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Common fix · Video

MKV video plays with no sound

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2 min read

What you’ll end up with

The same video with sound that plays on any TV, phone or PC.

When an MKV plays the picture but not the sound, the file is almost never broken. MKV files from films and TV rips often carry Dolby Digital (AC3), Dolby Digital Plus (E-AC3) or DTS audio, and many TVs, phones, games consoles and built-in players can’t decode those formats — so they show the video and stay silent. VLC plays them because it brings its own decoders.

The fix is to rebuild the sound in AAC, which every device plays, while you’re converting the file to MP4.

What to do

  1. Convert the MKV to MP4 with “Always re-encode” on

    Drop the MKV into the Video Converter, choose MP4, and turn on Always re-encode under Advanced. The sound is rebuilt as AAC and the picture as H.264, which is what every TV, phone and PC expects.

    Open the Video Converter

  2. Or keep the video as it is and just fix the sound

    If only one device is the problem, try it in VLC first: it plays Dolby and DTS sound directly. To take the soundtrack out on its own, as an MP3 you can play anywhere, extract the audio.

    Extract the audio

Settings that work

Recommended settings
Convert to MP4
Always re-encode On (under Advanced)

Worth knowing

  • A film with several audio tracks (languages, commentary) keeps its first one when converted. If the silent track was a commentary or a second language, the fix may simply be choosing the other track in your player.
  • Re-encoding takes roughly as long as the video plays on a typical laptop, faster on a recent one. The picture quality is set to high by default.

Questions

Why does my MKV play in VLC but have no sound elsewhere?

VLC includes decoders for Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS. Many TVs, phones and built-in players don’t, so they play the picture and skip the sound. Converting the sound to AAC fixes it for all of them.

Will converting the MKV lose quality?

A little, since the picture is re-encoded. At the high setting the difference is very hard to see. The sound goes from 5.1 surround to stereo AAC in most cases, which is what TVs and phones play anyway.

Can I keep the subtitles?

Subtitle tracks inside an MKV don’t carry over to MP4 here. Save them first with the subtitle converter if you have them as a file, and load them into your player alongside the MP4.

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