MakeMKV converts video from DVD and Blu-ray discs into MKV files, copying the video, audio, and subtitle streams rather than re-encoding them. It preserves tracks, chapters, and metadata, and can also stream a disc directly.
MakeMKV is a disc converter that reads a DVD or Blu-ray and writes the video, audio, and subtitle tracks into MKV files. Nothing is re-encoded: the streams are copied exactly as they appear on the disc, so picture and sound quality are preserved and the transfer runs as fast as the drive can read. A selection tree lists every title and track found on the disc, so you decide which main feature, commentary, and subtitle set to keep. Chapters, track languages, and audio type information travel with the file. Disc protection schemes used on commercial releases are handled internally, so no extra tool is needed.
Two other MakeMKV modes are worth knowing about. Backup copies the entire disc, menus and all, into a folder on a drive, which is useful when a disc is fragile or when you would rather decide later what to extract. Streaming serves the disc over the network without writing anything to disk first, so a player on the same machine or another device can watch the content straight away. Because the output is a standard MKV, anything not kept during conversion can be added later with a remux. That is where MKVToolNix comes in: it can merge, split, relabel, and re-tag the resulting files without touching the streams.
The case for MakeMKV is that it captures a disc once, in full quality, and leaves you with something flexible. Because nothing is transcoded, the result is a faithful copy rather than a compressed approximation, and a two-hour film finishes in the time the drive needs to read it. Keeping every audio track means the original surround mix, a stereo downmix, and a commentary are all still available later, and preserving chapters and metadata keeps the file organised without manual tagging work. The backup and streaming modes cover the other two practical situations: archiving a disc before it degrades, or watching one without committing disk space. Files it produces play in ordinary media players, and they can be remuxed, trimmed, or converted afterwards with other tools. If you plan to build a media library, capturing discs losslessly first avoids a second rip later.
Key capabilities and highlights.
MakeMKV copies the video, audio, and subtitle streams off a disc into MKV files without decoding or re-encoding them, so quality is untouched and the job runs at the speed of the drive. A film that took hours to compress elsewhere finishes in minutes.
The selection tree in MakeMKV lists every title, audio track, and subtitle stream found on the disc, with duration, language, and size shown for each, so you can keep the main feature and drop trailers, menus, and duplicate tracks before conversion starts. That keeps archives tidy and avoids wasted disk space.
Full-quality audio formats are retained rather than downmixed, and every language present on the disc can be carried into the file along with commentary tracks. Subtitle streams in both text and image formats come across as well, which matters for discs where only some languages were published.
MakeMKV writes chapter markers, track languages, and audio descriptions into the MKV, so the resulting file behaves like the disc did: you can jump to a scene and a player can label tracks correctly. That saves a second pass of manual tagging after conversion.
Commercial discs ship with copy protection schemes that block ordinary drives from reading their content. MakeMKV deals with those schemes itself, including current versions of the protection used on Blu-ray, so no extra decryption utility has to be installed or configured alongside it.
Instead of converting titles one at a time, backup mode copies the whole disc into a folder, including menus and structure files, with the option to decrypt as it goes. That preserves everything for later, and the folder can be opened again as a source whenever you want.
A streaming mode exposes the disc over the local network without writing a file first, so a media player on the same machine or another device in the house can play the film straight from the drive. It is the quickest way to check a disc before committing to a full rip.
Sources include optical discs, ISO images, and folders created by an earlier backup, which means a disc only has to be handled once if the drive is slow or the media is precious. Opening an image also sidesteps any problem with a failing disc during a long conversion.
Browse historical releases and previous builds.
Common questions about MakeMKV.
It reads a DVD or Blu-ray and writes the video, audio, and subtitle streams into MKV files. The streams are copied rather than re-encoded, so the picture and sound are identical to the disc, and the process is limited mainly by how fast the drive can read.
MKV is widely supported by media players, smart televisions, and streaming boxes, and the video and audio inside the file are the original streams, which are usually well supported. If a particular device refuses the container, the file can be remuxed into another format later without re-encoding.
Yes. Protection schemes used on retail releases are handled inside the program, so an ordinary drive can read the disc's content and you do not need to run a separate decryption tool first. Support for the schemes used on Blu-ray is updated as new versions appear.
It copies an entire disc, menus included, into a folder instead of producing individual title files. That is useful when a disc is scratched or rare, because preserving a working copy takes priority over deciding which tracks matter. The folder can be opened later as a source and converted at leisure.
Yes. The streaming mode makes the disc available over the network, so a media player can open it and play the content directly from the drive. Nothing is written to disk, which makes it a quick way to check a title before starting a full conversion.
No, the output is MKV only. That is a deliberate choice, since MKV is the container that holds multiple video, audio, and subtitle tracks along with chapter and language information. Converting onwards to another container or trimming the result is a job for a separate remuxing toolkit.
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