Once in a while, the downloaded MKV files just don’t work with any media player as they are broken, jerky, and out-of-sync. While many prompt windows coming out with “unsupported file” messages, I assume everyone would have the same question about those corrupted and truncated MKV videos on your computer. That is how to fix broken MKV files so that we can playback the content we prefer. Well, some of you may consider the MKV fix tool, which is also one of the solutions in this post. However, there are more solutions to fix MKV files Mac and Windows.

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  1. Redownload the Source MKV Files or MKV Compatible Codec
  2. Get to Know How to Fix MKV Files on VLC
  3. Utilize the MKV Video Repair Program
  4. Update Display Drivers of the System
  5. Alternative MKV Player on Windows and Mac - Leawo Blu-ray Player
  6. How to Convert MKV to other format?

Solution 1. Redownload the Source MKV Files or MKV Compatible Codec

If the MKV videos happen to be downloaded from the internet, it could be just the MKV video files are not being downloaded completely. There are a couple of reasons making these download interruptions. It is possible that your download software may simply have a sudden stop due to the power cut. Or sometimes there is an accidental process termination before finishing the tasks. So the first step for you is to check if your source MKV files are not corrupted by the transferring process. To fix broken MKV files, you need to go back to the source website and click on the link to download the MKV videos again. If you are using torrents, please run the downloader software to access the source MKV files again.

Alternatively, you can use CleverGet Video Downloader to redownload source MKV files. This software supports up to 8K video download from 1000+ websites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Therefore, it can definitely meet your need. What you need to do is download and install this software from the link below, and then input the target URL and click the "Download" button.

  • cleverget

  • CleverGet Video Downloader

    - Download videos up to 8K resolution
    - Support 1000+ sites
    - Support live video M3U8 link downloading
    - Multi-task and playlist download
    - Built-in browser and player
    - Advanced hardware acceleration
    - Easy-to-use interface

On the other side, the MKV video files will not work even when your media player software is able to play some normal media content like MP4, AVI, and other popular ones. In this case, it is the issue from the player program on your computer. For your further information, you should get some knowledge about what is MKV video format and how to open it on the Windows and Mac system respectively. There is one thing you need to ensure with the media player application is that the program has to be installed with the MKV codecs. That is to say, the compatible MKV codec is required to decode and open MKV videos instead of jumping to fix broken MKV files directly.

Thus, the second piece of advice to fix broken MKV files is to try a universal media player with embodied MKV compatible codecs. For reference to amazing MKV players, there are a number of robust applications in the market such as Leawo Blu-ray Player and VLC Media Player.
Another way is to grab the compatible codecs online and put them into your current player software like Windows Media Player in order to support the non-playing MKV files. But the MKV codec installation for Windows Media Player might not be ideal for novices.

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Solution 2: Get to Know How to Fix MKV Files on VLC

Once you make sure there is nothing wrong with the player software and downloader, then this indicates the MKV files could be severely broken. If you have used the VLC Media player to play video content before, the practical program can also assist users to fix MKV file VLC. Speaking of the MKV fix tool, the question mark would land on how to fix MKV files on VLC. Actually, it is quite simple to run this process after understanding the given features of the VLC player. On the whole, VLC offers the function to fix AVI videos. At the same time, converting particular video formats into AVI video format is available. This solution can also meet the requirements to fix MKV files Mac accessible. Follow the instructions to fix MKV file VLC solution.

Step 1. Run the VLC Media Player program and get into the converting panel

There is a menu bar at the top of the playback area. Click to the first one that is “Media” to pull out a submenu. Choose the “Convert / Save” option to open a new window for importing MKV files.

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Step 2. Add MKV video files into the "File Selection" section

Tab the “Add” button to browse folders and load MKV files. Then at the down-right corner, use the multi-option menu button next to the “Cancel” to select the “Convert” operation.

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Step 3. Designate a directory for the converted MKV files

In the window of “Convert”, you should input a destination path to store the broken MKV that you want to fix. Click on the “Browse” button to select the folder.

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Step 4. Select the AVI as the target output video format

Here in the Settings, a “Profile” choice is shown with a drop-box menu. Draw out the format list and slide down to the AVI format.

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Step 5. Initiate the conversion from MKV to AVI process

Click on the “Start” icon and wait for a while, you can find the AVI file in the folder you selected for the destination.

Step 6. Adjust the preferences settings

Under the tool menu, click “Preferences” to enter the preferences panel to make changes so as to fix broken MKV files.

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Step 7. Go to the "Input/Codecs" icon

If you switch to the Input/Codecs menu, a new parameter setting window will pop up.

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Step 8. Find the "Always fix" to fix MKV file VLC process

The file section has included a special option for damaged or incomplete AVI file, the default is set for asking for action. Choose the “Always fix” then click on the “Save” button.

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Step 9. Now, play the fixed MKV video files by the VLC player again

Since the method for how to fix MKV files on VLC is ended, you can right-click on the AVI file that has been repaired by this MKV fix tool. Select the “Open with” and watch with VLC media player.

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Solution 3: Utilize the free MKV Video Repair Program

More than the solution to fix MKV files VLC supports, you can also discover other free MKV file repair program to fix broken MKV files. Therefore, this part will introduce a free practical MKV fix tool named Meteorite. It is never exaggerated to say that this tiny program is developed for MKV video files only. If you are just looking for the simplest MKV repair engine, this is what you need because it provides the most professional MKV file fixing process due to the specialty. Meteorite can be responsible for all the basic Matroska/MKV fixing performance with extremely neat layout. But don’t be surprised by the fact that it was not designed with an interface. It is an open-source application coding by C++, the best part for most people is the free charge. The next tutorial is going to help you go through it step by step.

First of all, you need to download the Meteorite software online for free and install it on your computer. This solution can also fix MKV files Mac compatible.

  • Open the Project Meteorite software

    Step 1: Open the Project Meteorite software and you will see a small window with no menu or any settings. You can regard the whole window as an integrated interface. Although it offers no options, the convenient function allows you to directly drag and drop files onto the icon.

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    Step 2: Drag MKV files from folders and drop them over the Meteorite window. In a moment, you can see the process to fix broken MKV files starting automatically as the green indicator shows. This application cannot tell you how long it would take, so please be patient for some time.

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    Step 3: Check the new file. The new video is created with "Meteorite" in front of its original name. Now you can use an MKV player to enjoy the fixed content.

Solution 4: Update Display Drivers of the System

Another reason why you might fail to open MKV or some other high quality video files in general could be because of outdated video drivers. Video drivers are not only crucial for demanding applications like video editing software, video games etc., but they are also needed to deliver playback for videos.

To update video drivers on Windows:

Open the settings app, then navigate to “Update & Security”. Click the “Windows Update” option from the list, then click the “Check for updates” button. Although the section is labeled as “Windows Update”, it will also check for updates for your hardware, including graphics cards, audio drivers, Bluetooth drivers and more. Once the updates are displayed, select and install the video drivers then restart your computer.

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To update video drivers on Mac:

Updating video drivers on macOS is very simple and significantly different from the way it is done on Windows. This is because Apple releases system updates regularly, and they are normally inclusive of big fixes, new drivers for hardware and they also bring new features. To ensure that you have the newest video drivers on your Mac computer, simply install the latest system updates and you are good to go.

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Alternative MKV Player on Windows and Mac - Leawo Blu-ray Player

It is popular that people like to convert Blu-ray to MKV nowadays for convenient. As a matter of fact, you can have better options to enjoy MKV videos on your computers. When you no longer want to worry about the MKV codec issues, a brilliant alternative MKV player is highly recommended. What kind of a strong player can deal with all the sophisticated media playback with a good image display? Leawo Blu-ray Player will show you a great example.

Leawo Blu-ray Player is developed for users who require a universal solution to playback all the media content. No matter what video format you have on Windows and Mac, it is capable of decoding and playing them for free, including MKV/MKA, AVI, MPEG, WMV, ASF, FLV, MP4, QuickTime. It also can be seen as the best Blu-ray player with the ability to remove all the disc protection. All the videos are served with its original picture quality via supremum image delivery, along with stereo audio effects. Furthermore, every user is enabled to control all the detailed parameters for desired movie nights. Grab it online and find out more!

  • Leawo Blu-ray Player

  • Leawo Blu-ray Player

    - Region-free Blu-ray player software to play Blu-ray disc and DVD disc for free, regardless of disc protection and region restriction.
    - Play 4K FLV videos, 4K MKV videos, 4K MP4 videos, etc. without quality loss.
    - Play 1080P videos, 720P videos with lossless quality.

Extra Content: How to Convert MKV to other format?

If you have been having problems with playing MKV files, it could be your graphics drivers that are outdated, it could be the MKV video files themselves that are broken, or it could simply be your video player. While we have shown you how to play MKV file on PC, you could also convert MKV to MP4, a more widely supported video format across multiple devices and players. To convert MKV to MP4, you can use Leawo Video Converter Ultimate. It is one of the most advanced, yet easy to use video converting software that you can use for all your conversion needs.

With an advanced video editor, you can merge, watermark, turn 2D videos to 3D videos, adjust parameters, crop your videos etc. Discover more about this software from the product page, where you can also find the download links for the Windows or macOS versions of the software. Convert your MKV videos to MP4 by the following steps.

  • Leawo Video Converter

  • Leawo Video Converter

    1. Convert video and audio files between 180+ formats without quality loss
    2. Support 720P, 1080P and even real 4K video output
    3. Create photo slideshows from photos stored on camera, computer, camcorder, etc
    4. Built-in video editor to trim, crop, add watermark, apply special effect, etc
    5. 2D to 3D converter with 6 different 3D movie effects available

Step 1: Load the source MKV videos

You can click on the “Add Video” icon to import the video or just drag the MKV videos directly to the main menu. Once the MKV videos have been imported, then you can see them on the list.

Step 2: Select the output format

Enter the “Profile” menu panel to select MP4 video as the output video format. You can click the “Edit” button beside the green “Convert” icon to enter the “Profile” panel.

Step 3: Set the video parameters

Click the “Edit” drop down box instead of “Change” in the main menu. It includes “Video Codec”, “Bite Rates”, “Resolution”, “Frame Rate” and “Aspect Ratio”. Adjust them accordingly. You can also adjust the audio parameters.

Step 4: Convert MKV to MP4

Set the output folder for the output MP4 video files. Click the green “Convert” icon on at the bottom to start converting, and wait for the conversion process to finish.