Convert FLV to AVI Online
Convert Flash FLV videos to AVI for DivX-era players and legacy software. Free, no server uploads.
.flv · up to 100 MB
What you can do
Flash files in the legacy player of your choice
Legacy hardware compatibility
AVI works in DVD players with USB, first-generation TVs, and DivX-era software.
100% private
Your FLV videos never leave your device. Conversion happens entirely in local WebAssembly.
Sorenson/VP6/H.264 → AVI
Flash codecs are transcoded to H.264 in AVI container, compatible with Windows Media Player and VLC.
No Flash Player needed
Rescue unplayable Flash content on modern systems and convert it to a perpetually playable format.
How it works
Three steps, no hassle
Upload your FLV file
Drag or select the .flv — Flash Player clips, YouTube videos downloaded before 2010, Sorenson Squeeze recordings, or VP6 files. No signup.
Re-encoding in the browser
The Sorenson Spark, VP6, or H.264 video inside the FLV container is decoded and re-encoded to H.264 inside the AVI container on your device via WebAssembly.
Download your AVI
An .avi file compatible with Windows Media Player, VLC, desktop DVD players with USB, and DivX/XviD era software.
FAQ
Got questions?
AVI (Audio Video Interleave), Microsoft's video container introduced in 1992, remains the format of greatest compatibility for legacy hardware and software: desktop DVD players with USB ports manufactured before 2010, first-generation TVs with USB input, 2000s kiosk systems, old video editing software (Ulead VideoStudio, Pinnacle Studio of that era), and industrial or presentation systems with built-in video players that only understand AVI. If the final destination is one of these legacy systems, AVI is the right choice over MP4 or MOV.
AVI (defined in Microsoft's RIFF specification) is an older and technically more limited container than MP4: it doesn't natively support subtitle tracks, has limitations handling more than two audio streams, and the OpenDML indexing method (AVI 2.0, for files over 4 GB) is not universally supported. However, AVI can contain the same H.264 video as MP4, and its advantage is precisely its age: any video player manufactured since 1993 recognizes it. For files destined for modern systems, MP4 is superior; for maximum compatibility with old hardware, AVI remains relevant.
VLC Media Player (cross-platform, free) plays AVI with H.264 without installing additional codecs. Windows Media Player on Windows 7 and later plays AVI with H.264 if the appropriate codec is installed (included in Windows 7 and later by default). MPC-HC (Media Player Classic - Home Cinema), KMPlayer, and PotPlayer are popular Windows players that natively support AVI. Desktop DVD players with USB manufactured from 2008-2010 onward generally play AVI with DivX, XviD, or H.264.
It depends on the player model. Newer desktop DVD players with USB (manufactured from 2010-2012 onward) generally support AVI with H.264 and AAC. Older ones (2005-2009) only recognize AVI with DivX (MPEG-4 ASP, Xvid) or MPEG-4 SP. If the destination is an old DVD player, specifying the DivX/XviD codec instead of H.264 when converting may be necessary.
Generally yes, if the old software includes the corresponding H.264 decoder. Ulead VideoStudio 10 and later (2006+) and Pinnacle Studio 11 and later (2007+) support H.264 in AVI. Older versions may require installing a third-party H.264 decoder filter (like ffdshow) to edit the resulting AVI.
YouTube adopted FLV in 2005 because the goal was web streaming in browsers with Flash Player, not desktop player compatibility. AVI was the standard desktop video distribution format (the DivX era), but it wasn't suitable for web streaming: it doesn't allow efficient progressive playback from the first byte without downloading the index, which in AVI is at the end of the file. FLV was designed specifically for progressive streaming. Users who wanted AVI from YouTube videos needed to download the FLV first and then convert it.
Convert FLV to AVI: bring Flash archives to the universal legacy compatibility format
Converting FLV to AVI joins two of the most important video formats in consumer computing history. FLV (Flash Video) was created by Macromedia in 2002 and became the web video standard between 2005 and 2015, being the distribution format for YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, and virtually all video portals of that era. AVI (Audio Video Interleave) was created by Microsoft in 1992 as part of Video for Windows technology, and became the desktop video distribution format during the DivX era (1999-2010): virtually all non-commercial video distribution of that period used AVI with the DivX or XviD codec. Both formats have been technically superseded — FLV died with Adobe Flash on December 31, 2020, and AVI was displaced by MP4 throughout the 2010s. However, the FLV-to-AVI combination remains relevant for practical reasons: accessing historical Flash content to play it on legacy hardware that understands AVI but not MP4.
AVI is, paradoxically, both an obsolete format and the format with the greatest historical compatibility with video playback hardware. Desktop DVD players with USB ports, a product category that had massive sales between 2005 and 2015, almost universally support AVI as one of their main playback formats. First-generation TVs with USB input (2008-2012) recognize AVI before MP4 in most models. Presentation and kiosk systems installed during the 2000s that are still in service frequently use built-in video players that only recognize AVI. For all these legacy hardware scenarios, AVI is the right option when the original FLV cannot be played directly. Converting FLV to AVI preserves the Flash archive content in a container those legacy systems can play without firmware updates or installing additional codecs.
The technical process of converting FLV to AVI follows the same principle as other FLV conversions: the choice of destination container (AVI) doesn't fundamentally affect the video transcoding process. The Sorenson Spark, VP6, or H.264 video from the FLV is decoded to uncompressed YUV frames and re-encoded to H.264 (the profile most compatible with modern software and hardware supporting AVI). The audio, typically MP3 or AAC in the FLV, is kept in the most compatible format for AVI: typically MP3 (the most universally supported audio codec in legacy AVI players) or AAC. The resulting AVI container uses the OpenDML standard (AVI 2.0) to support files over 2 GB without indexing issues. Convertir.ai performs this conversion entirely in WebAssembly in the browser, without transmitting video data to any external server, preserving privacy even for personal or corporate content files.