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MOV to MP4 converter

Drop a MOV here and get an MP4 in seconds, with no quality lost for most files.

Convert a MOV file to MP4

Drop a MOV file here

or choose one from your device

Up to 2.0 GB. Stays on your device.

How to convert MOV to MP4

Three steps, all on this page.

  1. Choose your MOV

    Choose or drop a MOV file. The page reads what is inside and checks that this browser can convert it before anything starts.

  2. Convert to MP4

    Pick the options you want, then press Convert to MP4. Tracks that an MP4 can hold as they are get copied, which is near instant.

  3. Check and download

    The new file is opened again and checked against the original before it is offered. Play it in the preview, then download it.

What changes from MOV to MP4

  • MP4 grew out of Apple’s QuickTime format: it is based on the ISO base media file format, which comes directly from QuickTime. The two are close but not quite interchangeable. Source
  • Browsers treat them differently. MDN lists video/quicktime (MOV) as supported by Safari only, while MP4 with H.264 video and AAC sound plays in every major browser. Source
  • An iPhone set to High Efficiency (Settings › Camera › Formats) records HEVC video; Most Compatible records H.264. iPhone 7 and later can record HEVC. Source
  • On macOS Tahoe 26 and later, screen recordings are saved as HEVC when the Screenshot app’s Capture Format is set to HDR. Otherwise they are H.264. Source
  • QuickTime Player exports MOV only, in H.264 (“Greater Compatibility”) or HEVC (“Smaller File Size”). Apple’s guide says it does not export movies as MP4. Source
  • HEVC plays in Safari on any Mac since High Sierra and in Chrome on macOS Big Sur and later. On Windows, Chrome needs a hardware HEVC decoder, and Edge also needs Microsoft’s HEVC Video Extensions. Source

MOV file

MOV (QuickTime)

  • PictureH.264, HEVC or ProRes
  • SoundAAC or PCM

MP4 file

MP4

  • PictureH.264
  • SoundAAC

Who converts MOV to MP4

Mostly Mac and iPhone owners. QuickTime Player, the Mac’s Screenshot toolbar and the iPhone camera all save MOV, and plenty of places want MP4 instead: an upload form that lists only MP4, a Windows colleague whose player shows a codec error, a learning platform, an editor that turns MOV away. A screen recording you made for a bug report or a quick walkthrough is the most common case, and it is also the easiest: it converts in about the time it takes to save the file.

MOV or MP4: which is better?

Neither holds a better picture. MOV is Apple’s QuickTime format and MP4 is the international standard built from it, so a MOV and an MP4 can carry exactly the same H.264 video and AAC sound, bit for bit. What differs is who will open them. MOV is at home on a Mac, an iPhone and in editing apps; MP4 is what Windows, Android, browsers, learning platforms and most upload forms expect.

So keep MOV for your own Mac and for editing, and send MP4 to everyone else. If you are not sure what the other side uses, MP4 with H.264 is the safe choice.

Why most MOVs take seconds, with no quality lost

A MOV from a Mac screen recording, QuickTime Player or an iPhone on Most Compatible already holds H.264 and AAC, which MP4 takes as they are. This page moves those tracks into the new container without decoding a single frame. That is why a 60-second 1080p screen recording comes out in a fraction of a second, a little smaller than it went in, and identical to watch. When that happens the result says Copied without re-encoding, so no quality was lost.

The picture is only re-encoded when it has to be: HEVC turned into H.264 for wider playback, or a MOV with sound that MP4 cannot hold as it is. Then the page says so before you start, and you can choose the quality.

iPhone videos in HEVC

iPhones on the default High Efficiency setting record HEVC (H.265), which makes much smaller files than H.264 at the same quality. The trouble is playback. A Mac and an iPhone handle it, but on Windows the built-in apps often need Microsoft’s HEVC Video Extensions, older TVs and editors refuse it, and Firefox cannot always decode it.

By default this page turns HEVC into H.264, which plays nearly everywhere. Expect the MP4 to be somewhat larger than the MOV, because H.264 needs more data for the same picture. If the MP4 is only going to Apple devices or a site that takes HEVC, tick Keep HEVC as it is: the video is copied untouched, instantly, and the browser does not need to decode HEVC at all.

To stop the problem at the source, set the iPhone to Most Compatible in Settings › Camera › Formats. New videos are then H.264 and copy straight across.

ProRes MOVs

ProRes is the editing format that iPhone Pro models, Final Cut Pro and most professional cameras can save. Browsers cannot decode it, so this page tells you before converting rather than failing halfway. Open the file in QuickTime Player, choose File › Export As › 1080p (or 4K) with Greater Compatibility, then drop the H.264 MOV it saves here. It will copy straight to MP4.

Mac screen recordings

Shift-Command-5 and QuickTime Player both save screen recordings as MOV with H.264, so they are the quickest files this page sees. If the recording has no sound you expected, the conversion will not add it; the guide to recording a Mac screen with computer audio covers why macOS leaves system sound out and how to capture it.

When not to convert

If the app or site you are sending it to already takes MOV, send the MOV. YouTube, Vimeo, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and every Apple device open it, and converting adds a step without making anything better.

Converting cannot improve a recording. A blurry, choppy or quiet MOV becomes a blurry, choppy or quiet MP4, and an HEVC to H.264 conversion loses a little detail, as every re-encode does. Keep the original MOV if you may edit the video later, especially a ProRes master.

Other ways to convert MOV to MP4

Clipchamp Windows 11

  1. Open Clipchamp (it comes with Windows 11) and create a new video.
  2. Drag the MOV into the media panel, then onto the timeline.
  3. Choose Export at the top right and pick 1080p.
  4. The MP4 saves to your Downloads folder when the export finishes.

Clipchamp re-encodes everything and exports at 30 frames a second, so it is slower than a copy and a 60 fps recording loses frames.

VLC Windows, Mac or Linux

  1. Open VLC and choose Media › Convert / Save (on a Mac: File › Convert / Stream).
  2. Add the MOV and choose Convert / Save.
  3. Pick the profile Video – H.264 + MP3 (MP4) and a destination file ending in .mp4.
  4. Choose Start and wait for the progress bar to finish.

Free and offline. The default profile re-encodes the picture and changes the sound to MP3; editing the profile to keep the original video track turns it into a copy.

ffmpeg Any computer, from the command line

  1. Install ffmpeg (on a Mac with Homebrew: brew install ffmpeg).
  2. Run ffmpeg -i input.mov -c copy -movflags +faststart output.mp4 to copy H.264 and AAC as they are.
  3. For an HEVC file that has to become H.264, run ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v libx264 -crf 20 -c:a copy output.mp4 instead.

The most control, and the same copy this page makes. Worth it if you convert files in bulk.

QuickTime Player Mac

  1. Open the MOV and choose File › Export As, then a resolution.
  2. Choose Greater Compatibility for H.264.
  3. Save, then drop the new MOV on this page to copy it into MP4.

QuickTime Player only saves MOV, so on its own it cannot make an MP4. It is the way to turn a ProRes or HEVC file into H.264 first.

Frequently asked questions

How do I convert a MOV to MP4?

Drop the MOV on the converter at the top of this page and choose Convert to MP4. It runs in your browser, and an H.264 MOV is copied into the MP4 in a few seconds with no quality lost. On Windows, Clipchamp and VLC can do it too; on a Mac, QuickTime Player cannot, because it only saves MOV.

How can I convert HEVC video to MP4?

Drop it here: by default the HEVC picture is re-encoded to H.264 so the MP4 plays almost anywhere. That needs a browser that can decode HEVC, which is Safari on a Mac, or Chrome or Edge on a Mac or on a Windows PC with hardware support. If yours cannot, tick Keep HEVC as it is to copy the HEVC into an MP4 without decoding it.

What is a MOV file?

A MOV is a QuickTime movie, Apple’s video format. It is a container: the picture inside is usually H.264, HEVC or ProRes, and the sound is usually AAC. Macs and iPhones save video as MOV by default.

Which is better, MP4 or MOV?

For quality, neither: both can hold the same video and sound. For sharing, MP4 is better because Windows, Android, browsers and upload forms all accept it. For editing on a Mac, MOV is fine and can hold ProRes, which MP4 is not normally used for.

Does converting MOV to MP4 lose quality?

Not when the video is H.264, which covers Mac screen recordings and iPhones on Most Compatible: the tracks are copied, not re-encoded, so the MP4 is identical to watch. Turning HEVC into H.264 is a re-encode and loses a little detail, which you will rarely see at the default quality.

What program opens MOV files?

QuickTime Player and Photos on a Mac, the Photos app on an iPhone, and VLC on any computer. On Windows, the built-in Media Player opens most H.264 MOVs; HEVC ones may need Microsoft’s HEVC Video Extensions. If none of those is to hand, convert the MOV to MP4 here and it will open almost anywhere.

Can I just rename .mov to .mp4?

Sometimes it plays, because the two formats are so alike, but it is not a real conversion: the file still says it is a QuickTime movie inside, and stricter players, editors and upload checks reject it. Copying the tracks into a real MP4 takes the same few seconds and avoids that.

Is my file uploaded?

No. Your MOV is read, converted and checked on your own computer, so there is no upload and no queue. In Chrome and Edge on a computer files of any size work, written straight to a file you choose; in other browsers, files up to 2.0 GB. We count anonymous page views and whether a conversion worked; when one fails, the event also carries the step, your browser’s error and the file’s codecs, size and length in broad bands, never the file or its name. If a conversion fails you can choose to send us the file, which is deleted within 30 days. See the privacy policy.

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