{ "schemaVersion": 1, "contentVersion": "ca42e61ede0a24f789d7287a0001244ad22f4abf", "id": "docs/tools/utilities/mkvtoolnix", "collection": "docs", "title": "MKVToolNix", "description": "MKVToolNix is the standard toolkit for creating, editing, splitting and extracting Matroska files, with a GUI and the mkvmerge, mkvextract, mkvpropedit and mkvinfo command-line tools.", "canonicalUrl": "https://encode.wiki/tools/utilities/mkvtoolnix/", "apiUrl": "https://encode.wiki/api/v1/documents/docs/tools/utilities/mkvtoolnix.json", "markdownUrl": "https://encode.wiki/api/v1/markdown/docs/tools/utilities/mkvtoolnix.md", "status": "current", "tags": [ "migrated", "matroska", "muxing", "demuxing" ], "license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "dates": { "lastVerified": "2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "authors": [], "sources": [ { "title": "MKVToolNix release notes (NEWS.md)", "url": "https://mkvtoolnix.download/doc/NEWS.md", "accessedAt": "2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "title": "MKVToolNix downloads", "url": 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"https://encode.wiki/api/v1/sections/docs/tools/utilities/mkvtoolnix/mkvextract.json", "markdownUrl": "https://encode.wiki/api/v1/sections/docs/tools/utilities/mkvtoolnix/mkvextract.md", "checksum": "9c36ae4b0c10309a62abb822fff444f5551d62585fcc36d47d2b97f0bcffd8dc", "bytes": 384 }, { "id": "mkvpropedit", "title": "mkvpropedit", "depth": 2, "anchor": "mkvpropedit", "canonicalUrl": "https://encode.wiki/tools/utilities/mkvtoolnix/#mkvpropedit", "apiUrl": "https://encode.wiki/api/v1/sections/docs/tools/utilities/mkvtoolnix/mkvpropedit.json", "markdownUrl": "https://encode.wiki/api/v1/sections/docs/tools/utilities/mkvtoolnix/mkvpropedit.md", "checksum": "d362e3ea3defc08505b2446ea00dda5d64e50d98cf364e6e07cac4eb04ba4af1", "bytes": 581 }, { "id": "related-pages", "title": "Related pages", "depth": 2, "anchor": "related-pages", "canonicalUrl": "https://encode.wiki/tools/utilities/mkvtoolnix/#related-pages", "apiUrl": "https://encode.wiki/api/v1/sections/docs/tools/utilities/mkvtoolnix/related-pages.json", "markdownUrl": "https://encode.wiki/api/v1/sections/docs/tools/utilities/mkvtoolnix/related-pages.md", "checksum": "2c4c7fdd883c8cda77fc2f9620694dd59157165b5f3d04f34fb9f5dfac02b458", "bytes": 226 } ], "outboundReferences": [ "/containers/matroska/", "/containers/webm/", "/guides/audio-and-subtitles/", "/media/content/fc87a1b6aec352e5-mkvtoolnix-gui-workload.webp", "/tools/utilities/ffmpeg/", "/tools/utilities/mp4box/", "https://codeberg.org/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix", "https://codeberg.org/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/src/tag/release-102.0", "https://flathub.org/apps/org.bunkus.mkvtoolnix-gui", "https://mkvtoolnix.download/downloads.html" ], "checksum": "0176ed798b2042580225909a3324110b8c53d3775a82415ff09a92403b1b47f9", "contentFormat": "markdown", "markdown": "> **Repository:** [mbunkus/mkvtoolnix](https://codeberg.org/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix). Creating and working with Matroska files. Latest tag: [release-102.0](https://codeberg.org/mbunkus/mkvtoolnix/src/tag/release-102.0), Sep 14, 2026. Last commit: Sep 28, 2026. Stars: 98.\n\nMKVToolNix, by Moritz Bunkus, is the reference toolkit for [Matroska](/containers/matroska/) and [WebM](/containers/webm/). It is what most encoders use for the last step of a job: putting the encoded video, audio, subtitles, fonts and chapters together into one `.mkv`. It never re-encodes anything, so every operation is lossless and fast.\n\n| Tool | Does |\n| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| MKVToolNix GUI | Front end for all of the below; most people use its multiplexer and header editor tabs. |\n| `mkvmerge` | Muxes, remuxes, splits and appends files. Reads MKV, MP4, raw streams, IVF, Blu-ray playlists and more. |\n| `mkvextract` | Extracts tracks, attachments, chapters, tags and timestamps. |\n| `mkvpropedit` | Edits titles, track languages, names and flags in place, without remuxing. |\n| `mkvinfo` | Shows the element structure of a file. |\n\n## Install it\n\nThe [downloads page](https://mkvtoolnix.download/downloads.html) has a Windows installer and portable archive, macOS disk images, an AppImage, and repositories for Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora and other distributions. It is also on [Flathub](https://flathub.org/apps/org.bunkus.mkvtoolnix-gui) and in most distribution repositories. Releases are frequent; distribution packages may trail by a few versions.\n\n## Using the GUI\n\n\n \n \"MKVToolNix\n\n\nDrag files into the **Multiplexer** tab, untick the tracks you do not want, set language, name and the default/forced flags for each track, choose the output file and click **Start multiplexing**. Useful features:\n\n- Open a Blu-ray playlist (`.mpls`) or `index.bdmv` from an unencrypted disc folder to import a title with all its segments.\n- **Output → Splitting** cuts by duration, size, timestamps, chapters or frame ranges without re-encoding.\n- The **Output** tab's \"Create WebM compliant file\" option restricts the output to WebM.\n- The **Header editor** tab changes titles, languages and flags in an existing file instantly, without remuxing.\n- The **Multiplexer** menu can show the equivalent `mkvmerge` command line, handy for scripting.\n\n## mkvmerge\n\nList the tracks and their IDs first. mkvmerge numbers tracks from 0 within each file; these IDs are not FFmpeg's stream indexes.\n\n```sh\nmkvmerge -i input.mkv\nmkvmerge -J input.mkv\n```\n\n`-J` prints full details as JSON.\n\nOptions before a file name apply to that file only. This muxes an encoded video, an Opus track and ASS subtitles with a font:\n\n```sh\nmkvmerge -o output.mkv video.ivf --language 0:ja audio.opus --language 0:en --track-name 0:\"English\" subs.ass --attach-file font.ttf\n```\n\nKeep or drop tracks from a source with `-d`/`-a`/`-s` (video/audio/subtitle IDs to keep) or `-D`/`-A`/`-S` (drop all of that type). For example, to keep the video, only audio track 2 and no subtitles:\n\n```sh\nmkvmerge -o output.mkv -a 2 -S input.mkv\n```\n\nThe most-used options:\n\n| Option | Use |\n| ----------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| `--language ID:LANG` | Track language as a BCP 47 tag (`en`, `ja`, `pt-BR`). |\n| `--track-name ID:NAME` | Track title shown by players. |\n| `--default-track-flag ID:0` / `:1` | Whether players pick this track by default. |\n| `--forced-display-flag ID:1` | Marks a subtitle track as forced (for example, signs and foreign-language dialogue only). |\n| `--sync ID:MS` | Delays (positive) or advances (negative) a track by milliseconds. |\n| `--default-duration ID:24000/1001fps` | Overrides the frame rate of a raw video stream with no timing of its own. |\n| `--attach-file FILE` | Attaches a file, typically a font used by ASS subtitles. |\n| `--chapters FILE` | Adds chapters from an XML or simple `CHAPTER01=` text file. |\n| `--split ...` | Splits the output (see below). |\n| `--webm` | Produces a WebM file and rejects codecs WebM does not allow. |\n| `--title TEXT` | Sets the file's title. |\n\n### Split and join\n\n```sh\nmkvmerge -o part.mkv --split duration:00:20:00 input.mkv\nmkvmerge -o clip.mkv --split parts:00:01:00-00:02:30 input.mkv\nmkvmerge -o episode.mkv --split chapters:all input.mkv\nmkvmerge -o joined.mkv part1.mkv + part2.mkv\n```\n\nA split can only happen right before a keyframe, so each cut moves to the first keyframe at or after the point you asked for: clean, but not frame-exact; numbered files (`part-001.mkv`, …) are created when there is more than one part. A `+` before a file appends it to the previous one, which requires matching codecs and parameters.\n\n## mkvextract\n\n```sh\nmkvextract input.mkv tracks 0:video.ivf 1:audio.opus 2:subs.ass\nmkvextract input.mkv attachments 1:font.ttf\nmkvextract input.mkv chapters chapters.xml\nmkvextract input.mkv timestamps_v2 0:timestamps.txt\n```\n\nTracks come out as their raw bitstream; pick an extension that matches the codec. Add `--simple` to the `chapters` mode for the plain `CHAPTER01=` format.\n\n## mkvpropedit\n\nEdits are written into the file in place and take seconds even on large files:\n\n```sh\nmkvpropedit input.mkv --edit info --set \"title=My encode\"\nmkvpropedit input.mkv --edit track:a1 --set language=ja --set flag-default=1 --edit track:s1 --set flag-forced=1\n```\n\n`track:a1` is the first audio track, `track:s1` the first subtitle track and `track:v1` the first video track; these selectors count from 1 per type, unlike mkvmerge's IDs. mkvpropedit can also add, replace and delete attachments and chapters. The GUI's header editor does the same thing interactively.\n\n## Related pages\n\n- [Matroska](/containers/matroska/) and [WebM](/containers/webm/)\n- [FFmpeg](/tools/utilities/ffmpeg/), [MP4Box](/tools/utilities/mp4box/) for MP4\n- [Handle audio and subtitles](/guides/audio-and-subtitles/)\n" }