[Updated] Top 3 Free Windows 10/11 DVD Rippers in 2023

It is important to notice that the native DVD playback option has been killed from Windows 10 and the newer Windows 11. However, neither Windows Movie Maker nor Windows Media Player (supports CD ripping only) can rip a DVD on Windows 10. So DVD owners may need to screen out a Windows 10/11 DVD ripper to convert DVDs to digital files for easy playback on Windows 10 or 11.

Don't panic, we have a thorough review of 3 best free DVD rippers for Windows 10/11. Here you will find a favorite DVD ripping tool to rip DVDs to MP4, WMV, AVI, MOV, ISO, and other formats on Windows 10/11 without compatibility issues.

Part 1. Review of 2023 Top 3 Best Free DVD Rippers for Windows 10/11

How to select a free DVD ripper for Windows 10/11? It should be able to rip DVDs on Windows 10 with various conversion settings (various output video formats and devices), enabling access to encrypted DVDs, equipped with customization tools (to trim/crop video and adjust video parameters), and featuring ease of use. As outlined below, we picked out the best 3 free Windows 10/11 DVD ripping programs for you.

WinX DVD Ripper

• User rating: ★★★★☆
• Supported OS: Windows 10/11 and before
• Official site: https://www.winxdvd.com/dvd-ripper/
• Download link: https://www.winxdvd.com/download/winx-dvd-ripper.exe
• Input DVD types: Homemade/copy protected DVD disc, ISO image, VIDEO_TS folder
• Output formats/devices: MP4, MPEG, HEVC, H.264, FLV, MOV, MP3, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, Samsung, HTC, PSP, etc.

WinX DVD Ripper earns the title of best DVD ripper for Windows 10/11 thanks to a number of key DVD ripping features. It has a powerful DVD copy protection removal kernel that makes it hassle-free to deal with any newly-released, unplayable, regional, and even 99-title DVDs. 4 unique DVD backup modes are here to back up your DVDs with 100% quality. An extensive list of supported formats, from MP4, HEVC, H.264, MOV, WMV, AVI, to iPhone, iPad, Android, covers nearly all the profiles you may need.

The biggest improvement from its previous version 8.21.1 is the awesome performance of 47X real-time speed in our DVD to MP4 conversion test on Windows 10 PC. That means you will save a lot of time backing up your discs, especially if you have a large library of DVD movies.

With over 16 years of DVD ripping experience, this free DVD ripper for Windows 11/10 has been thumbed up by editors from tech giants including TechRadar^[1], PCWorld, Lifewire, etc. Overall, it is second-to-none among the Windows 10 DVD rippers.

What we like:

• Output excellent image quality at the No.1 fastest DVD ripping speed due to support for Level-3 hardware acceleration, hyper-threading and Super Encode Engine based on MMX- SSE & 3DNow!
• Unlock region codes and remove commercial DVD copy protections.

What we dislike:

• Not support Disney protected DVDs. You need to upgrade to the Platinum version to rip Disney DVDs.

How to Rip (Protected) DVDs on Windows 10/11 with WinX DVD Ripper?

Here we will show you how to select the right title and fast rip DVD on Windows 10, be it copy-protected or region-locked, to MP4.

First of all, download WinX DVD Ripper on Windows 10/11. (Tips: this DVD ripper is also compatible with Windows 8/7 or previous.)

Step 1. Input a source DVD. Insert your DVD into the PC's disc drive or an external optical drive. Run the free Windows 10 DVD ripper and click the "Disc" button to load the content. This Windows 10/11 DVD ripper will start to analyze the DVD data, remove the copy protection, and auto-detect the right title.

Step 2. Choose an output format. Once the DVD is loaded into the free DVD ripper for Windows 11/10, an output format window will pop up. Go to Output Profile -> choose "General Profiles" under the "MP4 Video" option. You can also find different video formats, and presets for popular mobiles, TVs, webs, etc.

Step 3. Start ripping the DVD on Windows 10/11 PCs. Back on the main interface, you can click the Edit button to trim, add subtitles, resize, etc. You can also make other DVD ripping settings if necessary. If the auto-selected title turns out to not be the right one, enable Safe Mode on the main interface.

Then specify an output folder and click "RUN" to rip DVDs on Windows 10.

Disclaimer: Digiarty Software does not advocate ripping copy-protected DVDs for any commercial purpose and suggests referring to the DVD copyright laws in your country before doing so.

HandBrake

• User rating: ★★★☆☆
• Supported OS: Windows 10 or later
• Official site: https://handbrake.fr/
• Download link: HandBrake-1.6.0-x86_64-Win_GUI.exe
• DVD types: Homemade DVD, some CSS copy protected DVD
• Output formats/devices: MP4, MKV, WebM, iPhone, iPad, iPod, iTunes, Apple TV, Android, Windows Phone, etc.

Handbrake is a world-known open-source free DVD ripping software for Windows 10/11/7 and other systems. It's able to convert both DVDs and video files to work on a media player, mobile device, smart TV, or upload to online platforms like YouTube. But be aware that it cannot rip DVDs by circumventing or defeating any copy protection.

The latest version V1.6.0^[2] released on  December 28, 2022 wasn't a big update. It adds AV1 video encoding via SVT-AV1 (software) and Intel QSV (hardware), high bit depth and color depth support for various encoders and filters, new official presets and preset revisions, a host of third-party library upgrades, new translations and translation updates, and various graphical interface improvements. In the meantime, Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime 6 is required to install the free DVD ripper on Windows 10 or 11 PCs.

Handbrake cannot be topped when it comes to advanced customizable options, from the wide selection of general/web/devices/Matroska presets, encoder options, bitrate setting, display size, to filter, all housed within a traditional UI that advanced users can make full use of.

Unfortunately, Handbrake isn't for those unwilling to spend too much time on the learning curve. We wish the interface could be a little bit more intuitive and the DVD/video merging feature could be added further, but sometimes, for a good DVD ripping result on Windows 10, you have to make trade-offs. The great thing about Handbrake is that the learning curve is few and far between. So it is a good choice to rip a DVD on Windows 10.

What we like:

• Support hardware acceleration.

What we dislike:

• Bypass CSS DVD protection only if libdvdcss.dll/libdvdcss.pkg is installed previously.
• Hard to figure out how to calculate video parameters, e.g., Bitrate, to balance video quality and target size.
• Cannot rip most protected DVD movies, especially those encrypted by Disney X-project DRM.
• No option to merge DVD titles.

How to Rip DVDs on Windows 10/11 with Handbrake?

Step 1. Insert the source DVD into the PC's disc drive or an external optical drive. Download Handbrake and run it.

Handbrake doesn't support protections. If you want to rip protected DVDs with this free DVD ripper on Windows 10/11, you need to download the file libdvdcss-2.dll from the VideoLan website and copy it to the C:\Program Files\Handbrake folder.

Learn how to install libdvdcss for Handbrake to rip protected DVDs on Windows 10/11 >>

Step 2. Choose a preset like Fast 480p30 or Fast576p25 for the DVD ripping. Then select an output format under the Summary tab.

Step 3. Click Save As to set where you want to save the output file on the Windows 10 PC. Next, click the green Start Encode button on the top menu bar to rip the DVD on a Windows 10/11 PC.

DVD Shrink

• User rating: ★★☆☆☆
• Supported OS: Windows (no statement on official page, but runs well on Windows 10)
• Official site: http://www.dvdshrink.org/
• Download link: DVD Shrink free download on Softpedia
• Input DVD types: Homemade DVD, VIDEO_TS
• Output formats/devices: VIDEO_TS folder, ISO image

DVD Shrink is especially helpful if you no longer cling to your growing DVD collection and want to have copies of them on your Windows computer. It delivers a fast and smooth DVD copying on Windows computers in a compact design. The fairly straightforward process helps copy your enormous collection and produce an ISO image or Video_TS folder of flicks.

DVD Shrink is more of a DVD copier than a free DVD ripper for Windows 10/11. It cannot digitize DVDs into formats like MP4 or MKV. This glaring omission is the reason why DVD Shrink doesn't rank higher. Though the ripping capability doesn't cut the mustard when it comes to digitization, its flair for DVD copying means the movie title you back up from the physical disc will top other Windows 10 DVD rippers in terms of image quality.

DVD Shrink hasn't been updated for a long time. The versions remained V3.2.0.15 and 3.2.0.16. This means it cannot cope with some new DVD copy protections. Instead, you will need to rely on a third-party program like DVD Decrypter to rip copy-protected DVD discs^[3]. There is one thing to be noted. Some sources indicate DVD Shrink doesn't work with Windows 10. But from its official page and in our test, there is no problem ripping DVDs on Windows 10 using DVD Shrink. So have a try.

What we like:

• Unlock region codes and some copy protections

What we dislike:

• ISO is not acceptable.
• No digital output formats or devices, like MP4, iPhone, Android, etc. (more for DVD burning).
• No constant update. No way to delete the loaded dvd content.

How to Rip DVDs on Windows 10 with DVD Shrink?

Step 1. Insert the source DVD into the PC's disc drive or an external optical drive. Download and open this free DVD ripper on Windows 10/11. On the top menu bar, click Open Disc. It will start to analyze and load the DVD infomation.

Step 2. Once loaded, the DVD data will be displayed on the left pane. Under the Compression Settings on the right, choose Automatic. The Windows 10 DVD ripper will compress the DVD video at the best ratio it determines. Then click the Backup button on the top bar.

Step 3. In the next window, you need to decide on the target device. To rip a DVD on Windows 10 PC, choose the Hard Disk Folder. Then set where you want to save the output file on the computer.

Step 4. Click OK to start ripping. It will rip the DVDs to Video_TS folder or an ISO image file. So the DVD ripping on Windows 10 will take a while and you need to make sure your hard drive has enough space to store the large output video.

Other Free DVD Ripper for Windows 10/11

MakeMKV

• User rating: ★★★★☆
• Supported OS: Windows XP or later, x86 or x64.
• Official site: https://www.makemkv.com/
• Input DVD types: Protected DVDs and Blu-ray Discs
• Output formats/devices: MKV

MakeMKV is a small but effective free DVD ripper for Windows 10/11/Mac that can convert DVDs to MKV files. It will preserve all audio and subtitle tracks with no quality loss. MakeMKV is highly rated on different video forums, as it's among the few free Windows 10 DVD rippers that support DVDs and Blu-rays with various copy protections. So users often use MakeMKV to rip a protected DVD to Windows 10/11 computer in MKV, then transcode and compress it to MP4 using Handbrake.

MakeMKV offers a free beta for 30 days and after that, users need to purchase it to get the feature to rip Blu-ray discs. However, you can always get a new beta key for MakeMKV to activate the application. Ripping DVDs on Windows 10 is extremely easy with MakeMKV as there is so little to think about.

What we like:

• Support DVDs and Blu-rays with copy protection.
• Rip DVDs to Windows 10 computer in MKV with original quality.
• Fast speed and easy to use.

What we dislike:

• The output format is limited to MKV only.
• There are no features to configure the audio and video parameters.

How to Rip a DVD on Windows 10/11 with MakeMKV?

Step 1. Insert the source DVD into the PC's disc drive or an external optical drive. Download and open this free DVD ripper on Windows 10/11. It should detect the inserted DVD automatically and then display the basic DVD information.

Step 2. Click on the big DVD icon button to open the DVD. It will scan and show all the DVD titles. MakeMKV will rip all the DVD titles into an MKV file by default. But you can choose a specific title to rip.

Step 3. Set an output folder on your PC to store the output MKV file. Then click Make MKV to start.

VLC

• User rating: ★★☆☆☆
• Supported OS: Windows XP SP3 to Windows 10/11, and other sytems
• Official site: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html
• Input DVD types: Homemade DVD, Blu-ray, Audio CD, SVCD/VCD, videos
• Output formats/devices: MP4, WebM, MKV, OGG, TS, etc.

If your discs don't contain DRM, it's easy to rip DVDs on Windows 10/11 using VLC. It's able to convert DVDs into various digital formats such as MP4. There are also some basic options to adjust the video and audio settings. But VLC only supports ripping DVDs without protection. However, VLC has libdvdcss included to decode encrypted discs. Therefore, VLC and Handbrake are usually used as a free Windows 10 DVD ripper combo for ripping protected DVDs.

As VLC is not a dedicated DVD ripping program, it lacks some essential features that you may see in other free DVD rippers for Windows 11/10/7. Overall, VLC is probably not the best option for ripping DVDs, but it can be helpful when you want to rip a home DVD and don't want to install extra software.

What we like:

• It's free and easy to use.
• It supports various output profiles.

What we dislike:

• It doesn't rip protected DVDs.
• It doesn't support GPU acceleration, so ripping DVDs on Windows 11/10 can be very slow.
• The output formats and customization options are limited.

How do I Rip a DVD in Windows 10/11 with VLC?

Step 1. Download and install VLC. Then open it. Insert the DVD into the DVD drive.

Step 2. In the free Windows 10 DVD ripper, click the Media tab and select Convert/Save. Then click the Disc tab and select your disc drive.

Step 3. Next, click Convert/Save. Then you can select an output format and click Start to rip a DVD on Windows 10.

VidCoder

• User rating: ★★☆☆☆
• Supported OS: Windows 10 and Windows 11
• Official site: https://vidcoder.net/
• Input DVD types: Homemade DVD, ISO image
• Output formats/devices: MP4 and MKV

VidCoder is an open-source DVD/Blu-ray ripping software for Windows 11/10/7. Using Handbrake as its encoding engine, it looks and works quite similar to Handbrake. It will rip a DVD to MP4 or MKV in H.265, MPEG-4, MPEG-2, VP8, etc., and there is a wide range of options to customize various settings, such as video quality, subtitles, and audio tracks, etc. Hardware-accelerated encoding is also supported to speed up DVD ripping on Windows 10 PCs.

It can be regarded as an alternate GUI for Handbrake. Compared to Handbrake, VidCoder doesn't provide as many options as Handbrake, but it's easier to get started with.

What we like:

• Vidcoder's interface is a little more straight-forward than Handbrake.

What we dislike:

• It can't rip encrypted DVDs either.

How to Rip DVDs on Windows 10/11 with VidCoder?

Step 1. Insert the source DVD into the PC's disc drive or an external optical drive. Download and open this free DVD ripper on Windows 10/11. It will detect the inserted DVD in the source selection. Choose it.

Step 2. In the "Title" dropdown menu, select the title that you want to rip. Then click on the gear button next to the title to open the video/audio settings window. Then you need to select a preset from the list on the left column and choose an output format/codec, as you do in Handbrake.

Step 3. You can also see the audio and subtitle tracks listed here. Click on them and select the audio and subtitle track that you want to keep.

Step 4. Next, navigate to Destination at the bottom and choose where to save the ripped DVD file on Windows 10 PC. Then click the green Encode button on the top menu bar and wait for it to finish.

Part 3. Frequently Asked Questions about DVD Ripper for Windows 10/11

References

1. Handbrake V1.6.0 release – GitHub
2. WinX DVD Ripper Free Edition review – Techradar
3. DVD copy protection schemes – Wikipedia