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Video format

AVI converter

An .avi file is Microsoft's Audio Video Interleave container, one of the oldest video wrappers still in circulation. It stores video and audio in alternating chunks inside a RIFF structure, and the extension remains common on older camcorder captures and DivX-era rips.

Private for supported formats — processed in your browser

Convert supported files

Runs on your device

Drop AVI files here

Batch files can each use a different output. Nothing uploads for local conversions.

Working inputs include camera RAW, browser-local audio/video, PDF, CBZ/CBR comics, office documents, ebooks, markup, 3D models, structured text, images, and archives.

Where AVI comes from

Microsoft released AVI in 1992 as part of Video for Windows, building it on the same RIFF chunk format used by WAV audio. The 1996 OpenDML extension lifted the original 2 GB size ceiling, extending the container's useful life well into the 2000s.

How AVI works

  • Interleaves audio and video chunks inside a RIFF file, with the codec identified by a four-character FourCC code
  • Commonly wraps DivX or XviD (MPEG-4 Part 2), Motion JPEG, or DV essence from tape captures
  • Lacks native provisions for streaming, chapters, or modern text subtitle tracks
  • B-frame storage was never designed in, so encoders used workarounds that can cause sync quirks
  • The idx1 index sits at the end of the file, which is why interrupted recordings often refuse to open

When to use AVI

  • Playing back footage digitized from DV and Hi8 tapes
  • Feeding 2000s-era movie rips into a converter for MP4 output
  • Maintaining compatibility with older Windows analysis and capture software
  • Editing Motion JPEG captures where every frame stands alone

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Simple, thoroughly reverse-engineered structure
  • Virtually every desktop player and converter opens it
  • Motion JPEG variants allow frame-accurate cutting without re-encoding

Limitations

  • No streaming support of any kind
  • Poor fit for modern codecs like H.265 or AV1
  • Higher container overhead than MP4 or MKV
  • Weak subtitle and metadata handling

Compatibility

Windows still opens .avi natively and macOS handles common variants through third-party players, though browsers never adopted the container. Whether a specific file plays depends entirely on the codec inside, so an old Indeo or Cinepak recording may need VLC even on Windows.

RIFF INFO chunks store basic fields such as title, artist, and encoding software, but nothing comparable to ID3 or MP4 atoms exists.

Convert AVI to another format

Convert other formats to AVI