How to open files with mkv extension. MKV file format - what is it and how to open it. Open MKV on PC
If you are looking for how to open a mkv file, then you have come to the right place.
Everyone has ever downloaded movies from torrents.
Everything seems to be fine, but the files do not open periodically, because they have *.mkv permission. And why not AVI, to which we have become accustomed for such an amount of time?
The AVI format was developed by the well-known Microsoft company for commercial purposes.
Everything was great until the moment when a fundamentally new blu-ray format with the transcendent quality of the video sequence was “released” on the market.
Compressing the original information to AVI format when trying to create BD-rip files did not work, because the final product was terrible in every way:
- Small resolution;
- Inability to insert subtitles;
- No language change.
As a result, the domestic "Kulibins" created their own container and called it "Matroska" (Matryoshka).
The format name is formed by transliteration: Matroska - mk, video - v = mkv. It initially has more features than AVI, but is not as common.
Because of this, many people have a question about how to open the mkv file of a PC? The developers have taken care of this by providing their products with the appropriate capability. Consider the most famous representatives, namely:
- The KMPlayer;
- GOM Player;
- MKV Player;
- Media Player Classic;
- VLC media player.
The KMPlayer
Do not confuse this player with KMPlayer, even if they have identical names. The latter was developed by the KDE environment.
Ours has a distinctive prefix "The" and is "sharpened" for Windows and Android.
In other words, if you do not know how to open mkv on Android, you can safely download from Play market this application.
Otherwise, the program supports almost the entire list of popular formats, both audio and video.
Among them are also FLV, WMV, AVI, MKV and QuickTime. Its main difference is the support for a huge number of codecs.
There are rumors that some of them are built into the software package not quite legally, but this only benefits the user, since they do not have to overpay for a license.
There are enough opportunities.
Firstly, this player can easily play even “broken” and under-downloaded files of any format (except DVD).
Secondly, the libavcodec library is initially included in the installation package, so the registry will not be additionally "cluttered" with various garbage.
Note! For fans of unusual design, there is support for covers and additional plug-ins from Winamp. And most importantly: almost all languages are supported.
GOM Player
Another good option for those who do not know how to open an mkv file on windows 8 and earlier versions of the OS.
The installation package has a built-in set of codecs that are needed to play all the more or less well-known formats.
In addition to the basic functionality, the player is able to "eat" both under-downloaded and broken multimedia files.
Another thing is that the quality of the picture may suffer. In addition, in GOM you can take screenshots, record sound and subtitles.
Great option for older PCs with specs from 2004-2007.
Any movie will play without jerks and stutters, since post-processing is well implemented here.
Unfortunately, the player cannot be "redrawn" for itself due to the closeness of the source code.
Because of this, it is impossible to remove embedded ads, which are annoying from time to time.
MKV Player
An ideal option for those who do not know how to open mkv. The name itself already seems to hint.
The program was originally conceived as a primitive and convenient tool for playing the MKV format, as well as popular audio and video files.
The appearance of the window is somewhat reminiscent of the classic WM-player version 7. The only difference is that here the buttons do not have icons with a designation, but text labels.
In other words, if you want to click on play, you need to click not on the triangle, but on the "play" button.
Functionality is frankly scarce. Here you will not find any equalizers, no effects settings, no reference book.
You can only vary the speed of playing tracks and displaying subtitles.
Useful information:
On our site you can download the player poweramp. This is a multifunctional application designed for high-quality listening to music. The add-on adds an equalizer, a separate library.
Media Player Classic
This player is often confused with Windows Media. There is a certain grain of truth in this: the product has an appearance identical to WMP version 6.4.
But that's where the similarities end, since MPC is based on completely different code.
It is noteworthy that only one programmer named Gabest is working on the program.
Attentive people will notice that MKV support is not listed in the MPC and will start to panic.
You should not do this, because the program supports DivX 7 versions, so there will be no problems with mkv files. Even codecs do not have to be additionally updated.
In addition, the player perfectly copes with flash video, frame captures through a TV tuner, and more.
As for the disadvantages. First, you won't be able to adjust brightness and contrast automatically. You have to fiddle with the settings manually, which is not very convenient.
Secondly, on weak systems, the program will slow down, since it requires SSE support.
In general, a good household player for non-trivial tasks.
VLC media player
The famous "traffic cone", which has gained fame as a trouble-free and omnivorous program, which can handle any format, both video and audio.
Based on the words of the developer, this software has been downloaded more than 500 million times in its entire history.
Hardly any player can boast of such success.
The frenzy of VLC is due to its openness and cross-platform.
If you don't know how to open mkv on mac, feel free to download the MacOS version and enjoy watching your favorite track.
Do not be too lazy to memorize the basic keyboard shortcuts of the player in order to use it without a mouse.
Believe me, this is very convenient, you don’t have to reach for the “rodent” every time to turn it up louder, open subtitles or take a screenshot.
Speaking of subtitles. If you are watching a movie with the original soundtrack, add a small SRT file with subtitles to your movie folder.
The player will automatically recognize it and add a track with translation.
Since version 2.0, skins have become available for VLC. Now you can completely change the outer shell of the player at your discretion.
Perhaps this is the most convenient player that has ever been created. Navigation is excellent, even Jet Audio of the latest generation can envy the “gluttony” of formats.
Well and availability for different OS. Great choice.
How to open mkv file? Overview of the TOP 5 best programs
In one file, the format allows you to store several video and audio tracks, as well as subtitles. MKV stores various rich media content such as movies or TV programs. The format is open source, unlike similar AVI and MP4.
To store binary data, Matroska, like most formats, uses XML. In most cases, MKV opens with any media player, below is a selection of the best free MKV video viewers.
What free programs can open the MKV format?
1. - provides the user with a huge number of functions, from setting up external displays, to fine tuning audio and video. VLC media player over its long history has learned to open and play a large number of formats. All these advantages are emphasized by a beautiful, elegant, simple and intuitive interface, in which there is nothing superfluous.2. is a universal player for audio and video files for Microsoft Windows, has the same appearance as Windows media player 6.4, it is small and light, but at the same time it can play a huge number of formats. Media Player Classic has many options and features not found anywhere else. The application supports such formats as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DirectShow, QuickTime, RealPlayer, Matroska and Ogg containers, TV tuners.
3. is a compact media player that allows you to play various video and audio file formats such as VCD, DVD, avi, mkv, ogg, ogm, 3gp and MPEG-1/2/4, WMV, RealMedia, QuickTime and many others. It displays subtitles and allows you to take screenshots, capture audio and video streams.
4. - A very popular player in Russia with a huge number of settings, ranging from localization to the choice of codecs, both external and internal. The interface is not overloaded and intuitive, with a right click on the playback area, an extensive menu with playback settings appears.
5. - A small media player with a large number of playable formats. In appearance, a simple and pleasant interface is actually not very convenient. New users are saved by tooltips, so getting used to the interface will not be difficult. A great feature of this player is its support for Winamp plugins. When playing a video, you can take screenshots and save them in bmp or jpeg format.
6. - Convenient free player. Behind a modest and concise design, almost a whole media center is hidden. Here you have an equalizer, and customizable playlists, video zoom in/out, and much more. The utility supports subtitles, a huge number of supported formats, flash support. QuickTime, HTML.
7. - Multifunctional media player with a nice minimalistic interface that can be changed thanks to the support of skins. In addition to all popular formats, including mkv, there is support for the AVCHD format, which is used in modern professional digital camcorders. There are features for capturing frames and slow motion playback, displaying and editing subtitles.
How to open mkv format is a very popular question among users and therefore I decided to answer it in a separate article. Since the mkv file is a video file, you need to use players to see what is in this file. Some players refuse to open this file, and therefore it is possible that your player, which you have been using for a long time, cannot open this file.
The note: if you use popular video players, then you will not have any difficulties with new video files. Before you start installing something, it is better to read the article to the end. Most likely, you already have everything installed or you need to make settings. Below is a video that will show you how to convert MKV format.
This format can be viewed in different players, but you need to set up codecs so that everything is played back. We will consider players to try each, because if you have an old computer, then this format can slow down on your computer, usually there is a belated sound.
Note: if you already have any player installed and your computer is not old, then go down below.
Turntables
I want to note that I did not evaluate the players, because I would not want to impose my opinion. Choose the one you like and install. I will do small review players so that you do not think about the question - how to open mkv.
The first video player that we will consider in this article is KMPlayer, which was developed by guys from Korea. Most users think that better programs no and will not. But as practice confirms, exceptions sometimes occur 😉. I used this player, so feel free to install it if you like it.
Number two is GOM Player. I used this player very little, so I can not say anything about this player. You can install it on your computer and evaluate the player yourself.
The honorable third place in our list is occupied by Light Alloy, which means light alloy. This program feels great on a weak "office" computer. Sometimes when viewing a large video file size, the player may feel unwell.
At the beginning of the article, I said that you do not need to install anything! And here's why: you can open mkv in the standard player that comes with Windows. This is exactly what I will talk about in the next chapter of this article.
To play video on a computer or laptop, you do not need a highly sophisticated player. I have 3-4 players installed on my PC and laptop, but I usually use Media Player Classic, which is installed with codecs.
Codecs and built-in player
So, above I have reviewed several players so that you don’t have a question than to watch mkv. If you have problems opening the mkv file in any player, then let's configure/install the codecs. Now we will install K-Lite Codec Pack - codecs that have a simple player for reading different video formats.
In the event that you are not familiar with the concept of codecs and have no idea what function they perform in Windows, then read the article on the blog: "". This information is required reading for users who have just started to master the computer. Also in this article, I told you how you can install codecs, if you do everything according to the instructions, then you will no longer have the question of how to open a mkv file on your computer.
First, download the codecs and install them. To do this, go to the developers website. After going down a little lower and in the line "Full", on the right click "Download Full".
To download codecs, you can use different mirrors where these codecs are located.
For example, I will choose the first mirror. On the page that opens, click "Click Here To Download".
After downloading, open the codec installation file. Click next.
In the next window, leave everything as default, click "Next".
In the next window, you will be prompted to select a profile, for a regular user you do not need to change anything, just click "Next".
By checking the box in the next window, you will not add data about codecs. It makes no sense to change anything, and therefore click "Next".
So, now we go down the page and uncheck the box so that the developers' site does not open after installation.
In the next window, you can specify additional data about the "Decoding Method", if you are confused, then leave it as it is, and in the future you can change these settings if you need it.
Note: if you have an old computer that slows down when playing videos, then you should think about this setting. If the computer has normal characteristics, then this is not necessary. This is what the developers say!
At this stage, you select the player that will be associated with the video files.
In the next window, you can select the file extensions that will be opened by Media Player Classic.
Now choose your audio system. If you have a simple audio system, then nothing needs to be changed.
Click "Install" and the installation of codecs will begin.
After installing the codecs, now you will not have problems opening this file. By the way, you can also use the VLC player. It is really a very good player and if you have problems with opening files, for example mov, then this program will cope with such files twice. You may ask why you need to install another player, because there is no difference, since there are only one codecs! But no!
This player has built-in codecs! That is, even if there are no codecs on your computer, you can view video files through it. This is the player we used to open video files when I was working on TV. So be sure to install it and you will have a choice, if your codecs do not open some video file, then you can open it through VLC.
Small conclusion. You don't need to install many players! Just install the one you like best and that's it. It's all about codecs. If codecs are not installed on your computer or laptop, then you will have problems opening video files. In the event that your computer or laptop has poor performance, but you need to watch a video file with the mkv extension, then install several players and it is possible that the video will not freeze during playback.
Some users asked me how to open an mkv file, now I think it has become clear that the main thing is the installed codecs on your system.
Happy viewing!
If your player or TV does not read MKV files, then you can do the conversion:
Download the video converter from the Movavi website, open the file and follow the installation instructions. It takes only a few minutes. The program is fully translated into Russian, so it will be very easy to understand it.
Choose a file to convert
When the installation is completed, run the program, click on the button Add files in the upper left corner, select Add a video and add AVI, FLV, WMV, MP4, MOV or other format files to convert to MKV. You can also add MKV movies and videos to the program to convert them to another format. To add DVD video, in the menu Add files select item Add DVD, and then click Open DVD.
Choose format
Click the tab at the bottom of the interface Video, click on the section mkv and select the appropriate profile from the list. You can change the video settings manually: click the gear button below the formats panel to open the settings editor.
To transcode MKV for playback on PS4, PS3, Xbox, Android smartphone, iPad tablet, mobile phone or other device, open the tab Devices and select a profile for your gadget model.
Start converting files
Before starting the conversion, click the button with the folder icon and select the location where the new video files will be saved. Now you can start the conversion: to do this, click the button Start in the lower right corner. The conversion may take several minutes or more depending on the size and number of source files.
Wait for the conversion to finish
When the conversion is completed, a folder with video files will open. You can burn the resulting MKV file to a DVD for viewing on a wide screen, or you can play the video on your computer using Movavi Media Player in Movavi Video Suite for Windows. In addition to a media player and video converter, it includes programs for burning to DVD, capturing video from the screen, creating your own movies and slideshows, a full-fledged video editor and much more. Download trial version Movavi Video Suite and try all these programs in action.
If you have converted MKV to formats for mobile phones or game consoles, write the finished files to your device by connecting it to your computer: open the file transfer application and follow its instructions. Movavi Video Converter blurs the boundaries between formats: now you can easily transfer movies and clips to any video viewing device.
