MKV File - What Is an MKV File and How Do I Open It

MKV is a widely used format for storing multimedia files like movies, TV shows, and others.

To play these files on your systems, phone, and other devices you need a compatible player. Know more about the MKV file format, best players, conversion tools, and more in the following parts.

Part 1. What is an MKV File

An MKV is a multimedia container file format that is known for its feature to store an unlimited number of videos, images, audio, subtitles, and other files in one This Matroska Multimedia Container is a free and open format and majorly used for HD quality online videos. The format is capable of storing multiple file information like cover art, descriptions, ratings, and even chapter points. The DivX Plus software use MKV as their default format.

Part 2. How can I Play MKV Files?

To play MKV files on your system, you would need compatible player software. Below listed are the two popular ones in the category.

1. Best Option: Play with UniConverter Free Player

Wondershare Free Video Player is the best tool for playing MKV as well as all other video file formats in a hassle-free manner. Though Wondershare UniConverter is a professional video toolbox supporting multiple functions, its free version is also available that comes with a built-in video player as well.

Key features of the software

• Almost all key and popular video and audio formats are supported for playback.
• Allows selecting customized settings for playback like playback speed, subtitles, full-screen, and more.
• High-quality video playback.
• Option to create a video playlist.
• Multiple video playback control options.
• Additional software features include video conversion, download, recording, editing, compression, and more.
• Windows and Mac support.

Steps to play MKV files using Wondershare Free Player

Launch the software and from the main interface choose the Player tab from the left-side menu. Click on the Open File button to browse and import the MKV files from your system. Multiple files for creating a video playlist can be added.

Next, you can choose the settings like playback speed, capture screen, full-screen, subtitles, and more using the icons under the added video.

Click on the play icon to start playing the added MKV files. Further playback control options like previous, next, pause, and others can be used as needed.

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2. Play with VLC Media Player

Another widely used player for playing MKV files is VLC Media Player. This is a free and open-source player that can help you play files in decent quality. The player offers multi-platform support including Windows, Mac, Linux, and others. Though this is a free player but the formats supported are limited and also the additional supported functions are limited.

Part 3. How to Convert an MKV File

When your player or editing tool does not support playing MKV files the best option is to convert your videos into other compatible formats and for this, a good converter software is needed. Here we recommend Wondershare UniConverter as the best option as this versatile software supports more than 1000 formats and devices for the conversion task.

Your MKV videos can be easily converter to an array of video files as well as device-specific profiles, and that too without any quality loss. Additionally, the built-in editor can be further used to edit MKV before conversion. Batch processing is supported to convert multiple files at a time.

Steps to convert MKV files using Wondershare UniConverter

Step 1. Launch the Wondershare UniConverter MKV converter on your system and from the Converter tab on the main interface click on the + sign or Add Files icon to add MKV files. Multiple files can be added for batch conversion.

Step 2. Open the drop-down list at the Output Format tab on the bottom-left corner and choose the desired target format from the Video list. Also, choose the resolution.

Step 3. At the File Location section, the desktop folder to save the converted files needs to be browsed. Finally, tap on Start All to start with the conversion process.

Part 4. How do you extract subtitles from MKV?

Wondershare UniConverter is a feature- packed tool and can perform multiple functions. If you are looking for a program that can let you extract the subtitles from your MKV files, use Subtitle Editor function of Wondershare software. Simple and easy to use, the feature will let you export and save the SRT file.

Steps to extract subtitles from MKV using Wondershare UniConverter

Step 1. Launch the software and from the main menu on the left-side interface choose Toolbox Subtitle Editor.

Step 2. Click on the + sign or the Add File icon to add MKV files to the interface. The drag and drop function can also be used to import the file.

Step 3. After the video is added, click on the Manual Subtitles button. Enter the subtitles required at the needed parts of the video. Multiple subtitles can be added.

Step 4. When all subtitles are added, click on the Export button on the bottom-right corner and a pop-up Export window will open. Here choose the SRT file option and give a desired name to the file to be saved.

Click on the Export button and the subtitle file will be extracted and saved in the SRT format.

Conclusion

Play and convert your MKV video files using the best software-Wondershare UniConverter. Simple and quick to download, the feature-packed tool can be used for several other video-related functions.