FLV to WTV Converter

Convert FLV to WTV — Read This First

This re-encodes an old FLV (Adobe Flash Video) clip into a WTV file, Microsoft's Windows Recorded TV Show container. Be honest with yourself before you start, because this moves a clip between two dead formats. FLV belongs to Flash, which Adobe ended on December 31, 2020 and began actively blocking on January 12, 2021; WTV is a discontinued DVR format built only for Windows Media Center, which Microsoft confirmed would not ship with Windows 10 (announced May 2015) and whose program guide shut down on January 14, 2020. Going from one obsolete format into another is an unusual thing to want — the traffic around WTV almost always flows the other way, as people try to escape it, not enter it. For almost everyone, this is the wrong direction.

For almost everyone, the right move is one of these instead:

• Just want the FLV to play everywhere? Convert FLV to MP4 — the same kind of H.264 video in a universally playable container that opens on every phone, TV, browser, and current PC. This is what the overwhelming majority of people who land here actually need.
• You arrived from the wrong direction and actually have a WTV recording to open? You want WTV to MP4 — that is the way the traffic almost always flows.

WTV output only makes sense in one narrow case: you are deliberately feeding an un-migrated Windows 7 or 8.1 Media Center HTPC and want the clip to sit in its Recorded TV library beside your tuner captures. If that is genuinely you, the steps and troubleshooting below explain exactly what you can and can't control — including why there is no codec menu and why the picture cannot get sharper than the FLV you started with.

How to Convert FLV to WTV

1. Upload Your FLV File: Drag and drop or click "+ Add Files" to select your .flv clips. Batch upload works — every file is re-encoded with the same settings.
2. Pick a Quality Preset: Expand Advanced Options. The Preset under File Compression defaults to "Very High (Recommended)"; leave it for near-source fidelity, or switch to Specific file size, Constant Bitrate, or Variable Bitrate if you need to hit a size target.
3. Set Video Resolution and Trim (Optional): Use Video resolution to keep the original size ("Keep original") or fit a preset, and set a Time Range under Trim if you only need part of the clip.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert". No sign-up, no watermark. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically a few hours after conversion.

Walk-through: There Is No Codec Choice, and the FLV Is the Ceiling

Two things about this conversion surprise people, and both come from how WTV works.

There is no Video Codec dropdown. No codec menu appears for a WTV target, so the encoder is fixed for you — and it writes H.264 video with AC-3 audio, not the MPEG-2 a tuner card would have recorded. On this site every one of the codec selections — H.264, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, VP9 and the rest — carries an allowlist of output formats, and none of those lists include WTV, so when the output is WTV no codec menu appears at all. Exposing one would only let you pick something that fails to play in Media Center. You steer fidelity through the Preset and File Compression settings instead. The same applies to audio: there is no audio-codec dropdown either, because WTV's audio is fixed to the Media-Center set.

The FLV is the quality ceiling. This is a lossy-to-lossy re-encode. Your FLV's existing compression is decoded and then re-encoded into the H.264 video the converter writes into WTV — a second lossy generation that cannot regain detail the original FLV already discarded. A few patterns to keep in mind:

• Keep the Preset high if fidelity matters. "Very High (Recommended)" is the closest match to the source; MPEG-2 is a less efficient codec than modern H.264, so matching the look usually costs more bitrate.
• Don't upscale. Setting Video resolution above the FLV's native size adds file size, not detail. Most FLV clips from the Flash era are 360p–480p; leave "Keep original" or pick a preset at or below the source size.
• Trim before you encode if you only need part of the clip — re-encoding the whole file just to keep ten seconds wastes time and bitrate.

Common Errors and How to Fix Them

• "The WTV won't play on my Windows 10 or 11 PC" — Expected. Windows Media Center is gone from Windows 10 and 11, so there is no built-in WTV decoder. The file will still open in VLC, Kodi, or MPC-HC if they have MPEG-2 decoders — or, far better, convert your FLV to MP4 so you never hit this wall.
• "The picture looks soft or blocky" — You are re-encoding lossy FLV into lossy MPEG-2. Raise the Preset to "Very High", and never set a resolution larger than the original FLV. The source quality is the ceiling; nothing can add back what the FLV already threw away.
• "My FLV won't open in any current player" — That is the Flash problem, not a conversion fault. Flash Player has been blocked since January 12, 2021, so browsers and the old Flash runtime can no longer play .flv. VLC and ffmpeg still read the container, which is exactly why this converter can ingest it.
• "The audio is gone or wrong" — WTV's audio is fixed to MP2 or AC-3 server-side. If your FLV used an exotic Flash audio codec (such as Nellymoser or Speex), it is transcoded to the WTV-compatible track automatically; there is no audio dropdown to adjust.
• "The file is bigger than the original" — Likely the MPEG-2 efficiency gap, or an upscaled resolution. Lower the resolution to the FLV's native size and pick a Specific file size target under File Compression.

When This Doesn't Work

If WTV is not truly what you need — and for nearly everyone in 2026 it is not — stop and pick a different target. You are moving a clip out of one dead format and into another; the only setup where WTV is the right answer is an un-migrated Windows 7 or 8.1 Media Center HTPC that indexes .wtv in its Recorded TV library. If you only wanted the video to play reliably on a phone, smart TV, browser, or any current PC, FLV to MP4 is the answer. And if you came here by mistake holding an actual WTV recording you want to open elsewhere, you want WTV to MP4 — that is the way the traffic almost always flows.

FLV vs WTV at a Glance

Both formats are end-of-life, which is why this conversion is unusual in either direction:

What to Convert Your FLV to Instead

For almost every real goal, WTV is the wrong target. Match your intent to the right output:

Frequently Asked Questions

Why would I ever convert an FLV to WTV?

One narrow reason: you run an un-migrated Windows Media Center HTPC on Windows 7 or 8.1 and want the old Flash clip to sit in the Recorded TV library beside your tuner captures, with the 10-foot Media Center UI. For every other purpose — playing on a phone, a smart TV, a browser, or any current PC — convert FLV to MP4 instead. WTV exists for the Media Center workflow and essentially nothing else, and it has been a discontinued format since Windows 10.

Will the WTV play on Windows 10 or Windows 11?

Not natively. Microsoft confirmed in May 2015 that Windows Media Center would not be included with Windows 10, and the program-guide service was shut down on January 14, 2020, so there is no built-in WTV playback on Windows 10 or 11. The file will still open in VLC or Kodi if they have MPEG-2 decoders, but if forward compatibility matters at all, convert your FLV to MP4 instead.

Why is there no Video Codec option for WTV output?

Because the WTV container only accepts a narrow, Media-Center-compatible set of codecs (MPEG-2-class video with MP2 or AC-3 audio), the encoder is fixed server-side. On this site every one of the codec selections (H.264, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, VP9 and the rest) carries an allowlist of output formats, and none of those lists include WTV — so when the output is WTV, no codec dropdown is shown at all. Exposing one would only let you pick something that fails to play in Media Center. You steer fidelity through the Quality Preset and File Compression settings instead.

Will I lose quality converting FLV to WTV?

Some, and it is unavoidable. Your FLV is already lossily compressed; the converter decodes it and re-encodes into the H.264 video the converter writes into WTV, a second lossy generation that cannot regain detail the original FLV discarded. MPEG-2 is also less efficient than modern codecs, so matching the look usually costs more bitrate. In our testing, a 480p Flash-era FLV re-encoded to WTV at the Very High preset stayed watchable at normal TV viewing distance but did not look any sharper than the source — treat the WTV as a disposable playback copy and keep the original FLV as your master.

Both FLV and WTV are dead formats — is there any modern reason to do this?

Honestly, almost never. FLV's Flash runtime was blocked in January 2021 and WTV's Media Center was dropped from Windows 10, so this conversion bridges two obsolete worlds. The single legitimate case is feeding a still-running Windows 7 or 8.1 Media Center HTPC. If you are not doing exactly that, you will be happier with FLV to MP4 — H.264 in a container that current hardware actually plays.

What did WTV replace, and how is it different from DVR-MS?

WTV arrived with Windows 7 Media Center in 2009, replacing the earlier ASF-based DVR-MS (.dvr-ms) format that Windows XP Media Center Edition and Vista used for recorded TV. Windows 7's Media Center could even convert existing DVR-MS recordings to WTV. Both are Microsoft-only recorded-TV containers with no modern successor — once Media Center was cut from Windows 10 in 2015, the format line simply ended, which is why nothing current writes or reads WTV out of the box.

Can I just rename the WTV to .mp4 or .mkv to play it?

No. WTV is Microsoft's own proprietary container, not an MP4 or Matroska file wearing a different extension, so renaming won't make a modern player understand it. Some builds of VLC or Kodi can open a WTV directly if they include MPEG-2 decoders, but the reliable fix is to not create a WTV at all — convert your FLV to MP4, or if you already have a WTV recording, use WTV to MP4.

How are my files handled, and how long are they kept?

Your FLV is uploaded over an encrypted (TLS) connection, processed on our servers — never in public view — and the upload and its converted output are deleted automatically a few hours after conversion. There is no sign-up, no watermark, and your files are never shared or made public, so download your WTV before that window passes if you want to keep it.