Can Handbrake deal with protected DVDs? Many users may be very familiar with the swiss army knife of video and DVD conversion tools. Typically, Handbrake can rip any DVD that isn't copy protected…but almost all DVDs you buy in the store are copy protected via DRM or AAC. And that's why an alert box with "HandBrake does not support the removal of copy-protection from DVD discs" will show up if it is a commercial DVD. Fortunately, there are always solutions out there. And in this article, we'll show you how to rip your protected DVDs using Handbrake.

Part 1: Install libdvdcss for Handbrake on Windows and Mac


Once yo've installed Handbrake and the decoder; you won't have to do these steps again. And don't forget to download Handbrake according to your computer OS before installing the decoder.

How to Install libdvdcss on Windows

Download the library file from here, then navigate to your downloads folder and copy and paste the file into your C:/Program Files/Handbrake directory. It should look like the image below.



How to Install libdvdcss on Mac


1. Open Terminal on the Mac.







brew install libdvdcss

Part 2: Detailed Steps to Rip (Protected) DVDs using Handbrake

Note that when you first open Handbrake, the interface may seem intimidating because there are a lot of settings, but don't worry. The default settings will work perfectly for most users. The process for ripping copy-right protected DVD is virtually the same with Windows and Mac. Here I will take the Windows process for example to show you how to decrypt and rip your protected DVDs.

Step 1. Open Your DVD in Handbrake








Step 2. Choose Your Quality Preset





Step 2. Start Ripping Protected DVD using Handbrake






Part 3: How to Solve "HandBrake won't Rip DVDs"


Case 1: No valid source or titles found




Case 2: HandBrake only rip part of DVD




※ Note: HandBrake can't handle copy protection. Even with libdvdcss being installed, HandBrake only decrypts and rips some certain DVDs with CSS. To rip any copy protected DVD freely, you need a more powerful alternative.

Part 4: Best HandBrake Alternative for Ripping Copy-Protected DVDs

Installing libdvdcss can solve part of the problems, but you have to resort to another DVD ripping tool when dealing with strictly encrypted ones (like the Disney DVDs). If you failed to open a commercial DVD with Handbrake (even the descoder installed) and want to find a more efficient and easier way to rip and copy your DVD collections, I highly recommend you another top-ranked tool - EaseFab DVD Ripper (available for Windows and Mac users), which is constantly updated and hardware accelerated. The program accepts various types of DVDs, be them non-commercial, region-coded, 99-title, etc. The well-rounded features in DVD decrypting, editing and re-encoding are what sets EaseFab DVD Ripper apart.

Moreover, EaseFab provides timely and excellent customer support service, including lifetime free upgrade of product and technical support. Once you get it, DVD movie enjoyment can't be more simpler than ever.

The proecess of ripping protected DVD with the best Handbrake alternative is very straightforward. Pop in your disc, choose an output profile and click the "Convert" to start ripping.


EaseFab DVD Ripper not only supports various prevailed video and audio formats with excellent output video quality, but also offers a library of preprogrammed optimization profiles for specific devices such as smartphones, tablets, gaming systems, smart TVs, VR and more.