MP4 → AVI

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How to convert MP4 to AVI

Step 1: Provide your MP4 files using the button above or by toss and let go.

Step 2: Click the 'Convert' button to start the conversion.

Step 3: Fetch your converted AVI files.


MP4 to AVI Conversion FAQ

How do I convert MP4 to AVI without re-encoding the video stream?
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There is no stream-copy switch on this page. A few pairs copy a compatible video stream into the AVI container without re-encoding it, MKV to MP4 among them, which is quick and loses no quality. Most pairs re-encode the video. Almost every MP4 in the wild is H.264 video with AAC audio; the container also legally holds HEVC, AV1 and VP9. AVI files predate modern codecs: expect MPEG-4 Part 2 (DivX/Xvid), Motion JPEG or raw uncompressed frames rather than H.264.
They are dropped. AVI has no soft-subtitle stream to hold them, and the converter neither burns them into the picture nor exports them as a separate file. If you need them, extract the subtitles to an .srt file with a desktop tool such as ffmpeg or MKVToolNix before converting, and load that file alongside the AVI in your player. AVI has no native support for modern codecs, variable frame rate, soft subtitles or files over 4 GB without hacks, and its per-chunk overhead bloats the file.
Yes, and it is a real upgrade over MP4. AVI treats every audio stream as a first-class track, so an original-language mix, a dub and a director commentary can live in one file with the player switching between them on demand. AVI is trivially simple, which is exactly why ancient camcorders, capture cards, DVD ripping tools and Windows-era software all still emit it.
Not directly. MP4 plays inline in every browser; AVI does not, so a page embedding it falls back to a download link or an empty player frame. If the file is destined for a website, keep the MP4 for the web and treat the AVI as the archive or editing copy.
It may not. MP4 is decoded by dedicated silicon on phones, tablets and TVs, which is why it plays without flattening the battery. AVI typically falls back to software decoding on the same hardware — higher CPU load, a warmer device, and dropped frames on 4K material. For a device target, MP4 is the safer container to stay in.
Because a lot of hardware never learned anything newer and never will. DVD players, in-car head units, camcorder playback modes, industrial displays and plenty of broadcast ingest equipment accept AVI and nothing else. The conversion is a deliberate step down in efficiency, bought in exchange for working on a device that has no other option.
Usually not. Most conversions keep one audio track, the one with the most channels (normally the main mix), re-encoded for the AVI container, so commentary and alternate-language tracks are dropped. AVI, WMV, MPEG, FLV, VOB and M4V to MKV keep every track, and so does MP4 to MOV. To keep a different track, remux the MP4 with that track first (VLC or ffmpeg can do this), then convert it. AVI is Microsoft’s Audio Video Interleave, introduced in 1992 on top of the RIFF chunk format — one of the oldest containers still in circulation.
On some pairs. MP4 to MOV keeps every text subtitle track. AVI, WMV, MPEG, FLV, VOB and M4V to MKV keep every subtitle track: text subtitles are copied or converted to SRT, and picture-based subtitles such as DVD or Blu-ray ones are copied as they are. MP4, MOV and WebM to MKV keep only the first subtitle track (as ASS), and MP4 to WebM keeps the first one as WebVTT. Other pairs, including MKV to MP4 or MOV and WebM to MP4, drop subtitle tracks, and the converter does not burn them into the picture. Subtitles that are already burned in stay, because they are part of the video frames.
MKV is the only mainstream container that stores arbitrary attached files (TTF fonts for ASS subs, JPG cover art, fan-translated PDF inserts). Going from MP4 to AVI drops these attachments when AVI is not MKV — the elementary streams convert, but the attached payload stays in the source. Keep MP4 as a backup if you depend on attached fonts.
It depends on the AVI container. MP4, MOV and MKV output use H.264, which plays on practically every phone, browser and TV. WebM output uses VP9. AVI, WMV and MPEG output use the older codecs those formats were designed for.
There is no HDR processing or tone mapping. When the video stream is copied (MKV to MP4 or MOV with the default settings), HDR10 passes through as it is. When the video is re-encoded, the HDR10 mastering metadata is dropped and Dolby Vision or HDR10+ data is not kept, and with a Quality, Resolution or Frame Rate setting some pairs also reduce the video to 8-bit colour, so an HDR MP4 can look washed out in the AVI.

MP4

MP4 container file type can hold video, audio, subtitles, and images in a single file with excellent compression.

AVI

AVI files can contain both audio and video data, widely covered but with larger file sizes.


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