Skip to main content

How to rip a Blu-ray or DVD

Clinging to a heavy DVD or Blu-ray collection can make for some trying times when your collection grows too large. What if you have to move? After all, finding a place to keep hundreds (or thousands) of discs and cases is hard work, as is keeping all your discs in tip-top shape while making the move.

Difficulty

Hard

Duration

30 minutes

What You Need

  • DVD or Blu-ray

  • DVD or Blu-ray disc drive on computer

  • Enough storage on a hard drive to save ripped files

  • Program to rip files

  • Program to transcode files after ripped

  • VLC media player to watch videos

Thankfully, for those of us willing to part with some of our lauded physical media, there’s another option — digitizing, or “ripping,” your DVDs and Blu-rays to a home computer. The process itself is fairly straightforward, but it involves some hardware, software, and a bit of patience. To help you transcode your enormous collection of flicks, we’ve compiled this how-to guide.

Warning

Technically, if the work is copyright protected, it’s illegal to do so, even if you own it. To be clear, we do not condone or encourage the unlawful ripping and/or reproduction of copyrighted materials. That said, if you’ve got home videos (or, really, anything that’s not copyrighted), you’re free to do whatever you want with them, and that includes digitizing them.

See more

What you need to rip a DVD or Blu-ray and what to know

We've listed above the items you need, but here are more details:

  • Your DVD or Blu-ray(s)

  • A DVD or Blu-ray disc drive on your computer — You won’t be ripping anything without one. If your computer lacks the proper disc drive, an external DVD or good Blu-ray drive can be purchased for as little as $25.

  • Enough storage on a hard drive to save the ripped files — Blu-rays can take up a large amount of storage, so we recommend you have 30GB-60GB of free hard drive space if you’re looking to rip one.

  • A program to rip the files — We’ll be using MakeMKV in this guide, which is available for both Windows and MacOS.

  • A program to transcode the file after it’s ripped — We recommend Handbrake, which is also available for both Windows and MacOS.

  • A VLC media player to watch your video

How to rip a DVD or Blu-ray with MakeMKV

Whether you’re using Windows or MacOS or ripping a Blu-ray or a DVD, the process is identical for all of them.

Step 1: Download and install MakeMKV, and open the application once completed.

Step 2: The app will say “MakeMKV BETA” at the top — ignore this and insert your DVD or Blu-ray into the optical drive.

Step 3: Once the program recognizes your disc, click the big disc drive icon to begin the ripping procedure. Theoretically, this process could also remove copyright protections from a disc, but again, that’s not something we condone or encourage.

Step 4: After you’ve selected your disc, MakeMKV will return a list of chapters and segments that you can rip. To rip only the movie and not extras or bonus material, select only the movie chapter or segment (usually the longest title or biggest file) and uncheck all the other boxes.

Step 5: Designate an Output Folder where you’d like the file to end up once it’s been ripped.

Step 6: When you’re all ready to go, hit the Make MKV button on the right. This process can take anywhere from two minutes to half an hour depending on your computer’s specs and the size of the file, but when it’s done, you should have an MKV file waiting in the specified folder.

Exceptions

In some cases, you don’t even need to convert this file, as MKV files are compatible with the desktop and mobile versions of VLC, as well as Plex’s media server. If those are your primary methods for watching videos from your library, you can stop here. Still, it may be advisable to convert these files to save space. Blu-ray files, in particular, tend to be massive. That’s why you’ll want to employ a transcoding program, which will minimize file size and/or play the file on multiple devices.

A note on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs

With 4K increasingly becoming the standard for both movies and TV series, many of you are likely amassing a whole new collection of Ultra HD Blu-rays. Many of these movies come with digital copies, but what if yours didn’t, or what if you simply prefer an alternative delivery system to the apps these codes require?

One of the biggest things you’ll need should you decide to embark on this achy journey is patience. If you’re looking to rip a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc, it’s possible, but be prepared to spend precious time troubleshooting any weird issues that may arise. As good as MakeMKV has gotten over the years — it now supports thousands of UHD discs — there are still lingering issues with certain combinations of disc drives and firmware, and not all Blu-ray discs are created equally.

Just because you successfully ripped your copy of Star Wars: Episode IV doesn’t mean you’ll have the same result with a comparable copy of The Dark Knight. Some of you may run into trouble extracting HDR data and finding the formula to crack proprietary codecs like Dolby Atmos, which has proven to be a substantial hurdle.

If you’re prepared to deal with all of that, just remember that we’re still in the early days of this, so it isn’t exactly easy, even for those familiar with ripping other discs. First, you need a specific 4K Blu-ray drive to rip these discs, and chances are you don’t own one. There might also be a few extra advanced steps to go through, like creating a text file with the decryption keys in it or downgrading the associated firmware.

Ultimately, this may prove to be more trouble than it’s worth, but if you’re unshaken after all these warnings and decide you want to forge ahead with ripping your 4K Blu-ray discs, see the MakeMKV forums for more information. The UHD FAQ thread, in particular, is a good place to start.

How to transcode with Handbrake

After you’ve successfully ripped your DVD or Blu-ray, you’ll likely have a large file that needs to be transcoded for use on different devices. Before transcoding, however, it’s a good idea to make sure your video looks OK. We suggest using VLC to do so.

Step 1: To get started, install and open HandBrake (which you can get here for free), click on Source in the upper-left corner, and find the file you just ripped.

Step 2: Now you get to decide where you want to watch your video. The app’s developers have already created presets for lots of products.

Step 3: There are a few different options for iOS and Android devices, as well as Sony and Microsoft consoles, in addition to several streaming devices. You can also modify any of these presets and save them with new names or create custom presets from scratch.

Step 4: Selecting one of these presets will automatically adjust all the settings to fit whatever you choose.

Use HandBrake to resize files

You can also use HandBrake to resize files.

Step 1: If you’ve got a huge MKV file, for instance, you can choose a preset under the “Matroska” subset (MKV stands for Matroska Video) and run the program to shrink said file down.

Step 2: If you’re transcoding a Blu-ray disc, the process works the same way, but you’ll want to select different settings to avoid any unnecessary compression and to preserve the video quality.

Step 3: For DVDs, there’s no reason to select a resolution above 480p. This will just increase file size without boosting quality. For Blu-ray discs, you’ll want to choose between 720p and 1080p — to save space, we recommend selecting 720p for anything that won’t take advantage of full HD. For videos with more visual substance, it’s probably worth choosing 1080p.

Step 4: Generally speaking, the “High Profile” preset — located in the Legacy subset — is a good place to start, with passthrough audio codecs selected (pick an HD audio option for lossless, if that’s your bag) and a Constant Quality value of RF 18 or so. This is mostly personal preference, so you should experiment to find out what works best.

Step 5: Once you’ve settled on the desired output, choose a file destination and click Start.

Step 6: This part will take a while, so sit back, relax, and let HandBrake do its thing. Once the process is complete, you’ll have a new file ready for playback on your chosen device. This process is repeatable, too.

Step 7: If you have several different devices, you can simply change presets and run the program for the same DVD or Blu-Ray again (as long as you’ve selected a new destination to avoid overwriting the previous result).

That’s it! You’ve successfully ripped and transcoded a DVD or Blu-ray disc. Now get to viewing either using a media server like Plex or your favorite media player.

Editors' Recommendations

Michael Bizzaco
Michael Bizzaco has been writing about and working with consumer tech for well over a decade, writing about everything from…
Dreaming of an OLED? How (and where) to finance your next TV
LG's 2023 C3 4K OLED TV.

The best TVs are amazing, but they're not exactly cheap. Even when you factor in the many, many TV deals that pop up on a daily basis, it's still tough for most of us to be able to easily spend a hefty chunk of change in one go on the latest technology. One solution is to use financing to pay for your next TV. Not sure where to begin? Let's take a quick look at everything you need to know about using finance to buy your new TV, as well as picking out the best retailers to use.
What is financing?
Financing splits the cost of your new purchase across a number of months with the length of the contract lasting from anywhere between a few payments to monthly payments over a few years. Like with any agreement, you end up fully owning the TV once you've paid it all off.

It's important to be able to afford those payments. While it can be tempting to buy one of the best 8K TVs around and figure out paying for it at a later date, it's not wise. Instead, you should figure out what you're able to afford each month and buy a TV that matches that budget. Being able to spread the cost is ideal if you don't have savings to spend on a TV. Many people can afford to pay a certain amount each month while it's harder to be able to splash out on one big purchase. It's important to remember that in some cases, you'll be paying a little extra by spreading the cost with interest added onto your purchase so make sure you check the details before you commit. Sometimes, it's cheaper to pay in one lump sum (if you can afford to)

Read more
The best 4K Blu-ray players for 2023
Sony BDP-S6700 Blu-ray Player.

With such a focus on all the streaming services out there, it's easy to forget that one of the best ways to watch movies in stunning picture and sound quality, regardless of your internet speed or if you even have internet, is with a 4K Blu-ray player.

Several models of Blu-ray players can be had for very reasonable prices, and you can even find them in gaming consoles like the Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5, in case you already have one of those in your entertainment unit. Blu-ray players can play 4K Blu-rays, regular Blu-rays, DVDs, and even audio CDs, and they can pump out impressive HDR visuals through leading codecs like Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and DTS:X for a truly cinematic experience at home.

Read more
Best 65-inch TV deals: Save on QLED and OLED for Super Bowl
A Vizio 65 inch TV hangs on a living room wall.

There’s never a bad time to upgrade your home theater, and the Super Bowl brings with it all the reason in the world to go ahead and search for a deal. The big game warrants a big experience, and a 65-inch TV is about the perfect size to both fully experience the game — and all of your favorite content — while not blowing the doors off your living room or the ceiling off your basement. As such, you’re going to need access to some of the best TV deals, and we’ve done the heavy lifting of tracking down the best 65-inch TV deals out there. Read onward for more details on these deals, and for more information on which 65-inch TV may be best for you.
Today’s best 65-inch TV deals

Insignia F30 Series 4K TV —
TCL 5-Series 4K QLED TV —
Sony Class X75K 4K HDR TV —
Samsung The Frame 4K TV —
Sony Bravia XR A80K 4K HDR OLED TV —
LG C2 Series OLED evo 4K TV —
Samsung Class S95B OLED 4K TV —

Read more