handbrake

GTK graphical interface for the HandBrake video transcoder

TLDR

Launch the HandBrake GUI
$ ghb
Open a video file directly in the GUI
$ ghb [video.mkv]
Open the GUI with a preset preselected
$ ghb --preset="[Fast 1080p30]"
Load a DVD/Blu-ray device or directory
$ ghb --device [/dev/dvd]
Automatically start the encode queue on launch
$ ghb --auto-start-queue [video.mkv]
Enable verbose debug logging to the terminal
$ ghb --debug --console

SYNOPSIS

ghb [options] [file]

DESCRIPTION

HandBrake is an open-source video transcoder. ghb is its native GTK graphical interface, used on Linux to pick sources, choose presets, configure video/audio/subtitle settings, and manage an encode queue interactively.ghb and [HandBrakeCLI](/man/handbrakecli)(1) share the same underlying libhb encoding engine and preset format: presets built or tweaked in ghb can be exported and reused from HandBrakeCLI for scripted or headless encoding, and vice versa.On Linux, ghb is installed via the distribution's package (e.g. `handbrake` on Arch, `handbrake-gtk` on Debian/Ubuntu) or as the `fr.handbrake.ghb` Flatpak.

PARAMETERS

-d, --device file

Device, directory, or file to load for encoding on startup.
-p, --preset name
Preset to select on startup.
-x, --debug
Enable verbose (debug-level) logging.
-c, --console
Write debug output to the console instead of capturing it internally.
-o, --config dir
Override the user configuration directory.
--auto-start-queue
Automatically start the encode queue on launch.
--clear-queue
Clear previously queued items on launch.

INSTALL

sudo apt install handbrake
sudo pacman -S handbrake
brew install handbrake
nix profile install nixpkgs#handbrake

CAVEATS

Requires a graphical session (GTK4/Wayland or X11); not usable over a plain SSH connection without display forwarding. DVD/Blu-ray decryption requires libdvdcss. Hardware encoding needs a compatible GPU and drivers.

HISTORY

HandBrake was originally created by Eric Petit in 2003 as "MediaFork" for BeOS, later renamed and ported to other platforms. The GTK interface was written for Linux users after the project's revival by the open-source community, and now targets GTK 4.

SEE ALSO

handbrakecli(1), ffmpeg(1), vlc(1)

RESOURCES

Source code · Homepage · Documentation