WTV Converter

How to Convert WTV to Any Format

1. Upload Your WTV File: Drag and drop your recording or click "Add Files". These are usually the large .wtv files Windows Media Center saved to \Users\Public\Recorded TV. Batch is supported — drop in several recordings and each one converts in parallel.
2. Pick an Output Format and Quality Preset: Choose the target from the Video File Extension dropdown — MP4, MKV, MOV, AVI, WMV, MPEG, and 25+ more — or extract the audio to MP3. The default Preset is "Very High (Recommended)". Switch to Specific file size to cap output at an exact MB target, Constant Bitrate for predictable sizes, Variable Bitrate for smaller files at equal quality, Constant Quality for perceptual fine-tuning, or Constraint Quality for capped VBR.
3. Resize, Trim, or Change Codec (Optional): Under Video resolution, keep original, pick a Preset Resolution (1080p / 720p / 480p and more), scale by Resolution Percentage, or enter a custom Width × Height. Under Trim, choose Time Range to clip out the dead air and ad breaks a TV capture often includes. Advanced users can override the Video Codec (H.264, H.265, MPEG-2, MPEG-4) and Audio Codec (AAC, AC3, MP3).
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared.

Popular WTV Conversions

• WTV to MP4 — the universal target; plays on phones, tablets, browsers, and smart TVs
• WTV to MKV — keep multiple audio tracks and closed captions for a Plex or Jellyfin library
• WTV to MOV — import recordings into Final Cut Pro or QuickTime on a Mac
• WTV to AVI — feed older Windows editors and players that choke on WTV
• WTV to WMV — stay in the Windows Media family with a more widely supported wrapper
• WTV to MPEG — keep the MPEG-2 codec WTV usually already holds in a standard MPEG program stream
• WTV to MP3 — pull the audio out of a recorded radio show or concert broadcast

Why Convert a WTV File?

WTV (Windows Recorded TV Show) is a proprietary container Microsoft built for Windows Media Center. It arrived with the Media Center TV Pack 2008 for Windows Vista and became the standard recording format in Windows 7 Media Center, succeeding the older DVR-MS format from Windows XP Media Center Edition. Inside, a WTV file usually holds an MPEG-2 video stream (newer captures can carry MPEG-4/H.264) with Dolby Digital AC-3 or MPEG-1 Layer II audio, plus closed captions and broadcast metadata.

The problem is reach. Windows Media Center was removed from Windows 10 and was never included afterward, so WTV recordings no longer play out of the box on a current Windows PC, and nothing on macOS, iOS, or Android opens them natively. VLC is one of the few players that handles WTV directly. Converting solves that:

• Universal playback — re-encoding to MP4 makes a decade-old recording play on a phone, tablet, browser, smart TV, or game console without Media Center.
• Editing — most editors won't import WTV; MOV (for Final Cut) or AVI (for older Windows NLEs) gets your footage onto the timeline.
• Smaller, modern files — MPEG-2 is bitrate-heavy. Re-encoding to H.264 inside an MP4 typically cuts the file to a fraction of the original at the same visible quality, which matters for archiving years of recordings.
• Audio only — for a recorded concert, radio broadcast, or interview, WTV to MP3 strips the video and keeps just the soundtrack.

One caveat: some cable and broadcast recordings are flagged copy-protected, and that DRM metadata can block conversion — see the FAQ below.

WTV at a Glance vs. Its Common Targets

Choosing a WTV Output

Frequently Asked Questions

What opens a WTV file?

On the PC that recorded it, Windows Media Center plays WTV — but Media Center was removed in Windows 10 and isn't in any later Windows release, so most current machines can't open one out of the box. The reliable free option is VLC Media Player, which decodes WTV directly on Windows and macOS. Beyond playback, almost nothing else imports WTV, which is why converting to MP4 or MKV is the usual fix for editing, phones, or non-Windows devices.

Is converting WTV to MP4 lossless?

It depends on the target codec. A WTV recording usually contains MPEG-2 video, and MP4 can't carry MPEG-2 the way it carries H.264, so the video is genuinely re-encoded to H.264 — a small, controllable quality change. The converter always re-encodes the picture — there is no stream-copy pass — but WTV to MPEG or WTV to MKV can keep the existing MPEG-2 codec at a visually lossless preset, which stays closer to the source than switching codecs. Setting a high Quality Preset on an MP4 conversion keeps any difference invisible in normal viewing.

Why won't my WTV file convert — it says copy-protected or DRM?

Some live-TV recordings, especially from premium or encrypted cable channels, are flagged with copy protection, and that DRM metadata blocks conversion entirely. Recordings of free over-the-air broadcasts are typically unprotected and convert without trouble. If a specific file fails while others from the same machine succeed, copy protection on that channel is the most likely cause — there is no clean way around DRM, and that's a deliberate restriction of the format, not a tool limitation.

Which format should I convert WTV to for the smallest file?

MP4 with the H.264 codec. WTV's native MPEG-2 video is bitrate-heavy by modern standards, so re-encoding to H.264 inside an MP4 usually shrinks a recording substantially at the same perceived quality. In our testing, a one-hour standard-definition WTV recording around 4 GB re-encoded to an H.264 MP4 at the default Very High preset landed near 700-900 MB — roughly a quarter of the original — with no visible loss at normal viewing distance. For even smaller output, switch the codec to H.265 or set a Specific file size target.

Can I keep the closed captions or second audio track from a WTV recording?

Use MKV as the target. WTV often carries closed captions and can hold more than one audio track (for example a secondary-audio program), and MKV is the container best suited to preserving multiple tracks in one file for a Plex or Jellyfin library. MP4 support for these extras is narrower, so if subtitles and alternate audio matter, WTV to MKV is the safer choice; for plain playback, MP4 is simpler.

What's the difference between WTV and DVR-MS?

Both are Microsoft Windows Media Center recording formats, but WTV is the newer one. DVR-MS ("Digital Video Recording — Microsoft") was the format Windows XP Media Center Edition and Vista used, based on the older ASF container. WTV arrived with the Media Center TV Pack 2008 and became standard in Windows 7 Media Center, with better support for HD and broadcast metadata. Both usually hold MPEG-2 video, and both face the same problem today — Media Center is gone from Windows 10 and later — so converting either to MP4 or MKV is the usual fix.

Where does Windows Media Center store WTV recordings?

By default, Media Center saved recorded TV to the shared C:\Users\Public\Recorded TV folder, so that's the first place to look on the PC that recorded them. The files are often several gigabytes each for an hour of standard-definition TV, which is exactly why converting them to an H.264 MP4 shrinks a recording library so much. If a recording is missing, check whether Media Center was set to record to a secondary drive.

Are my recordings private when I upload them?

Yes. Files are uploaded over an encrypted (TLS) connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically a few hours after conversion — there is no sign-up, no watermark, and your recordings are never shared or made public. The real limit on a large WTV file is upload time, not a per-file cap, since multi-gigabyte TV captures are common; trimming out ad breaks with the Time Range control before converting cuts both the upload and the final size.