How to Convert DVD to Digital: 7 Free and Lossless Methods

Most laptops sold in the past five years ship without an optical drive, and smart TVs, streaming sticks, and phones never had one. If your DVD collection has been sitting on a shelf unwatched, converting those discs to digital files is the most practical way to keep them accessible on modern hardware. I tested seven methods to convert DVD to digital, including free ripping software, lossless backup tools, a barcode-scanning app, and professional mail-in services, measuring each on encryption handling, output quality, rip speed, and ease of setup.

The deciding factor for most people is CSS encryption. Commercial DVDs from retail stores are copy-protected, and only a few tools handle that natively. This guide covers both encrypted and unprotected discs, with step-by-step instructions and real timing data for each method.

How We Tested

To ensure a consistent comparison across all methods for converting DVD to digital, I evaluated every software and hardware option listed here hands-on. All software tests ran on the same system:

• Operating System: Windows 10 x64
• Processor: Intel Core i7-6700 CPU
• Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB
• Test Media: The movie 8 Mile (Duration: 1 hour 50 minutes, file size: 6.13 GB)
• Drive: ASUS External DVD Writer & LG Internal Blu-ray/DVD Drive

Metrics We Tracked

• Speed: Time to convert a 2-hour movie to MP4 or MKV format.
• Quality: Visual inspection for artifacts, de-interlacing issues, and audio sync.
• Ease of Use: Number of clicks from "Load" to "Start".
• Success Rate: Could it bypass Region Codes, CSS, and Sony ARccOS without crashing?

You can find each tool's results in its respective section.

Snapshot: Best Ways to Convert DVD to Digital

DIY Ripping Software vs. DVD Transfer Services

In general, you can either ship the discs to a transfer service or use ripping software on your computer. If you plan to digitize a collection (e.g., 50+ discs), the difference in cost and privacy is massive. Here is the reality check based on market standards:

If your collection includes commercial movies, DVDFab DVD Ripper and MakeMKV are the only options in this list that handle encryption without additional setup. HandBrake and VLC can rip encrypted discs if you install libdvdcss separately, but that process adds friction and is not supported on all systems. Mail-in services and capture hardware cover specific scenarios where software is not practical, primarily personal camcorder recordings or situations where no computer is available.

How to Convert DVD to Digital File with the Best Software

DVDFab DVD Ripper

DVDFab DVD Ripper is the best DVD to digital converter that works with both encrypted and homemade discs. It digitizes DVDs to 1000+ formats for phones, tablets, gaming consoles, and more, covering popular video types like MP4, AVI, and MOV. It also supports audio ripping, such as DVD to OGM, MP3, and FLAC. Bonus features include GPU-accelerated processing that speeds up ripping without sacrificing quality, and a built-in editor that allows you to trim, crop, add subtitles, and alter bitrate to suit each device. In our tests, it recognized tricky discs quickly and delivered clean, consistent output, making it a reliable pick for anyone transitioning a DVD library to digital.

💻Compatible systems: Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 (32/64 bit) & macOS 10.13 - 15.x

Main Functions:

• Supports the newest released DVDs with protection.
• More than 1000+ audio and video formats are supported for DVD digitization.
• The digitized video is compatible with more than 260 preset devices.
• Adjust video quality, including resolution, codec, bit rate, and frame rate.
• Video editing options: cutting, combining, altering brightness and contrast, etc.
• SRT files are used to extract movie subtitles.
• Digitize DVD collection at once via multitasking mode.
• Serve as DVDFab 2D to 3D converter to rip 2D DVDs to 3D videos.

DVDFab DVD Ripper offers a completely-free but limited version, DVDFab HD Decrypter. This free version can convert most encrypted DVDs and Blu-rays into MP4 or MKV formats only. Both version are in one DVDFab 13 package for your ease use.

How to Convert DVD to Digital with DVDFab DVD Ripper?

👇Video Guide

Step 1: Launch DVDFab software and load the source DVD

Free install DVDFab software and select the Ripper module from the drop-down menu. Insert the DVD, ISO or Folder disc into the optical drive by clicking on the Plus sign.

Step 2: Select a profile and change the settings

Once the disc is loaded, pick the video format by clicking on "Choose Other Profile" and clicking on the video. You are free to digitize your DVD to MP4 or convert DVD to AVI, MKV and 1000+ other popular digital formats. Choose Format > Subtitles if you want to extract subtitles as SRT files. 

The Wrench icon opens Advanced Settings for bitrate and codec control; the Pen icon opens the Video Editor for cropping, trimming, and brightness adjustments.

Step 3: Start digitizing DVDs quickly

After making all the necessary adjustments, click the Start button to convert your DVD to digital formats. You can pause and resume at any time. For longer rips, the auto-shutdown option will power off or hibernate the computer when all tasks complete.

Test Results

We tested the film "8 Mile" (runtime 1h50m14s) and solely converted the main feature (source file 6.13 GB). With H.264 MP4 and AAC 5.1 at 720p, the output was 1.91 GB, and the rip time was 5 minutes and 29 seconds. To preserve original quality, the 1:1 MKV option took 1 minute 37 seconds and produced a 5.07 GB file. The output quality and efficiency met our expectations, and along with its extensive feature set, we give it our highest recommendation.

HandBrake

HandBrake is an open-source and free DVD Ripper for Windows 10 and Mac. It is designed to convert DVDs into digital formats such as MP4, MKV, and WebM. This makes the content compatible with a wide range of devices like Android, Apple, Roku, among others. HandBrake also offers advanced settings for customizing file outputs including selection of video encoder, frame rate, bitrate, audio track, subtitles etc.

💻Compatible systems: Windows 10/11 and later & macOS 10.13 and later & Linux

How to Convert DVD to Digital Free with HandBrake

Step 1: Put the DVD that you want to convert into your computer's DVD drive. Once your DVD is on your computer, open HandBrake. Click "Open Source" in the upper-left corner of the HandBrake window, then click your DVD's name in the pop-up menu. 

Step 2: Select a conversion preset: When you load a DVD, Handbranke automatically selects the longest title, which should be the main feature. But before you go further, you should also select a conversion "profile" (or preset) that best matches the device you intend to play the video on.

Step 3: In the Output Settings section, choose your desired output format. Then in the main window, click the "Browse" button. This is where you're going to choose where the new digital copy of the DVD will be saved.

Step 4: Finally, click the "Start Encode" button at the top of the window. HandBrake will now convert DVD into a digital copy.

Test Results

In our test, using the same test source file, HandBrake stands out for space savings, though with trade-offs. Its H.264 MP4 encode finished in 12 minutes and 28 seconds and shrank the file to 675 MB, with a lower 720×362 resolution and stereo AAC audio.

MakeMKV

MakeMKV is the best DVD to digital converter when you want to keep a disc's original video, audio, chapters, and subtitles without re-encoding. This software allows you to convert your physical DVD or Blu-ray discs into a digital format, more specifically a "video_TS" file or MKV file. It can also preserve audio tracks, chapter information, and meta-information.

💻Compatible systems: Windows XP or later & Mac OS X 10.6 and later & Linux x86 or amd64

How to Convert DVD to Digital Videos via MakeMKV

💡A widely used approach among home media server users is to rip with MakeMKV first for a lossless MKV, then run HandBrake on that file to compress it for storage. This lets you preserve a lossless master while producing a smaller, Plex- or Jellyfin-ready copy without reading the disc a second time. If storage space is a constraint, the two-stage method gives you independent control over quality and file size.

Step 1: Insert the DVD that you want to make a digital copy of into your computer's disk drive. Open MakeMKV and select the drive that has your DVD in it. Click the "Open Disk" button and MakeMKV will begin scanning the DVD for titles that can be ripped.

Step 2: Once the scan is complete, MakeMKV will list all the titles found on the disk. Select the titles you wish to rip to your computer. You can choose to rip the entire disk or only specific titles. 

Step 3: Choose the location where you want to save the digital copy on your computer. You can do this by clicking the "Browse" button on the right side of the "Output Folder" field.

Step 4: When everything is set, click the "Make MKV" button on the right side of the program window to convert DVD to digital file.

Test Results

MakeMKV ripped a near-identical 6.01GB copy of the source file in 1 minute and 34 seconds. Its retention of the original resolution and AC3 5.1 audio. However, it lacks compression options, so file sizes remain large.

VLC Media Player

VLC's simple interface and robust DVD decoding capability make it an excellent pick for digitizing DVDs. You can convert DVD to WMV, MP4, H.264, H.265, WebM, and various digital formats with this media player. However, there are certain drawbacks. Since it's a dedicted media player with basic DVD-to-digital converter features, it's unable to decrypt a protected DVD, and there is no way to customize the converting process.

💻Compatible systems: Windows, Mac and Linux

Steps to Digitize DVDs Using VLC Media Player

Step 1: Download and install VLC Media Player and insert the DVD you want to digitize into your computer.

Step 2: Click on the Media tab in the top left corner of VLC Media Player, and select Convert/Save from the dropdown menu.

Step 3: In the Convert window that appears, choose a destination folder to save the digitized DVD file, select a video format from the Profile dropdown menu.

💡Tips on how to trim a video in VLC:

To trim a video in VLC, first open VLC and load your video. Activate the "Advanced Controls" by selecting "View" > "Advanced Controls" to reveal additional buttons. Navigate to the starting point of the section you wish to keep and click the red "Record" button, then play the video. Once you reach the desired endpoint, press the "Record" button again to stop. The trimmed segment will be saved in your "Videos" or "My Videos" folder by default. This method allows you to capture and save a specific portion of the video efficiently.

Step 4: Click on the Start button to begin the digitization process.

Test Results

Because VLC can not natively decode commercial discs, we utilized a homemade DVD of similar size for fairness and consistency. The rip took about 53 minutes, and we tried four times—the first three failed halfway through. For crucial stuff, I would still use a more specific DVD digitizer, such as DVDFab DVD Ripper.

How to Convert DVD to Digital Without a Computer Drive

Fandango at Home Disc to Digital

Fandango at Home (rebranded from Vudu in March 2024) offers a mobile Disc to Digital service that lets you scan a DVD or Blu-ray UPC barcode with your phone and pay to add a cloud copy to your Fandango at Home library. The process requires no disc drive, computer, or shipping. Fandango at Home is a Movies Anywhere partner, so converted titles automatically appear in linked accounts such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Google Play Movies.

There are several constraints to understand before using this service. It generates a cloud license rather than a local MP4 or MKV file, so your access depends on the platform remaining active. DVDs convert to SD quality only; Blu-rays convert to HDX (1080p). Eligible titles are limited to participating studio releases, and the annual limit is 100 conversions. The older desktop-based and Walmart in-store Disc to Digital options were discontinued in 2019 and 2020 respectively. 

📲Compatible systems: Android & iOS

How to Transfer DVD into Digital Using Vudu?

Step 1: To begin, you will need to download the Vudu app on your smartphone or tablet or purchase the Vudu disc to digital conversion software for your computer.

Step 2: Once you have the software or app, simply use the app to scan the barcode on your DVD case.

Step 3: After identifying the DVD, you'll have the option to select the conversion quality. You can choose between SD and HDX quality, depending on your preferences.

Step 4: Once you've made your selection, the software or app will convert your DVD into a digital copy. This digital copy will be stored in your Vudu account.

Mail-in Transfer Services

If you have only a few personal recordings to digitize and prefer not to deal with software or hardware, professional mail-in services are a convenient option. Most providers accept DVDs, VHS tapes, and camcorder media, convert them to MP4, and deliver the files via download link, USB drive, or cloud upload. The usual process is: place an order online, mail or drop off your disc, then receive your originals and digital files when the conversion is complete. Note that prices listed below are subject to change; check each provider's website for current rates.

DVDWalmart (Power by Capture)

If there's a Walmart Photo counter near you, you can take your DVD there directly and skip mailing time. All you need to do is place an order online or drop the disc at the Walmart Photo/electronics counter; Capture handles the conversion, cloud backup, and return of your originals. You'll get a digital download link, can optionally add a USB copy, and you can save the files to Google Photos for easier album management.

Price: $15.96 (promo price $12.96) for the first 30 minutes per disc, plus $5.46 for each additional 30 minutes

YesVideo

YesVideo provides a mail-in DVD to digital conversion service where you can send in your DVDs, and they will convert them into digital files. You can choose between receiving the digital copies on a USB drive or having them uploaded to an online storage account.

Price: $32.99 (promo price $13.19) per device

Legacybox

Legacybox offers mail-in DVD conversion services along with other media conversion options. You send in your DVDs, and they convert them to digital format (MP4 files). You can choose to receive the digital files on a USB drive or have them uploaded to the cloud.

Price: Regular pricing shows 2-item kit at $69.98（promo price $34.99）; larger kits scale up (frequent promos/BOGO discounts). Pricing is by "item" (1 DVD = 1 item). 

iMemories

iMemories allows you to make digital copy of DVD through their mail-in service. Once they receive your DVDs, they convert them to digital files (MP4) and provide you with the option to download the converted files or create DVDs/Blu-rays.

Price: Regularly $29.99 each. The promo price is $14.99 each.

Test Results

I placed an order with iMemories to convert three DVDs to digital MP4 files. The results were satisfactory—everything worked properly on both my iPhone and my computer—but it cost me about $45. With that in mind, the value isn't excellent for cinephiles with vast DVD collections; you'd be better off purchasing software and converting DVDs to digital files by yourself, as you won't be paid per disc.

Use Hardware to Digitize DVDs with ClearClick Video to Digital Converter

The ClearClick Video To Digital Converter is designed to convert old video tapes, camcorder tapes, VHS, DVD, and more into a digital format. With a recording resolution of SD 720x480 pixels, it enables you to make a digital copy of your old videos from various sources such as VHS, VCR's, DVD Players, DVR's, Camcorders, Hi8, and Retro Gaming Systems. Then you can enjoy your old movie collection on modern devices like your computer, tablet, smartphone, or TV.

How to Convert DVD to Digital Using ClearClick

Step 1: Connect the Video2Digital Converter 2.0 to your DVD player or any video player with RCA/AV output.

Step 2: Insert a USB flash drive or SD card into the converter where your digital copy will be saved. 

Step 3: Press the "Record" button on the converter to start the transfer. You can view the video on the 3.5" LCD screen as it happens. There is no need for a computer in this process.

Step 4: Stop the recording by pressing "Record" again or set the auto-stop to stop recording automatically after a specific time. 

Step 5: After stopping, wait 5–10 seconds, then remove the USB/SD card. Plug it into your computer and copy the MP4 files wherever you like and back them up. 

Test Results

The amount of hardware required makes this solution cumbersome: a DVD to digital capture equipment, a standalone DVD player to load the disc, wires, and so on. It isn't inexpensive, and the transfer is done in real time, so it takes a long time (in our test, including the capturing, it took about three hours). If the gear isn't stored properly, it may also be damaged. Honestly, if you have some basic computer knowledge, you can use user-friendly DVD to digital converter like DVDFab DVD Ripper instead. Today's software workflows are significantly more adaptable: you can change the output quality, apply GPU acceleration, finish in minutes, and there is no additional hardware to store.

Feature Matrix: Compare Methods to Digitize DVD Collections

While the snapshot above helps you choose a method based on your preference, this technical breakdown compares the decryption capabilities, processing speed, and input/output versatility of each solution.

Where to Store Your Digitized DVD Collection

How you store your converted files determines how easily you can access them across devices and how well they hold up over time. Four main options cover most scenarios.

Programs like Plex and All My Movies also come as excellent examples of this type of technology in action. The application will automatically archive and catalog your files if you want to do so.

Conclusion

Converting DVD to digital is a practical solution for accessing and managing your media collection. Whether you want to preserve your favorite movies and TV shows, or have greater flexibility in terms of playback options, digital files offer numerous advantages.

By following the above-mentioned ways outlined in this article and choosing the right DVD to digital converter like DVD ripping software or hardware, you can easily and effectively digitize DVDs for a more modern and convenient entertainment experience. So, don't hesitate and enjoy the benefits of digital media!