Free tool
MKV to text converter
Drop an MKV file here to turn MKV to text: the converter unpacks the Matroska file in your browser, decodes the sound of an OBS recording or any other MKV, and writes a transcript with a time on every paragraph.
- Free
- Works on OBS recordings
- Nothing is stored
Drop your MKV video here, or Choose your MKV video
MP4, MOV, M4V, MKV or WebM video. Up to 30 minutes of each file, 3 free files a day. The language is detected automatically.
Recording calls or lessons with OBS every week? Remux them to MP4 and NoteOwl transcribes them on your Mac with unlimited transcription, labelling each speaker.
How it works
How do you convert MKV to text?
Choose the MKV or drop it in. Your browser unpacks the Matroska file on your device, finds the default sound track, decodes it and divides it at pauses into short pieces. Each piece is transcribed and added to the page as it comes back.
- 1
Open the MKV
Transcribe an MKV straight from OBS’s Recording Path folder, or any other Matroska file with speech in it.
- 2
Read along
Paragraphs arrive with the time they start in the recording. The first 30 minutes of an MKV are transcribed.
- 3
Export the text
Copy everything, or save it as .txt, .srt, .vtt or .docx under the MKV’s name.
Can you transcribe an OBS recording without remuxing it?
Yes. OBS Studio recommends MKV because a recording that stops abruptly isn’t lost, and this converter reads that MKV directly. OBS’s File → Remux Recordings, which turns MKVs into MP4s, isn’t needed here: the sound comes out of the MKV either way.
OBS can record several audio tracks into one MKV, set in its Advanced output view. The converter transcribes one: the default track, normally the first. In our test, with speech on an MKV’s first track and a steady tone on its second, the converter took the speech and left the tone.
Which MKV sound formats can be transcribed?
AAC, Opus, Vorbis and MP3 work in Chrome and in Safari’s engine alike. FLAC worked in Chrome only. Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS, Dolby TrueHD and Apple Lossless sound couldn’t be decoded in either, although Matroska can hold all of them.
- AAC (stereo or 5.1)
- ChromeRead
- Safari’s engineRead
- Opus
- ChromeRead
- Safari’s engineRead
- Opus 5.1
- ChromeRead
- Safari’s engineCan’t be decoded
- Vorbis
- ChromeRead
- Safari’s engineRead
- MP3
- ChromeRead
- Safari’s engineRead
- FLAC
- ChromeRead
- Safari’s engineCan’t be decoded
- Dolby Digital (AC-3, E-AC-3)
- ChromeCan’t be decoded
- Safari’s engineCan’t be decoded
- DTS, Dolby TrueHD
- ChromeCan’t be decoded
- Safari’s engineCan’t be decoded
- Apple Lossless (ALAC)
- ChromeCan’t be decoded
- Safari’s engineCan’t be decoded
| Sound in the MKV | Chrome | Safari’s engine |
|---|---|---|
| AAC (stereo or 5.1) | Read | Read |
| Opus | Read | Read |
| Opus 5.1 | Read | Can’t be decoded |
| Vorbis | Read | Read |
| MP3 | Read | Read |
| FLAC | Read | Can’t be decoded |
| Dolby Digital (AC-3, E-AC-3) | Can’t be decoded | Can’t be decoded |
| DTS, Dolby TrueHD | Can’t be decoded | Can’t be decoded |
| Apple Lossless (ALAC) | Can’t be decoded | Can’t be decoded |
What if an MKV’s sound can’t be decoded?
Convert the sound, not the video. A desktop video converter can save the MKV again with AAC sound, or export the sound alone as MP3 or WAV. Transcribe that file here, or on the audio to text converter if you exported sound only.
For an MKV whose sound is FLAC or 5.1 Opus, there’s a quicker way: open this page in Chrome, which read both in our test.
Does an MKV’s subtitle track end up in the transcript?
No. Matroska can carry many subtitle tracks, but the converter leaves them alone and writes its text from the speech. When it’s done, download the result as SRT or VTT: a new subtitle file, timed to the voice, that you can add to the MKV as another track.
How do you transcribe long OBS recordings without limits?
Remux the MKV to MP4 in OBS (File → Remux Recordings) and import the MP4 into NoteOwl, or save its sound with the audio extractor. NoteOwl transcribes on your Mac, unlimited, with on-device AI models, and labels each speaker.
FAQ
Questions about converting MKV to text
Is the MKV to text converter free?
Yes, and there’s no account to make. You get 3 MKV files a day, transcribed for up to 30 minutes each, plus copying and the text, SRT, VTT and Word downloads.
Is my MKV sent to a server?
Only small pieces of its sound are. The MKV itself stays on your device: the browser takes the sound out and sends short pieces over a secure connection to a cloud AI transcription service, which transcribes each and discards it. The picture is never sent; NoteOwl stores nothing.
Does the MKV converter work in Safari?
Yes. The converter unpacks MKV files with its own reader rather than relying on the browser’s player. In our test, MKVs with AAC, Opus, Vorbis or MP3 sound were read in Safari’s engine as in Chrome; FLAC sound was read in Chrome only.
Which audio track of a multi-track MKV is transcribed?
One track: the one marked as default, which is normally the first. A second or third track, such as a separate microphone or desktop sound in an OBS recording, is ignored. To transcribe another track, save it as its own audio file first.
What happens with an MKV over 30 minutes long?
The converter transcribes the first 30 minutes and says so above the transcript. For a long stream or recording, cut it into parts first, or remux it to MP4 in OBS and import it into NoteOwl on a Mac, which transcribes recordings of any length.
Can it transcribe a 5.1 surround MKV?
Yes, when the surround sound is AAC: our 5.1 AAC test MKV was read in Chrome and Safari’s engine, with its channels mixed into one before transcription. 5.1 Opus was read in Chrome only, and Dolby or DTS surround sound can’t be decoded in a browser.
Keep exploring
More video to text tools
- Video to textTurn video to text free: drop in an MP4, MOV, M4V, MKV or WebM video and get an AI transcript with times, as text, SRT, VTT or Word; only the sound is sent, nothing is stored
- 3GP to textTurn a 3GP phone video into text free in your browser, when its sound is AAC; only the sound is sent, nothing is stored
- MP4 to textTurn an MP4 video into text free in your browser: phone videos, Zoom recordings and screen recordings; text, SRT, VTT or Word; only the sound is sent, nothing is stored
- MOV to textTurn a MOV video into text free in your browser: iPhone videos, QuickTime and Mac screen recordings; only the sound is sent, nothing is stored
- M4V to textTurn an M4V video into text free in your browser: HandBrake and other Mac video exports; only the sound is sent, nothing is stored
The same in other tools
Related
- Audio to textTranscription software for your Mac: drop in an audio or video file and get a speaker-labelled transcript with timestamps, unlimited, with nothing uploaded
- Extract audio from videoTake the sound out of an MP4, MOV, WebM or MKV video in your browser and save it as MP3, M4A (no re-encoding) or WAV; nothing is uploaded
Your recordings into searchable notes, on your Mac
Free to download. Runs entirely on your Mac.
macOS 26 or later · Apple Silicon (M1 or newer) · 16 GB memory minimum, 24 GB recommended
About NoteOwl
NoteOwl is private AI meeting notes and memory for the Mac. It captures meetings without a bot joining the call, labels every speaker, writes summaries and action items, and builds a memory of every conversation that you can chat with — fully offline, because the speech recognition and the AI run on the Mac itself. Dictation into any app is free; Pro is a one-time purchase.
NoteOwl pricing: what’s free and what Pro adds
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