MKV Tag Editor is a Windows program from 3delite for reading and changing the metadata stored inside Matroska files. These include MKV and MK3D video, MKA audio, MKS subtitle containers and WEBM. It is shareware. The unregistered copy is a fully working trial that runs for 25 days, with a limit of 50 tagging operations.
Matroska tags sit at target levels and can apply to a specific track, edition or chapter. MKV Tag Editor exposes that structure while also offering simple forms and batch tools.
Three ways to edit Matroska tags
The detailed editor is a form for the common fields. It writes to whichever target you choose in the edit target box. This lets the same file hold movie-level and collection-level values side by side. When several files are open together, this editor updates only the currently selected target in all of them.
The tree-view editor shows the complete tag structure of a file, including target type values. It handles structural changes, such as moving a movie from target 50 to 30. It is the only view that imports a full tag structure into multiple files.
A details-list mode presents files as rows. Right-clicking the column headers lets you hide the default columns or add custom ones.
Targets, tracks and chapters
MKV Tag Editor uses target 30 (song or track) by default for MKA audio and target 50 (episode or movie) for MKV and MK3D video. Some fields always go to a fixed level regardless of the selection. The editor writes COLLECTION at 70. For video, it writes TITLE, YEAR and TV_NETWORK at 70, while PART_NUMBER uses 60. The editor saves sort-order tags only when their main tag also contains a value.
A track UID selector in the detailed editor narrows tags to one stream. UID 1 is usually the video track and UID 2 the audio track, and typing a new UID creates tags for it. With the chapter list open, tags apply to the selected edition, or to a single chapter once one is selected. Closing the list returns the editor to normal file-level editing.
Movie and series lookup
MKV Tag Editor can search The Movie Database and download a film’s details and poster into the file’s tags and cover art. For TV series, a batch mode tags a set of episode files so that each one receives its own episode details and poster. You can also manage cover art directly in the editor.
Batch tools for a video library
- Rename from tags: builds new file names from the metadata already in the files.
- Tags from file names: reads values out of existing file names and writes them as tags.
- Tag-to-tag copy: copies values from one field to another across many files.
- Library search: finds video and audio files by their stored details, such as actors or directors.
Audio conversion and extraction
Beyond tagging, MKV Tag Editor converts audio and video files to MP3, Opus, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis or WAV. It can also pull the audio stream out of a video without decoding it. It saves the audio as M4A, MP3, AC-3 or Ogg Vorbis according to the original stream. Bundled FFmpeg handles thumbnails and extraction, and MKVToolNix writes tags and covers.
Explorer menu and command line
Selecting one or more files in Windows File Explorer and using the right-click menu opens them directly in MKV Tag Editor. Command-line switches open the video, audio or tree-view editor, rename files or remove tags for one or more paths. The interface supports full Unicode, DPI scaling and a choice of dark themes.
