2:trunc(ih/2)*2" -c:v mpeg4 -vtag xvid -q:v 5 -c:a libmp3lame -q:a 2 output.avi

This re-encodes, so expect it to take a while on long files. Your own file may contain different codecs; the converter above detects them and adapts. For other jobs, ask the FFmpeg command helper.

Questions

Why not keep H.264 in the AVI?

AVI was never designed for H.264 B-frames and older players that need AVI rarely decode H.264 anyway.

Is my MKV file uploaded?

No. The MKV is read from your device by FFmpeg running as WebAssembly in the page, and the AVI is written back to your device. No server ever receives it.

Is there a size limit for MKV to AVI?

We set none. The practical limit is browser memory: roughly 2 GB of output on a computer, and much less on phones.