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How to Convert MKV to MP4 on Windows 10/11 (3 Methods)

MKV to MP4 conversion tutorial for Windows 11 showing easiest method to convert video files

The easiest way to convert MKV to MP4 on Windows 11 is a free open-source tool called File Converter. Install it, right-click any MKV file, choose Show more options > File Converter > To MP4, and the converted file lands in the same folder. No re-encoding settings to fiddle with, no upload to a sketchy website, no command line.

Applies to: Windows 11 (and Windows 10) | Last updated: May 18, 2026

How to Turn MKV into MP4 in Windows 11

Key Takeaways

  • MKV and MP4 are containers, not codecs — most MKV files already hold H.264 or H.265 video that MP4 supports natively, which means you can usually convert without re-encoding and without losing any quality.
  • File Converter is the easiest method — a free open-source tool that adds an “MP4” option to the right-click menu in File Explorer. No command line, no settings to configure.
  • HandBrake is the best free alternative if you want a graphical interface with fine-grained control over codec, bitrate, and quality.
  • FFmpeg with -c copy converts the container in seconds — no re-encoding, no quality loss, and the output file is identical in size and visual fidelity to the source.
  • Avoid online converters for anything larger than a phone clip — upload time is wasted bandwidth, and most free sites enforce a 100 MB to 2 GB cap before throwing a paywall.

Quick Steps (File Converter):

  1. Download the latest installer from the File Converter releases page on GitHub.
  2. Run the MSI installer and follow the prompts.
  3. Right-click your MKV file in File Explorer and click Show more options.
  4. Navigate to File Converter > To MP4.
  5. Wait for the conversion to finish — the MP4 file appears in the same folder as the original.

In This Guide

This guide covers three ways to convert MKV to MP4 on Windows 11. They are listed from easiest to most flexible:

Why Convert MKV to MP4 in the First Place?

MKV (Matroska) and MP4 are both containers — wrappers that hold a video stream, an audio stream, and sometimes subtitles in a single file. The actual video inside both is usually the same: H.264 or H.265, the two codecs that dominate modern video. The difference is compatibility.

MP4 is the universal format. It plays on every phone, TV, browser, social media platform, and video editor without complaint. MKV plays fine in VLC and on PCs, but a lot of mobile devices, older smart TVs, and editors like CapCut or DaVinci Resolve struggle with it — sometimes audio breaks, sometimes the file just refuses to import.

Converting from MKV to MP4 fixes that. And because the video stream inside is usually already MP4-compatible, the conversion is almost always lossless — the file changes wrapper, not contents.

Method 1: Convert MKV to MP4 with File Converter (Easiest)

File Converter is a free, open-source Windows tool that adds a conversion menu directly to the File Explorer right-click context menu. It is the method I use myself and the one I show in the video above. The whole process takes about 30 seconds once it is installed.

Step 1: Download File Converter from GitHub

Open the File Converter releases page and download the latest FileConverter-x.x.x-Setup.msi file. The project is open source and hosted on GitHub, so you can inspect or audit the code if you want to.

Step 2: Install File Converter

Run the MSI installer and follow the setup wizard. Default options are fine — accept the license, pick an install location, and confirm. After installation, File Converter integrates itself into the Windows shell and is ready to use.

Step 3: Right-Click Your MKV File

Open the folder containing your MKV file in File Explorer. Right-click the file, then click Show more options at the bottom of the menu to expose the legacy Windows context menu — this is where File Converter installs itself. On Windows 10 you can skip this step because the legacy menu is the default.

Tip: If you would rather not press “Show more options” every single time, the classic Windows 10 right-click menu can be enabled permanently in Windows 11 with a single registry tweak.

Step 4: Pick the MP4 Option

In the legacy context menu, hover over File Converter to expand its submenu. You will see a list of conversion targets — MP4, AVI, MOV, MP3, WAV, and several others. Click To MP4. File Converter starts processing immediately and shows a progress window in the system tray.

How long the conversion takes depends on the length of the file and whether File Converter has to re-encode. For a one-hour 1080p video, expect anywhere from 30 seconds (if re-encoding is skipped) to 5 minutes. Once the conversion is done, the new MP4 file appears in the same folder as the original MKV. The MKV is not deleted — File Converter never touches the source file.

File Converter handles a lot more than just video. The same right-click workflow works for audio (MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG), images (PNG, JPG, WebP), and even PDFs. If you want a full overview of what it can do, I wrote a separate guide on converting files in Windows with File Converter.

Method 2: Convert MKV to MP4 with HandBrake

HandBrake is a free, open-source video transcoder that has been around for over 20 years. It is what I reach for when I need control over the output — picking a specific codec, capping the bitrate, resizing the resolution, or batch-converting a whole folder of files. Download it from handbrake.fr.

  1. Open HandBrake and drag your MKV file onto the window (or use File > Open Source).
  2. In the Summary tab, set Format to MP4.
  3. On the right-hand presets panel, pick Fast 1080p30 (or a preset that matches your source resolution) — this is a sensible default for most users.
  4. Set the destination path at the bottom of the window using Browse.
  5. Click Start Encode in the toolbar.

HandBrake always re-encodes the video, which means it will take longer than File Converter or FFmpeg and you do lose a tiny bit of quality during the encode. The tradeoff is full control over file size and quality, which is useful if you are converting a large MKV down to a smaller MP4 for a phone or for uploading to a platform with a file-size cap.

Note: If your MKV has multiple audio tracks or embedded subtitles, check the Audio and Subtitles tabs in HandBrake before encoding. By default it only carries one of each into the output file.

Method 3: Convert MKV to MP4 with FFmpeg (Lossless, Command Line)

FFmpeg is the open-source backbone of nearly every video tool on the planet — including HandBrake and File Converter. If you are comfortable with a terminal, you can convert MKV to MP4 with a single one-line command. Download the latest Windows build from gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds and extract ffmpeg.exe to a folder, or install it with Winhance via WinGet.

Open a Terminal in the folder containing your MKV file (Shift + right-click in File Explorer, then Open in Terminal) and run:

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c copy output.mp4

Replace input.mkv with the name of your source file and output.mp4 with whatever you want the new file called. The -c copy flag tells FFmpeg to copy the existing video and audio streams into the new MP4 container without re-encoding. The result is identical to the original in quality and almost identical in file size, and it finishes in seconds rather than minutes.

If the MKV contains a video codec that MP4 does not support (rare on modern files, but possible with older content), FFmpeg will fail with an “incompatible codec” error. In that case, drop the -c copy flag to force a re-encode:

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c:v libx264 -c:a aac output.mp4

This re-encodes the video to H.264 and the audio to AAC, both of which are standard MP4 codecs.

Which Method Should You Use?

For 95% of people, File Converter is the right answer. It is the fastest path from “I have an MKV” to “I have an MP4” and it does not require thinking about codecs, bitrates, or terminal commands. The right-click integration also means there is nothing new to learn — it just shows up where you expect it to.

Pick HandBrake if you need to shrink the file (compressing a 10 GB MKV down to a 2 GB MP4 for a phone or upload), change the resolution, or strip out a specific audio track. Pick FFmpeg with -c copy if you have a folder full of MKVs to convert quickly, if the source is high-quality and you do not want to re-encode it, or if you are already comfortable in a terminal.

File Converter is also a great pick as part of a broader free-software toolkit. I included it in my roundup of 22 free Windows utilities every user must know, alongside a handful of other tools I keep installed on every PC I set up.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I lose quality converting MKV to MP4?

Usually no. MKV and MP4 are both containers, and the video stream inside most MKV files (H.264 or H.265) is already compatible with MP4. If you use FFmpeg with the -c copy flag, or File Converter on a compatible source, the conversion is completely lossless — only the wrapper changes. HandBrake always re-encodes, which introduces a small amount of quality loss, but at default quality settings it is not visible to the eye.

Do I need to re-encode an MKV to put it in an MP4?

Not usually. If your MKV contains H.264 or H.265 video and AAC or AC3 audio (which is what most MKV files contain in 2026), the streams can be remuxed into an MP4 container without re-encoding. That is what File Converter does in most cases and what FFmpeg’s -c copy flag does every time. You only need to re-encode if the source contains a codec MP4 does not support, such as ProRes or some older formats.

What happens to subtitles when I convert MKV to MP4?

MKV supports soft subtitles in multiple formats (SRT, SSA, PGS, VobSub), but MP4 only supports a couple of them — and File Converter and FFmpeg’s -c copy mode usually drop subtitle tracks during conversion. If you need the subtitles in the MP4, use HandBrake and select the subtitle track in the Subtitles tab before encoding. You can either burn them into the video permanently or include them as soft subtitles when the format allows.

Can I convert multiple MKV files at once?

Yes. In File Converter, select all the MKV files you want, right-click, choose Show more options > File Converter > To MP4, and every file in the selection is converted in turn. HandBrake has a built-in queue you can add multiple files to before encoding. FFmpeg can batch with a one-line for-loop in PowerShell: foreach ($f in Get-ChildItem *.mkv) { ffmpeg -i $f.Name -c copy ($f.BaseName + ".mp4") }.

Will the original MKV file be deleted after conversion?

No. All three methods produce a new MP4 file alongside the original MKV — the source is never touched. If you want to clean up after the conversion is done, you can manually delete the MKV from File Explorer. I usually keep both for a few days, confirm the MP4 plays back correctly on the device I need it for, and then delete the MKV to save space.

Does this work on Windows 10?

Yes. File Converter, HandBrake, and FFmpeg all work identically on Windows 10 (22H2) and Windows 11 (23H2, 24H2, 25H2). The only difference is that Windows 10 users do not need to click Show more options to expose the legacy context menu — File Converter appears directly when you right-click an MKV file.

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