FLV to MKV Converter
FileFlip converts FLV to MKV entirely inside your browser, using WebCodecs and FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly. The file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. That means no file-size limit, no queue and no account.
How do I convert an FLV file to MKV?#
- Drop your FLV file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer. You can add as many as you like.
- Leave the target set to MKV and the conversion starts on its own. FileFlip usually downloads nothing, falling back to 30.8 MB of WebAssembly if your browser cannot encode these codecs itself, then runs WebCodecs and FFmpeg on your own machine.
- Save the MKV file. Your browser writes it straight to your downloads folder, because there was never a server holding it.
Does converting FLV to MKV lose quality?#
Sometimes. When the codecs inside the FLV file are ones the MKV container can hold, the streams are copied straight across and nothing at all is lost. When they are not, the file has to be decoded and encoded again, and that step does cost a little quality.
Is it safe to convert FLV files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts FLV files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What FLV to MKV actually does to the file#
Converting FLV to MKV runs on WebCodecs and FFmpeg, usually downloads nothing, falling back to 30.8 MB of WebAssembly if your browser cannot encode these codecs itself, copies the streams through when the codecs fit and re-encodes when they do not.
| Engine | WebCodecs and FFmpeg |
|---|---|
| Conversion path | One step: FLV → MKV |
| Downloaded to your browser | Nothing in most browsers, or 30.8 MB if yours cannot encode these codecs itself |
| Quality | Lossless when the codecs fit, lossy when they do not |
| You get back | One file |
| Where it runs | In a background worker, so the page stays responsive |
What survives the conversion
| What is in the file | This conversion | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Encoded streams | Sometimes | Survives for some files and not others. |
Worth knowing before you start:
- the FFmpeg fallback is an LGPL build, so a re-encode produces MPEG-4 Part 2, VP8, VP9, or Theora rather than H.264 or H.265
- whether the browser can do this without FFmpeg depends on the codecs it exposes through WebCodecs
- the encoded streams are copied when the file's codecs fit the target container, and re-encoded when they do not
What is an FLV file?#
An FLV file holds video and audio in tagged chunks meant to be streamed to Adobe's Flash Player, which is the only thing that ever played the format natively and has not shipped since the end of 2020.
There is no reason to create an FLV now; the only sensible use is holding on to one as the untouched original of something you have already converted.
Convert FLV to MP4 as soon as you find one, since the wrapper is the only thing standing between you and video that still plays perfectly well.
What is an MKV file?#
An MKV file is a Matroska container built on the EBML binary format, and it can hold any number of video, audio, subtitle and attachment tracks, encoded with essentially any codec, in a single file.
Use MKV when a video needs multiple audio tracks, several subtitle languages, or a codec MP4 doesn't accommodate, and it's staying on software you control, like a media server or a desktop player.
Convert MKV to MP4 when a file needs to play on a device that never added MKV support, since that's usually a hardware or software gap rather than anything wrong with the codec inside.
FLV to MKV questions people ask#
Is FLV dead?
FLV is dead as a delivery format. Adobe stopped supporting Flash Player on 31 December 2020 and began blocking Flash content from running on 12 January 2021, and browsers had already removed the plugin before that. Nothing on the modern web plays FLV. The video inside an old file is usually still perfectly good, which is why converting rather than discarding is the right move.
How do I open an FLV file?
VLC opens FLV files directly on Windows, macOS and Linux, and it is the most reliable way to watch one without converting anything. Players built on FFmpeg, mpv among them, read the format too. What will not work is double-clicking the file and hoping the system handles it, because no operating system has shipped FLV support since Flash was retired.
What codec is inside an FLV file?
FLV is a container, and which codec it holds depends on when the file was made. Early files use Sorenson Spark, then VP6 became common, and H.264 arrived with Flash Player 9 Update 3 in December 2007. Audio is usually MP3, Nellymoser or AAC. This matters when you convert: knowing what is inside tells you whether the video can be rewrapped untouched or has to be encoded again.
Does converting FLV to MP4 lose quality?
It depends entirely on the codec inside the FLV. A later file holding H.264 can be remuxed into MP4, which lifts the same video stream into a new container and loses nothing at all. An older file holding Sorenson Spark or VP6 has to be re-encoded, because MP4 cannot carry those codecs, and re-encoding always gives up a little detail. Either way the picture cannot get better than the FLV was.