Convert to and from AVI, free.
AVI is a Microsoft container from 1992. It still turns up in old archives, camcorder dumps and downloaded footage, but it predates modern compression and has no idea what a phone is.
Convert something else to AVI
Pick what you have. Each page opens the editor with AVI already selected as the output.
Convert AVI to something else
Pick where it is going. Phones, browsers and social platforms do not play AVI at all.
AVI next to the formats it converts with
Where each one plays, what it is for and how heavy it is, so you can pick the target before you open a converter.
AVI
MP4
WebM
MOV
MKV
MPEG
GIF
MP3
WAV
WMV
FLV
VOB
TS
| Format | Best for | Plays on | File size |
|---|---|---|---|
| AVI | Opening archive footage from the 2000s | Desktop players with the right codec pack | Very large for the quality |
| MP4 | Sharing anywhere, uploads, web embeds | Every phone, browser, TV and editor | Small for the quality |
| WebM | Web embeds and browser recordings | Chrome, Firefox and Edge; hit and miss elsewhere | Very small at the same quality |
| MOV | Editing on a Mac, footage straight off an iPhone | macOS and iOS natively, patchy elsewhere | Large, especially ProRes |
| MKV | Archiving with multiple audio and subtitle tracks | VLC and desktop players; rarely anywhere else | Depends entirely on the codec inside |
| MPEG | DVD rips and old camcorder tapes | Desktop players; not phones or browsers | Very large for the picture quality |
| GIF | Short silent loops in docs, chat and email | Everywhere an image can be shown | Huge for anything over a few seconds |
| MP3 | Podcasts, voice notes, music you need to send | Every device made in the last 25 years | Roughly a tenth of uncompressed audio |
| WAV | Editing, mastering, voiceover work | Every desktop and audio tool; large for phones | About 10 MB per minute in stereo |
| WMV | Legacy Windows workflows and old PowerPoint decks | Windows; almost nothing else | Moderate, but dated compression |
| FLV | Nothing new: Flash reached end of life in 2020 | Desktop players only, with effort | Moderate, heavily dated |
| VOB | Ripping the contents of a DVD you own | DVD players and VLC | About 1 GB per chunk, several per disc |
| TS | Broadcast capture, camcorder cards, HLS segments | Desktop players and streaming servers | Larger than MP4 for the same footage |
What AVI actually is
Audio Video Interleave (Microsoft)
DivX, Xvid, MJPEG and other legacy codecs
Opening archive footage from the 2000s
Desktop players with the right codec pack
Very large for the quality
Widely readable by desktop players from the same era.
Phones, browsers and social platforms do not play AVI at all.
The legacy codecs inside waste enormous amounts of space compared with H.264.
No support for modern features like proper streaming, chapters or clean seeking.
No browser plays AVI, so an AVI cannot be previewed or embedded on a web page without converting it first.
AVI files from older cameras and downloads often hold DivX, Xvid or MJPEG video, which modern phones and TVs frequently refuse even when the extension looks familiar.
Questions about AVI
What is an AVI file?
AVI is a Microsoft container from 1992. It still turns up in old archives, camcorder dumps and downloaded footage, but it predates modern compression and has no idea what a phone is. It is the Audio Video Interleave (Microsoft) container, usually holding DivX, Xvid, MJPEG and other legacy codecs.
Is converting AVI free?
Yes. Convert and preview free, and a free account downloads the result. Free exports and share pages include a small REQO badge. Go Pro to remove it. Nothing is installed.
Will converting to AVI lose quality?
Some, whenever the codec changes: every re-encode discards detail. Where the container can simply be rewritten around the existing streams it is lossless, and where it cannot the default settings are chosen so the loss is not visible at normal viewing size.
Other formats
Convert it, then keep editing.
Every converter opens the full editor, so you can trim, caption and share without uploading the file twice.