NUT file format (.nut)
An open container from the FFmpeg project itself.
Last updated
What is a NUT file?
In short: A NUT file (.nut) is a video file in the NUT format. NUT was an attempt to build a container with no legacy compromises, by the people who had to write code for all the others. It can be converted to MP4, MOV or GIF for free in a web browser with iHateFiles, without uploading it.
Designed around 2003 by the FFmpeg and MPlayer developers as a clean open container.
NUT was an attempt to build a container with no legacy compromises, by the people who had to write code for all the others. It is technically sound and never saw adoption outside the projects that created it, which by then were using Matroska anyway.
What NUT is good at
- Cleanly designed, with low overhead
- Handles any codec
- Resilient to damage
Where NUT falls short
- Effectively no adoption
- Only FFmpeg-based software reads it
- Matroska solved the same problem first
When to use NUT
Convert NUT to MP4 or MKV.
How to open a NUT file
VLC, MPV, and anything built on FFmpeg.
| Windows | VLC, and effectively nothing else — NUT is FFmpeg’s own container and never spread beyond it. |
|---|---|
| macOS | VLC. |
| Linux | VLC, mpv and FFmpeg itself. |
| Phone | VLC. |
| In a browser | No browser plays NUT. |
The thing that usually goes wrong
If you have a NUT file it almost certainly came out of a script using FFmpeg defaults, rather than from any deliberate choice.
Questions
What is a NUT file?
An open container from the FFmpeg project itself. Files use the .nut extension.
How do I open a NUT file?
NUT is not widely supported any more. The reliable route is to convert it to a current format, which this page can do in your browser without uploading it.
Can I convert NUT for free?
Yes. Every conversion here is free and unlimited, because your own device does the work rather than a server we have to pay for.
Is NUT lossless?
That depends on the codec inside the container rather than the container itself. Everything written here is re-encoded, so expect one generation of loss.