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macOS

freemkv provides a native desktop app and a command-line interface on macOS. Both use the same ripping engine. Choose Apple Silicon or Intel for your Mac on the Download page.

The freemkv desktop app on macOS with a UHD Blu-ray open — the first title expanded into its HEVC 4K HDR10 video, TrueHD, AC-3 and DTS-HD audio and PGS subtitle tracks with checkboxes, and the Output panel with the destination folder, Selected titles → MKV and Run Now1 / 4

Requirements

Section titled “Requirements”
  • macOS 11 or later.
  • An Apple Silicon (aarch64) or Intel (x86_64) Mac. Each has its own download.
  • An optical drive. See OEM (stock) drives and Unlocked drives for drive support.

Install

Section titled “Install”

Desktop app

Section titled “Desktop app”

With Homebrew:

Terminal window
brew install --cask freemkv/tap/freemkv-app

Or download the matching .dmg (freemkv-aarch64-macos.dmg or freemkv-x86_64-macos.dmg), open it and drag freemkv.app into Applications.

Open freemkv, select a disc, image or folder, choose the titles and tracks, select an output location and press Rip. You can also drag a supported media file onto the window.

Command line

Section titled “Command line”

With Homebrew:

Terminal window
brew install freemkv/tap/freemkv
freemkv --version

For a standalone download, use freemkv-aarch64-macos on Apple Silicon or freemkv-x86_64-macos on Intel. For example:

Terminal window
chmod +x freemkv-aarch64-macos
./freemkv-aarch64-macos --version

The desktop app also contains the CLI:

Terminal window
/Applications/freemkv.app/Contents/MacOS/freemkv --version

Running freemkv gui opens the desktop interface. See the CLI reference for ripping commands and options.

Verify the download

Section titled “Verify the download”

Each .dmg and standalone binary on GitHub Releases has a matching .sha256 file. Compare the hash of your download with the line for the same file name:

Terminal window
shasum -a 256 freemkv-aarch64-macos.dmg
cat freemkv-aarch64-macos.dmg.sha256

First launch

Section titled “First launch”

A browser download may prompt macOS to verify the app or CLI. If macOS cannot verify the developer or notarization, and you trust the official download:

  1. Try opening the app or running the binary, then dismiss the prompt.
  2. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security.
  3. Choose Open Anyway for freemkv and confirm.

This creates an exception for that app. Different warnings, such as a damaged file or detected malware, need separate investigation. See Apple’s first-launch guidance.

Update or remove

Section titled “Update or remove”
Installation Update Remove
Homebrew app brew update, then brew upgrade --cask freemkv/tap/freemkv-app brew uninstall --cask freemkv/tap/freemkv-app
Homebrew CLI brew update, then brew upgrade freemkv/tap/freemkv brew uninstall freemkv/tap/freemkv
.dmg or standalone CLI Close freemkv and replace the app or binary with the new release Delete the app or binary

Settings and ripped movies are separate from program files, so updating or removing freemkv leaves them in place.

File locations

Section titled “File locations”
What Location
Desktop settings ~/Library/Application Support/freemkv/gui-settings.json
Desktop diagnostic log log.txt in the same folder, written only when the app’s log level is Verbose or debug messages are on
Finished movies The output location you choose before ripping; the desktop app suggests ~/Movies
AACS keys See Decryption Keys
CLI diagnostic log Off by default; --log-level 3 writes log.txt in the current folder

To capture a CLI log at a specific path:

Terminal window
freemkv info disc:// --log-level 3 --log-file "$HOME/Desktop/freemkv-log.txt"

Use the path to your downloaded binary if you did not install it with Homebrew.

Drive access

Section titled “Drive access”

freemkv uses IOKit to obtain exclusive access to the optical drive. It unmounts the disc before direct reads, so the disc disappearing from Finder while ripping is expected. Devices appear as /dev/diskN.

Close other software using the disc. If access fails, reconnect the drive and try again.

autorip

Section titled “autorip”

For automatic ripping through a browser, see autorip Service. The prebuilt macOS autorip binary is available for Apple Silicon; Intel users can build it from source.

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”
  • macOS blocks the app or CLI: review First launch.
  • The disc disappears from Finder: freemkv unmounts it to take exclusive drive access.
  • No drive is available: check the connection, close other disc software and review Drive access.
  • A movie is missing: check the output location selected for that rip.

See also

Section titled “See also”