MOV files: the format your iPhone records, and how to get out of it
Why MOV and MP4 are almost the same file, when converting is instant, and what ProRes changes. Convert MOV in your browser, no upload.
At a glance
- Type
- Video
- Container format
- Yes
- Extensions
- .mov, .qt
- MIME type
- video/quicktime
- Common codecs
- h264, prores, aac
- Also known as
- QuickTime
MOV is Apple's QuickTime File Format, published in 1998 — and it matters far beyond Apple because MP4 was standardised directly from it. ISO took QuickTime as the basis of the ISO Base Media File Format, and MP4 is a profile of that. The practical result is that a MOV and an MP4 are structurally the same file with a different label, which is why converting between them takes seconds rather than minutes.
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What is inside a MOV from a phone is ordinary: H.264 or HEVC video with AAC audio, exactly what an MP4 holds. So the conversion is a repack — the compressed streams are copied into the new container untouched, the picture is bit-for-bit identical, and a file that would take minutes to re-encode is rewritten almost immediately. If a tool rejects your MOV, this is usually all that was needed.
The exception is professional footage. A MOV from an editing camera may hold ProRes, DNxHD or another mezzanine codec that MP4 players will not decode, and copying that into an MP4 produces a file that opens nowhere. If your MOV came from a camera rather than a phone and the converted file will not play, turning off "prefer stream copy" forces a genuine re-encode to H.264.
One more thing that trips people up: HEVC. iPhones set to "High Efficiency" record HEVC, which is legal inside both MOV and MP4 but is not universally decodable on older devices. A device rejecting your converted file is complaining about the codec, not the container, and the fix is a re-encode rather than a repack.
Convert MOV to other formats
Convert other formats to MOV
FAQ
Is MOV the same as MP4?
Nearly. MP4 was standardised from Apple's QuickTime format, so the two containers are structurally the same and normally hold the same codecs. The difference is the label, which is why so much software accepts one and refuses the other.
Does converting MOV to MP4 lose quality?
No, in the normal case. The streams are copied without being decoded, so the result is identical to the source. Quality only changes if you request a different resolution or turn off stream copy.
Why is it so fast?
Because nothing is encoded. Re-encoding means decoding every frame and compressing it again; copying streams is closer to rewriting the file's index. Seconds instead of minutes.
My converted file will not play — what now?
The codec is the problem, not the container. Either the MOV held ProRes from a professional camera, or it held HEVC that the target device cannot decode. Turn off "prefer stream copy" to force a re-encode to H.264, which plays everywhere.
Why does my iPhone video need converting at all?
Because plenty of editors, upload forms and older televisions check the file extension rather than the contents. Rewriting the same streams into an MP4 satisfies them without touching the footage.
Are all audio tracks kept?
Yes, every audio track is carried across. Subtitles are not: MP4 accepts almost none of the subtitle formats a MOV can hold, so they are left out rather than failing the job.
Can I just get the audio out?
Yes, and it is fast — the video is discarded rather than decoded. MP3 for listening, WAV or FLAC if the audio is going into editing software.
How large a MOV can this site handle?
About 667 MB for a container swap, since the output is the same size as the input and both share the converter's memory. Extracting audio allows up to 2 GB, because the output is a fraction of the source.