How to Rip DVD with Copy Protection (1:1 Quality & No Errors)

While encryption aims to prevent piracy, it often hinders legitimate owners who want to rip copy-protected DVD for personal backups. If you're struggling to watch your DVDs on other platforms due to DRM, you're in the right place. Follow our comprehensive 2026 guide to discover how to bypass common encryption methods and successfully digitize your DVD collection without quality loss.

Method 1. Tipard DVD Ripper

Platform: Windows and macOS

Best for: Fast and seamless DVD decryption

When dealing with DVD copy protections, you need a versatile ripper that can keep up with the latest encryption methods. Tipard DVD Ripper is a top-tier solution for ripping copy-protected DVDs. It can automatically bypass both common and complex protections, such as AACS, 99-titles, and various region codes. With its powerful decoding ability, you can easily start ripping your copy-protected DVDs without hassle.

In addition, this DVD ripper supports a wide range of standard and popular output formats, such as MP4, MKV, MOV, and ProRes, along with device-optimized presets for iPhone, PS5, Xbox, TVs, and more. It also offers robust support for HEVC and AV1 codecs, allowing you to output high-quality videos with smaller file sizes. Most importantly, it features level-3 hardware acceleration to help you quickly decode, edit, and convert DVD videos.

How to Rip Copy-Protected DVD with Tipard DVD Ripper

Step 1 Download and Install

Click the Download button below to download Tipard DVD Ripper. Then, install and launch it on your Windows or Mac computer.

Step 2 Load Your DVD to Tipard DVD Ripper

Click the Load DVD button and choose DVD Disc after you have inserted the DVD into your computer's optical drive. This program will recognize your disc.

Step 3 Choose Output Format

Before ripping the copy-protected DVD, you can select a desired output format. Click the Output Format dropdown button to unlock more formats, like HEVC MP4, 4K MP4, Lossless MKV. Double-click a format to select it.

Note: When the DVD is successfully loaded, it means Tipard DVD Ripper has recognized your disc and bypassed the encryption method.

Step 4 Start Ripping Copy-Protected DVD

Click the Save to dropdown button to select an output folder for your video. Then, click the Rip All button to decrypt and rip your copy-protected DVD.

Method 2. HandBrake

Platform: Windows, macOS, and Linux

Best for: Customize the output video settings

HandBrake is widely known as a video encoding program and also works as a DVD ripping tool. By default, it does not include built-in support for bypassing DVD copy protection. However, it can work with external decryption libraries, such as HandBrake libdvdcss, which can be added as a plugin to help decrypt protected DVDs. With it, you can rip copy-protected DVDs for free.

One of HandBrake's main advantages is its flexible encoding options, offering multiple formats to convert DVD content into files optimized for different devices. The following steps show you how to use HandBrake to rip DVDs with copy protection.

How to Rip DVD with Copy Protection in HandBrake

Step 1 Get HandBrake and Decryption Library

You May Need to Know: Finding a reliable source for the libdvdcss file is very difficult today. Hope that you can make it, but you can save time if you switch to a professional tool with updating and decryption methods.

Step 2 Load DVD in HandBrake

Insert the copy-protected DVD into your computer's optical drive. Open HandBrake, and select your DVD on the left side of the panel.

Step 3 Decrypt and Rip DVD with HandBrake

With libdvdcss library, HandBrake can deal with copy protection on your DVD. You just need to click the Format dropdown button to sleect a desired output container, like MP4, MKV, or WebM. Then, click the Browse button to choose a destination folder for your video. Finally, click the Start Encode button to rip the DVD with copy protection.

Method 3. MakeMKV

Platform: Windows and macOS

Best for: Lossless ripping DVD to MKV file

For users seeking uncompromising functionality, MakeMKV stands out as a reliable tool. It can remux your DVD or Blu-ray to an MKV file with original structure and files, which means the files are not compressed. Unlike standard alternatives, MakeMKV excels at bypassing complex copy protections, like common AACS and region codes, while preserving 1:1 video quality, all audio tracks, and subtitles—completely without compression. If you don't need to compress videos, MakeMKV is a good choice to rip copy-protected DVD for free on Windows and Mac.

How to Rip Copy-Protected DVD with MakeMKV

With such a clear layout, the ripping process is easily carried out with a few steps, making it advantageous to people who prefer efficiency and high quality. Follow this guide to rip copy-protected DVDs.

Step 1 Launch MakeMKV; then, on the main interface, click the Source dropdown button to select your DVD.

Step 2 Click the Titles you want to save under Types. You can also select what files and tracks you want to save under each title.

You May Need to Know: When you can see the tree structure of your DVD content, that means MakeMKV has successfully bypassed the copy protection.

Step 3 Click the Make MKV button to rip your copy-protected DVD to a lossless MKV file.

Method 4. VLC

Platform: Windows, macOS, and Linux

Best for: Ripping DVDs and directly playing them

VLC Media Player can also convert media files. As a free and open-source program, although it cannot directly rip DVDs with copy protection, you can manually add decryption library files for free. Just search for corresponding decoding files on the internet, and then you can easily free rip copy-protected DVDs. VLC also offers many popular and standard output profiles, like MP4, MP3, FLAC, etc. You can also customize codecs, frame rate, resolution, and video effects.

How to Rip Copy-Protected DVD with VLC

Step 1 Download and install VLC Media Player on your computer. Visit download.videolan.org/pub/libdvdcss/ to download the libdvdcss file. you can select the version 1.4.3, a very stable version.

Important Update: The official libdvdcss download page - download.videolan.org/pub/libdvdcss/ no longer provides precompiled .dll files. Instead, it mainly offers source code and generic packages. This change is likely due to legal concerns related to DVD decryption in some regions, so users are expected to compile the library themselves or obtain the .dll from third-party sources.

Step 2 Put the downloaded or compiled .dll file in the VLC installation directory. The default path is C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC if you didn't change it when installing VLC.

Step 3 Launch VLC Media Player and click the Media menu. Select the Convert/Save button to access the app's converting feature.

Step 4 On the next window, click Disc, choose the DVD, open the disc drive device, set the title, and click Convert/Save.

Step 5 Click the Profile dropdown button to select an output preset, such as Video - H.264 + MP3 (MP4). Then, click the Brwose button to select an output folder. Finally, click the Start button to decrypt and rip the copy-protected DVD in VLC.

Method 5. DVD Shrink

Platform: Windows and Linux (old versions)

Best for: Deal with simple encryptions on old OS.

DVD Shrink remains a legendary tool for ripping copy-protected DVDs, prized for its ability to compress dual-layer discs (DVD-9) into standard DVD-5 format. While its re-authoring features allow for significant file size reduction, it is important to note that it can only rip old copy protections, like CSS, on DVDs. For modern, structurally protected discs (such as ARccOS or RipGuard), DVD Shrink typically requires a secondary background decrypter to function reliably in a contemporary workflow.

How to Rip Copy-Protected DVD with DVD Shrink

However, its calibration capacity to re-author DVDs and work out any extra part, including advertisement or menu, is a plus, which none of its rivals offers. Although new versions of DVD Shrink were released quite some time ago, it still provides a lightweight method for users who wish to compress and back up their older DVDs quickly. You can use the steps below to rip DVDs with copy protection.

Step 1 Download the zip file of the DVD Shrink to your computer, click Open Disc to upload the disc file to the app, and click OK.

Step 2 On the right side, choose the compression setting you want to attach to your video and the other settings you can manipulate or optimize here.

Step 3 When done, click the Back-Up button, choose the Target Device, and click OK to start processing.

Bonus: Quick Fixes about Common DVD Ripping Errors

1. Encryption Errors

Current DVDs come with enhanced copy protection methods, which regular software cannot easily penetrate. For instance, some free software, such as MakeMKV or DVD Shrink, cannot handle such encryption. To rip copy-protected DVDs with new encryption methods like 99-Title or ARccOS, you can use Tipard DVD Ripper.

2. Region Code Issues

DVD region codes restrict playback to specific areas. Instead of exhausting the limited hardware region changes (usually 5) on your DVD drive, it is more efficient to use software like MakeMKV or HandBrake (with libdvdcss). These tools strip region locks during the ripping process, creating a region-free backup compatible with any device.

3. Slow Ripping Speed

Slow DVD ripping is often caused by outdated software, hardware bottlenecks, or damaged discs. To boost ripping speed, close background applications, ensure your optical drive is clean, and select balanced output settings (avoiding ultra-high encoding presets that tax the CPU). Using high-performance software like Tipard DVD Ripper or MakeMKV can also significantly optimize the process through hardware acceleration and superior decryption engines.

4. Audio and Video Out of Sync

Audio-video desync typically occurs due to incorrect frame rate or sample rate configurations during the ripping process. To prevent this, ensure your software is set to Keep Original for both frame rate and audio settings. Professional tools like VLC provide built-in synchronization offsets, allowing you to calibrate and fix timing issues either during the rip or in post-processing.

5. Crashes or Freezing

Common ripping failures often stem from incompatible disc formats, insufficient system resources, or outdated software. To resolve this, ensure your ripping tool is up to date and meets your OS requirements.

6. Incomplete Ripping Process or Missing Sections

These errors often come from incomplete decryption or using overly simplistic ripping tools that ignore complex copy protections. To ensure a 1:1 backup, verify that your software supports Full Disc mode, which preserves menus, subtitles, and bonus features. This prevents the accidental loss of essential metadata and disc structures when you rip copy-protected DVDs.