MKV Not Supported in DaVinci Resolve? Let's Fix It Now

Many of the videos we download from websites, get from friends, or record by screen capture software like OBS are MKV files. However, editing MKV files has long been a headache for DaVinci Resolve users. When importing MKV to DaVinci Resolve, many chances you'll find "MKV video never loads up in DaVinci Resolve", "MKV file not adding audio in the timeline" or other import failure messages.

"Does Davinci Resolve not support mkv files? I downloaded this software bc it was recommended to edit videos. But I cannot load up a video I have in MKV format. No error message, just nothing happens. Video never loads up in the app-"

"Im trying to edit using an MKV file. The footage imports just fine. An audio track shows in the timeline but there it no actual sound or waveform, as if its just a silent track. The playback volume is up, and the audio plays fine if I view the file in vlc. Am I missing something? Its a 5g file if that makes a difference..."

​Does DaVinci Resolve Support MKV?

In fact, DaVinci Resolve version 17.2 and above support MKV natively. This means older versions like DaVinci Resolve 16, 17, 17.1, etc. do not support MKV.

Does this mean, we simply need to update to the version DaVinci Resolve 17.2 or above when meeting MKV import failure in DaVinci Resolve? Unfortunately, things might still doesn't work.

This is because MKV is just a container format. Though DaVinci Resolve can recognize the MKV container, the things inside the MKV container might be encoded by codecs that are unsupported by the program, which will lead to file import failure or MKV no audio or no video after importing to DaVinci Resolve.

How to Import MKV Files into DaVinci Resolve without Error

If your MKV file can play fine but can't be imported to DaVinci Resolve even you've upgraded it to the 17.2 or above version, then file import failure should be due to incompatible file format or codec missing instead of file corruption.

Some people may suggest you to try installing the K-Lite Codec Pack to fix MKV import failure. However, we don't recommend this because this has been known to cause issues with the DaVinci Resolve, such as crashes, slowdowns and other issues.

To import MKV files to DaVinci Resolve without error, we need to remux or convert MKV to other DaVinci Resolve supported formats. The good news is, we have multiple ways to do that. Below are 4 simple and workable ways for you.

​Method 1. Rename File Extension from MKV to MP4 for DaVinci Resolve

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If you're sure the video and audio codecs inside the MKV container are supported by DaVinci Resolve, then there are some chances you can fix the MKV import error by changing the file extension from .mkv to .mp4 or other DaVinci Resolve supported container format. However, be sure the new container format is compatible with the codecs inside the MKV container, or you might damage the original footage.

Step 1. Go to the video file on your file explorer.

Step 2. Right-click on the target MKV file. Choose Rename.

Step 3. Input the new extension name that ends with .mp4 or other DaVinci Resolve friendly container format.

Step 4. Press Enter. Hit Yes on the pop-up confirmation box.

Once done, put the file into DaVinci Resolve and see if it can be imported without error now.

​Method 2. Remux MKV File to MP4 Container

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Sometimes, DaVinci Resolve can support the video and audio codecs in your MKV video but just doesn't support the MKV container format. In this case, you can simply remux the MKV file to an MP4 container without changing video/audio codec inside. DumboFab Video Converter (available for Windows and Mac) can remux files quickly and help you import MKV into DaVinci Resolve without converting.

Tutorial: How to decode MKV to MP4 with desired subtitles with DumboFab Video Converter

Step 1: Launch DumboFab Video Converter, Click Add Video button to load the source MKV file(s). You can press Add from Folder to import them all, and batch remux them at one go.

Step 2: Click Format bar and then move mouse cursor to the Remux category and then select MP4 Video Remux(*.mp4) as the target format.

Step 3: Hit the big "Convert" button to initiate the whole conversion process. And after a while you will finish all the remuxing process.

​Method 3. Convert MKV to DaVinci Resolve Friendly Formats

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Need a 100% useful way to import MKV to DaVinci Resolve without error? Turning MKV to DaVinci Resolve compatible formats via DumboFab Video Converter is the answer. This amazing video converter lets you convert MKV to MP4, DNxHD, ProRes, MOV, and hundreds of other formats in one click without losing the original picture quality.

DumboFab Video Converter - Easily Convert MKV for Importing to DaVinci Resolve

● Accept all MKV files with different encoded video/audio streams
● Decode MKV to MP4, DNxHD, ProRes, etc. file formats natively supported by DaVinci Resolve
● Convert videos in 3 simple steps without causing any quality loss
● Easy editing exprience: cut, crop, merge, split, add subtitles...

Step 1. Open DumboFab Video Converter, and click the Add Video button to browse and open target MKV file. Alternatively, you can simply drag and drop the source MKV file into this converter.

Step 2. Choose an output profile that DaVinci Resolve supports. Here you can choose H.264 encoded MP4 from Common Video category as the output format for DaVinci Resolve.

Tips: If you realize that Resolve is struggling to playback the footage smoothly in real-time. This is mainly due to the codecs H.264 or H.265 of your mkv or transcoded mp4 file. Both of them are highly compressed codecs – especially H.265 is more compressed than H.264. So naturally, your CPU/GPU is under tremendous load to unpack them (decode) and process them in real-time.

Then you're recommended to choose the high-quality codecs for DaVinci Resolve. For editing videos on a Windows PC, you're recommended to choose Avid DNxHD from Editing Software. For a macOS user, Apple ProRes is recommended. What's good is that both DNxHD and ProRes codecs don't compress the video as much. They trade storage space and bitrate for quality and ease of processing. They typically need ten times as much storage. That's a lot, but hard drives are tending towards being free, so it hardly matters these days.

Step 3. Click "Browse" button to choose an output folder if necessary. Then, tap "Convert" button to start transcoding MKV files. When the conversion completes, you can load the converted MKV file into DaVinci Resolve for a smooth editing without any trouble.

​Method 4. Change Name and File Extension Using FFmpeg

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The aim of forums and Q&A sites is to let users help each other. These sites indeed play their roles in troubleshooting. On Quora, users share their solutions, among which using FFmpeg is a practical way to have a try.

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Step 1. Install FFmpeg on your computer.

Step 2. Locate to your MKV file in terminal/cmd and do as follows:

ffmpeg -i "original file name.mkv" -codec copy newname.mp4

Note: access to the address bar of explorer and enter "CMD" if you're unable to access to CMD via the directory.

Step 3. Now import the MP4 file to DaVinci Resolve for further editing.

So above are the fixes for MKV not supported in DaVinci Resolve. Hope they can get you out of trouble.