How to Rip a DVD on Mac & Windows 11/10/8 [5 Best Ways]

Lafanda
15/08/2023

BD-DVD Ripper

Want to rip DVDs that you own or rent? To get rid of an optical drive and play movies/episodes on DVDs anywhere, you may wonder how to rip a DVD to digital formats, ISO files, or DVD folders. That's just a breeze once you go over 5 magical methods here. After that, you can enjoy flexible playback of DVDs on any device. Now, pick a preferred way and perform the magic trick.

Method 1. How to Rip DVD on Windows/Mac in Lossless Quality (Recommended)

Best for: Ripping video from DVD lossless in really easy steps

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper is a fully-fledged ripping software for DVD and Blu-ray discs. With its state-of-the-art protection removal technology, it can defy the barrier of copyright protections like APS, CSS, ARccOS, CPRM, AACS, BD+, and Cinavia. Plus, its intuitive interface makes it ever easy to rip DVDs to 300+ digital formats, ISO files, or DVD folders with lossless quality. Better yet, it allows you to save selected titles, chapters, audio tracks, and subtitles before ripping.

VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper:

Available to rip Blu-ray/DVD discs of all types;
Boost the ripping process to be 6X faster;
300+ mainstream video/audio output formats;
Output videos/audio without quality loss;
Preserve all subtitles and audio tracks;

Supported OS:

Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP (SP2 or later); Mac OS X 10.7 or above

Step-by-Step Guide to Rip DVD with VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper

Step 1. Load DVD Disc

First, install VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper and run the program. It is recommended to try out its free version before billing for the registered license. Now, please insert your DVD disc into the computer, and select Load DVD >> Load DVD Disc in the top-left corner on the main feed of VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper.

Step 2. Select Titles to Rip

By default, the entire DVD disc of all titles will be ripped. If you wish to save only certain titles of one DVD disc, please click on the Full Movie List when the program completes loading the DVD.

Step 3. Choose Target Output Format

After selecting titles, subsequently, you can turn to Rip to or Rip All to and choose MP4, MKV, or other formats for exporting the DVD media. There will be definition options provided for selection as well.

Step 4. Rip DVD on Windows/Mac

As the pre-settings are all done, tap the Rip All button and proceed to rip the DVD. It takes only a while for VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper to complete the ripping for you.

Rip a DVD to Computer — Click "Rip All" to Start Ripping DVD/Blu-ray Disc

Below is the detailed tutorial guide.

Pros	Cons
Easy to rip DVDs to digital formats, ISO, or Folder. Remove all types of protections. Support both DVD and Blu-ray discs. Accelerate the ripping up to 6X faster. Come with a default video editor. Fully customize the DVD content. Offer preset templates for instant ripping.	Paid to use with a free trial.

Method 2. How to Rip a DVD with VLC Free

Best for: Freely ripping DVD discs across platforms

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Many people are quite familiar with VLC, a free media player with the powerful ability to stream both regular media and DVD content. And some of you probably already installed VLC on your computer. Actually, the program brings a hidden ripping feature, helping you to rip video from DVD to digital formats without any extra charge required.

Here's how to rip a movie off a DVD via VLC.

Please install VLC on your computer. Then insert the DVD you gonna rip and open the program.
Select Media >> Convert/Save >> Disc to load the inserted DVD disc to prepare the ripping.

Tap the Convert/Save In the next procedure, please configure an encoder to export the media.
Confirm ripping and wait for VLC to complete the process for you.

Pros	Cons
Support various operating systems. Free to rip Video from DVDs. Rip a DVD to an audio file.	Not intuitive to use. Do not support copy-protected discs. Do not rip Blu-ray discs. Cannot select titles/chapters/tracks/subtitles to save. Not stable in ripping DVDs.

Method 3. How to Rip a DVD with HandBrake

Best for: Freely ripping DVDs with more customized settings

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Next, let's see another free option taking no charge to rip video from DVDs on Windows/Mac. That is Handbrake. Handbrake is well compatible with both Blu-ray and DVD ripping, with easy-using program functions and decent output quality. You can find it quite simple to rip a DVD with satisfying results. More importantly, its customized settings can help you personalize the DVD outputs just in the ways you like!

Here's how to rip a DVD to MP4 via HandBrake.

Insert the DVD disc and run Handbrake on your computer.
In Handbrake, click on the Open Source button to load the DVD first.
Subsequently, personalize the ripping settings, including selecting the encoder and also subtitles or audio tracks to rip off the DVD disc.
Tap Start Encode to proceed with ripping the disc

Pros	Cons
Work with multiple desktop systems. Free to rip DVDs to video or audio files. Select titles and chapters to rip. Apply a range of video filters with a real-time preview.	Only support output video files in MP4, MKV, and WebM. Do not support Blu-ray discs. Fail to rip DVDs with copy protections. Rip DVDs at a slow rate.

Method 4. How to Rip a DVD to MKV Only with MakeMKV

Best for: Getting real lossless media outputs off DVD without charge

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

For those who have really high expectations to rip video from DVD at completely lossless quality, MakeMKV is the right option you should not neglect. Even though MKV is the only output encoder provided by the program, it is true that the ripping will retain the full definition without compressing a bit for you. Of course, the output files are mostly in very large sizes, which is one downside.

The following procedures demonstrate how to rip video from DVD with MakeMKV:

Complete the installation and launch MakeMKV on your desktop.
Insert the DVD disc, as MakeMKV detects it, you can select the chapters to rip.
Confirm an output location to save the exported media as well.
Tap the Make MKV button now, and the program will initiate the DV ripping process for you.

Pros	Cons
Easy and free to use with one button. Support DVDs and Blu-ray discs.	Support ripping DVDs to MKV only. Cannot customize output content. Only remove protections of CSS, CPPM, AACS, and BD+. Fail to rip DVDs from time to time.

Method 5. How to Rip a DVD on Mac with Built-in Tool

Best for: Mac users who do not want to install third-party programs

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

There's a built-in Disk Utility in macOS to help rip a movie off a DVD. Just follow the steps below and see how to rip DVDs on your Mac.

Go to Applications >> Utilities to open Disk Utility.
Insert a DVD disc into Mac utilizing an external Apple SuperUSB drive. Subsequently, tap New Image in the center along the top of the Disk Utility window to locate the disc.
Next, select an Image Format as DVD/CD Master and set Encryption to None.

Proceed ripping DVD discs on Mac.

Pros	Cons
Rip CDs and DVDs without any software. Easy to use for Mac users.	Only rip DVDs to ISO files. Do not support Blu-ray discs. Cannot strip off copy protection. Cannot save selected titles/chapters/tracks/subtitles. Rip DVDs with a slow speed.

Comparison Between 5 Ways to Rip DVD on Windows/Mac

After you get the detailed manipulation guide of the above ways to rip video from DVD, let's see the full comparison below to choose the best DVD ripper for you.

	VideoByte	VLC	HandBrake	MakeMKV	Disk Utility
Supported OS	Windows, macOS	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows	macOS
Ripping Speed	6X	1X	1X	1X	1X
Lossless Quality	√	×	×	√	×
Protected DVD	√	×	×	√	×
Protected Blu-ray	√	×	×	√	×
Selected Titles/Chapters	√	×	√	×	×
Device Presets	√	×	×	×	×
Rip to Digital Formats	300 Formats	MP4, WebM, OGG, MP3	MP4, MKV, MP3	MKV	×
Rip to ISO Files	√	×	×	×	√
Rip to DVD/Bluray Folder	√	×	×	×	×
Video Editor	√	×	×	×	×

FAQs of How to Rip a DVD on Computer

How to rip a DVD with multiple episodes?

If you have DVDs of TV shows with many episodes, you may consider using VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper or HandBrake to rip the DVDs, so that episodes will be output in separate video files. VLC, MakeMKV, and Disk Utility don't allow you to select episodes and save them alone.

How to rip dvd chapters individually?

Among 5 recommendations, only VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper and HandBrake enable you to select titles or chapters to rip from a DVD. To rip DVD chapters individually, you might as well give them a shot.

How to rip audio from DVDs?

To rip audio from DVDs to MP3 or other audio formats, VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper, VLC media player, and HandBrake can make it possible. You may want to follow the tutorials above and select the output format as your desired audio format.

How to rip copy-protected DVDs?

Most DVD rippers only support ripping homemade or protection-free DVDs, and you shall resort to a professional ripper like VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper, which can easily get rid of all types of copy protections including APS, CSS, ARccOS, CPRM, AACS, BD+, and Cinavia.

Final Words

Simply put, free DVD rippers are good choices if your DVDs are protection-free without protection. However, if you want more advanced features like protection removal, Blu-ray support, custom DVD content, ultra-fast ripping speed, and various output options, opt for VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper, the top-rated helper beloved by DVD collectors and movie lovers.