MP4 → MKV

Convert Your MP4 to MKV documents smoothly

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How to convert MP4 to MKV

Step 1: Transfer your MP4 files using the button above or by slide and deposit.

Step 2: Click the 'Convert' button to start the conversion.

Step 3: Retrieve your converted MKV files.


MP4 to MKV Conversion FAQ

How do I re-encode MP4 to MKV without losing video quality?
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Upload your MP4 file and set Quality to High Quality in the conversion options. That re-encodes the video at the highest quality setting (CRF 18 for H.264 and VP9 output), which keeps the most detail at the cost of a larger file. The default, Balanced, uses the standard setting. The MKV output gets a codec its container supports: H.264 for MP4, MOV and MKV, VP9 for WebM. Almost every MP4 in the wild is H.264 video with AAC audio; the container also legally holds HEVC, AV1 and VP9. MKV is codec-agnostic: H.264, HEVC, VP9 and AV1 video sit happily beside AAC, FLAC, Opus, DTS or Dolby audio in the same file.
Yes, and it is a real upgrade over MP4. MKV treats every audio stream as a first-class track, so an original-language mix, a dub and a director commentary can live in one file with the player switching between them on demand. MKV is the archival container of choice because it stores unlimited audio tracks, soft subtitles, chapter markers and cover art in one file.
It does. MKV stores chapters as container metadata, so a long recording can be navigated by section instead of by scrubbing a progress bar. MP4 has nowhere to put that information, so the converted MKV starts with no chapters; add markers afterwards with a tool such as MKVToolNix or ffmpeg.
Not directly. MP4 plays inline in every browser; MKV does not, so a page embedding it falls back to a download link or an empty player frame. If the file is destined for a website, keep the MP4 for the web and treat the MKV as the archive or editing copy. MKV has almost no native hardware support — phones, browsers and TVs usually need VLC or a remux before they will play it.
It may not. MP4 is decoded by dedicated silicon on phones, tablets and TVs, which is why it plays without flattening the battery. MKV typically falls back to software decoding on the same hardware — higher CPU load, a warmer device, and dropped frames on 4K material. For a device target, MP4 is the safer container to stay in.
Keep whichever matches where the file is going, because neither is better in the abstract. One of these two is built for playback compatibility and the other for holding everything a file might contain, and they trade against each other exactly along that line. The pragmatic answer for most libraries is to archive in the feature-rich container and export to the compatible one on demand. MP4 is the safest possible delivery target — every phone, browser, console, editor and Smart TV built in the last decade plays it without extra software.
It depends on the MKV container. MP4, MOV and MKV output use H.264, which plays on practically every phone, browser and TV. WebM output uses VP9. AVI, WMV and MPEG output use the older codecs those formats were designed for. MKV is Matroska, an open container designed in 2002 with no licensing restrictions and no ceiling on what it can hold.
Yes, the main audio track comes through, re-encoded to a codec the MKV container plays, for example AAC in MP4 and MOV or Opus in WebM. Most conversions keep only that one track (the one with the most channels), so alternate languages and commentary are dropped. MP4 to MOV, and AVI, WMV, MPEG, FLV, VOB or M4V to MKV, keep every audio track.
Yes. The frame rate is kept unless you change it: a 24 fps MP4 stays 24 fps in the MKV. The Frame Rate setting can also convert to 60, 30 or 24 fps. It changes the rate only; it does not deinterlace the video or remove 3:2 pulldown.
It depends on what happens to the video. MKV to MP4 or MOV with the default settings copies the video stream unchanged, so the size stays close to the source. Most other pairs re-encode it: a high-bitrate MP4 usually comes out smaller, while an already heavily compressed one can grow. Smaller File under Quality gives the smallest output, and H.265 in the Codec setting (MP4, MOV and MKV) is usually smaller than H.264 at similar quality but plays on fewer devices.
MP4 with H.264 plays on practically every phone, browser and TV. MOV with H.264 plays on Apple devices and most TVs but not on every older Android phone. MKV needs an app such as VLC on iOS, and WebM is at home in browsers. There is no device preset on this page, so choose the target format your device supports.
There is no fixed time: it depends on the length, the resolution and the target format. Conversions run on our servers' CPUs with software encoders; there is no GPU acceleration. MKV to MP4 or MOV with the default settings copies the video stream and is the quickest. A re-encode to H.264 takes longer, and WebM (VP9) is the slowest target, several times slower than H.264 in our tests.

MP4

MP4 container extension can hold video, audio, subtitles, and images in a single file with excellent compression.

MKV

MKV (Matroska) can hold unlimited video, audio, and subtitle tracks in a single file, ideal for movies.


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