MKV, or Matroska, is a flexible container popular with OBS, screen recorders and video archives. Its flexibility is also its problem: phones, editors and upload forms often refuse it. When the MKV holds H.264 video and AAC audio, as OBS recordings usually do, switching to MP4 is a lossless repackage that finishes almost immediately.
When to use this
Where MKV to MP4 helps: sharing an OBS gameplay or tutorial recording, importing footage into Premiere, DaVinci Resolve or iMovie, uploading to a platform that doesn't take MKV, or playing a file on a phone or TV that won't open Matroska.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does OBS record in MKV?
MKV survives a crash: if OBS or the computer stops mid-recording, an MKV is still playable while an MP4 can be lost. Recording in MKV and converting afterwards is the recommended workflow.
Is MKV to MP4 really lossless?
When the video is H.264 and the audio AAC or MP3, yes - the streams are copied unchanged. Other codecs are re-encoded, and the file shows 're-encode' before you start.
What about multiple audio tracks and subtitles?
The main video and audio track are kept. Extra audio tracks and subtitle streams in the MKV are not carried into the MP4 in this version.
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