Step 1: Supply your AVI files using the button above or by haul and lay.
Step 2: Click the 'Convert' button to start the conversion.
Step 3: Get your converted MKV files.
AVI to MKV Conversion FAQ
What does the AVI to MKV converter do?
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AVI is a legacy container, often poorly supported on modern devices. Converting to MKV rewraps the video with a current codec (H.264 / H.265 / VP9) for broad browser, phone, and TV compatibility.
Will resolution and frame rate be preserved in the MKV?
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Yes. AVI → MKV keeps resolution, frame rate, and aspect ratio unchanged by default. To change them, use the Resize or Speed tool on the result.
My AVI footage shows comb lines on movement — will that carry into the MKV?
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Yes. AVI content is often interlaced, because the format comes from the broadcast and DVD era, and this converter has no deinterlace option, so the combing carries into the MKV. If it matters, deinterlace the AVI first in a desktop tool such as HandBrake or ffmpeg (the yadif filter). AVI is Microsoft’s Audio Video Interleave, introduced in 1992 on top of the RIFF chunk format — one of the oldest containers still in circulation.
My AVI recordings are split into numbered parts — does MKV have the same limit?
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No, and that is one of the better reasons to move. The AVI container has a practical single-file ceiling that long or high-bitrate recordings run straight into, which is exactly why old captures arrive as part1, part2, part3. MKV has no equivalent limit, so the pieces can be rejoined into one continuous file. AVI has no native support for modern codecs, variable frame rate, soft subtitles or files over 4 GB without hacks, and its per-chunk overhead bloats the file.
Can I add selectable subtitles once the file is MKV?
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Yes. AVI has no usable soft-subtitle track, so subtitles for AVI content had to be burned into the picture or shipped as a separate sidecar file. MKV carries subtitles as their own selectable stream, so after conversion you can attach an SRT track the viewer can switch on, switch off or restyle. 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.
Why do so many people keep their libraries in MKV?
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Because it was designed for keeping things rather than for delivering them. An MKV holds an unlimited number of audio tracks, selectable subtitle streams, chapter marks and cover art in one file, which is exactly what a disc rip needs somewhere to put — everything ends up in a single object instead of a folder of loose companions. The trade is playback: very little consumer hardware decodes it natively, so the same file that is ideal on a computer or a media server usually has to be converted again before a television will touch it. MKV is the archival container of choice because it stores unlimited audio tracks, soft subtitles, chapter markers and cover art in one file.
Does MKV support chapter markers that AVI did not?
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It does. MKV stores chapters as container metadata, so a long recording can be navigated by section instead of by scrubbing a progress bar. AVI 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.
Is it worth converting old AVI recordings to MKV at all?
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For anything you intend to keep, yes. AVI belongs to an earlier generation of video tooling and the software that reads it is steadily disappearing from phones, browsers and operating systems. Moving the footage to MKV now, while a clean decoder still exists, is the difference between an archive you can open in ten years and one you cannot.
Is there a file-size limit when converting AVI to MKV?
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Free conversions have a size limit per file, set by the type of file, and the page tells you when a file is over it. A paid plan removes that limit, so much larger files can be converted.
Can I batch-convert several AVI files to MKV at once?
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Several files in one job need a paid plan. Free use is one file per conversion, one conversion an hour. On a paid plan you can add several files to one job, then download each result on its own or all of them in one ZIP.
What happens to my AVI files after the conversion?
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Uploaded files are processed on our own conversion servers, nobody looks at them, and they are not shared. The upload and the converted file are both deleted automatically about 24 hours after the conversion, which leaves time to download the result. See /privacy/ for the full policy.
Will my MKV play on phones, tablets, and TVs?
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Yes — MKV uses modern codecs that play natively on iOS, Android, Smart TVs, game consoles, and every modern browser.
