How to Play My MKV File on a PS3

By Joshua Bailey

Updated September 22, 2017

Items you will need

  • External hard drive

  • USB cable

i Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images

The MKV video file does not play nicely with the Sony PlayStation 3. The PS3 plays many different video files, like the MP4 and AVI, but not the MKV. The MKV video file is typically used with hi-definition video files like Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. Even though there is no native support for the MKV, you can still get them to play on the PS3. To play these files on your PS3, you need to first convert the file to a file that the PS3 recognizes.

Download and install one of the video converters from the resource section. Three possible options are PS3 Video 9, 4Media Video Converter, and MKV2VOB.

Open PS3 Video 9 and click "Video File." Click "Select File" and click the MKV file from the window that appears. Click "Destination" and select a place to save the new video file. Name the new video file in the "Title" field. Click "Next" and "Start Converting" to convert the MKV file to MP4.

Open 4Media Video Converter and click the "+" button. Click your MKV file from the window that appears. Click the "Profile" button and click the "MPEG-4 Video" option. Click the "Browse" button and select a place to save the new video file. Click the "Start" button to convert the video file.

Open MKV2VOB and click "Source File" to open a new window. Click your MKV file and click "OK." Click the "Configuration" tab and click "File Splitting." Click "None." Click "Video Transcoding" and click "Automatic." Click "Add File" to start converting.

Connect an external hard drive to your computer and right-click the new video file that was created. Click "Copy." Click the "Start" button on the computer desktop and double-click "Computer." Double-click your external hard drive from the list that appears. Right-click an empty space on the hard drive. Click "New" and "Folder" to create a new folder. Name the folder "VIDEO" and right-click the folder. Click "Paste" to transfer the video file to the hard drive.

Disconnect the hard drive from your computer and connect it to your PS3 with the USB cable. Select the "Video" icon on the PS3 main menu. It is located about halfway through the PS3 main menu on the right. Your new video file will be here. Select it with the "X" button to watch the video file.

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