AVI to MKV Converter
Move a shelf of DivX, Xvid and camcorder AVI files into Matroska, the container that media servers index cleanly and that can later take subtitles, chapters and extra audio tracks.
Video Converter
or drop MP4, MOV, MKV … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
Lower is better quality and a bigger file. 18 looks identical to the source, 23 is the default, 28 and above shows visible softening.
Frames per second. Keep the source rate unless a platform asks for a specific one; 15–20 fps is plenty for GIFs.
Only used for PowerPoint files and single still images: how long each slide or picture stays on screen.
Auto uses AAC for MP4/MOV and Opus for WebM. Copy keeps the original sound untouched when the new format supports it.
192 kbps is transparent for music; 128 kbps is enough for speech.
Width of the animation in pixels; height follows the aspect ratio. 480 px suits chats, 720 px or more gives a high-quality GIF but a much larger file.
GIF holds at most 256 colors. Fewer colors make a smaller file but cause banding on gradients and skin tones.
Mixes palette colors in a fine pattern to hide banding. Sierra gives the smoothest result; none gives the smallest file.
Whether the animation repeats endlessly or plays one time and stops.
Optional. Seconds (e.g. 75) or minutes:seconds (1:15). Leave empty to start at the beginning.
Optional. Same format as the start time. Leave empty to keep everything up to the end.
The converted file will be at or just under this size.
How to use this tool
- 1
Add the AVI files
Drop up to 20 .avi or .divx files onto the upload area. Each file can be up to 95 MB, which covers a typical 25-minute Xvid episode but not a full DV tape capture.
- 2
Keep the soundtrack as it is
The page starts with Video codec on H.264 and Audio codec on Copy original, so an MP3 or AC-3 track moves into the MKV untouched. Change Quality (CRF) only if you want a smaller or sharper result.
- 3
Convert and save
Press Convert to MKV and download each file or a ZIP of the batch. Uploads and results are deleted after 30 minutes.
How do I convert AVI to MKV without losing the soundtrack?
Upload the AVI and press Convert to MKV. The video is encoded to H.264 and the audio is copied exactly as it was, because Matroska accepts the MP3, AC-3 and PCM tracks that AVI files usually carry.
Why move an AVI library into MKV
Microsoft introduced AVI in November 1992 as part of Video for Windows. Its RIFF structure was simple, which is why the DivX and Xvid scene of the early 2000s adopted it, but it predates almost everything a modern player expects: there is no standard way to store B-frames, no native subtitle track and no chapter list. The original specification also capped files at 1 GB to 2 GB until the OpenDML extension stretched it.
Matroska started in 2002 as an open container that could hold any codec and any number of tracks, and in 2024 the IETF published it as RFC 9559. Plex, Jellyfin, Kodi and VLC treat MKV as a first-class format, so an archive rewrapped into it gets reliable seeking, correct durations and cleaner library scans than a folder of AVI files.
AVI
Audio Video Interleave
AVI is a multimedia container introduced by Microsoft in 1992 as part of Video for Windows. It can hold many codecs, from uncompressed video to DivX and Xvid, which made it a common format for camcorders and downloaded films in the 2000s. It lacks modern features such as reliable variable frame rates and standard subtitle support, and files are often large. Desktop players such as VLC play AVI, but phones and browsers usually cannot.
- Compression
- Lossy or lossless
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- 1992 · Microsoft
MKV
Matroska video
MKV is the Matroska multimedia container, an open-source format first released in 2002. It can hold nearly any video and audio codec plus unlimited audio tracks, subtitle tracks, chapters and attachments in one file. That flexibility makes it popular for films with several languages, screen recordings from OBS and long-term archiving. Phones, browsers, editors and some TVs do not support MKV, even when they support the codec inside.
- Compression
- Lossy or lossless
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- 2002 · Matroska project
AVI moves to MKV when a collection of DivX, Xvid and camcorder files is going into a media server: the original soundtrack can be copied as is, and the new container has room for subtitles, chapters and accurate timestamps the old one never had.
AVI vs MKV: what each container can hold
| AVI | MKV from this page | MP4 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soft subtitle tracks | no | yes | Limited |
| Chapter markers | no | yes | yes |
| Several audio languages in one file | Rarely supported | yes | yes |
| AC-3, DTS or PCM audio without re-encoding | yes | yes | Varies |
| Per-frame timestamps | no | yes | yes |
| Plays on iPhone without an extra app | no | no | yes |
Does converting AVI to MKV re-encode the video?
- Remuxrewrap · stream copy
- Moving the existing audio and video streams into a new container without decoding them. It is fast and lossless, but it keeps the old codec, so DivX or MPEG-4 Part 2 video stays exactly as limited as before.
This page remuxes the sound and re-encodes the picture. Xvid and DivX are MPEG-4 Part 2 codecs that many TVs, phones and browsers no longer decode, so the video is rewritten as H.264, which every MKV-aware player handles. At the default Quality (CRF) of 23 the result usually comes out smaller than the AVI; drop to 18 if you plan to edit the footage.
If a device on your network refuses MKV entirely, the same clip works as AVI to MOV for Apple editing apps. For a sense of how MKV compares with MP4 in everyday sharing, the MOV to MP4 guide explains why MP4 stays the safe pick for phones.
AVI to MKV questions
Why convert AVI to MKV instead of MP4?
MKV accepts almost any audio codec, so the MP3, AC-3 or PCM track inside an old AVI can be copied without a second lossy pass. MP4 is the better pick when the file must play on an iPhone or in a browser; for that, use AVI to MP4. For a Plex, Kodi or VLC library, MKV keeps more options open.
Does the MKV play on a smart TV?
Most smart TVs and streaming sticks sold in the last decade read MKV with H.264 video from a USB drive or a media server. The audio is the weaker link: if the copied track is DTS and the TV lacks a DTS license, you get silence. Switch Audio codec to AAC in that case.
Can I add an .srt subtitle file during the conversion?
No. This converter works on one video file at a time and does not merge a separate subtitle file. MKV is the right destination for it, though: once you have the MKV, a free muxer such as MKVToolNix adds the .srt as a switchable track in seconds.
Will Plex stop transcoding my old AVI files once they are MKV?
Usually the video part, yes. Plex transcodes when a client cannot decode the codec, and many TV apps cannot play DivX or Xvid, while H.264 in MKV direct-plays on nearly all of them. A copied DTS or AC-3 soundtrack can still trigger an audio-only transcode on a client without that decoder, which costs the server far less.
Will a DV camcorder AVI shrink as an MKV?
Yes, by a large margin. DV video runs at about 25 Mbps, while H.264 at the default CRF 23 needs a fraction of that for the same standard-definition frame. Keep Quality (CRF) at 18 to 20 if the tape footage is grainy, because noise eats bitrate.
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