MOV to MP4 Converter

About this converter

This free MOV to MP4 converter turns a QuickTime .mov file into an .mp4. It runs a real video engine entirely in your browser, so your video is never uploaded to a server, and there is no account, no watermark and no file-size limit set by anyone but your own device.

The important part is *how* it converts. Most tools re-encode everything, which is slow and throws away quality. This one tries to repack your file first — and for the vast majority of MOVs, that works.

Why it is fast: repack, not re-encode

A video file has two parts: the container (the box) and the codecs (the picture and sound inside it).

MOV and MP4 are nearly the same box. Both are built on the same ISO base media format — QuickTime came first, and MP4 was built from it. So the video inside your MOV is very often already an MP4-legal codec, usually H.264 or H.265/HEVC.

That means the conversion is normally just moving the same picture and sound into a differently-labelled box:

• It takes seconds, not minutes — even for a large file
• Nothing is re-compressed, so the result is pixel-for-pixel identical to your MOV
• The file size stays roughly the same

Re-encoding a video you did not need to re-encode is the most common way people quietly lose quality. This tool avoids it when it can, and tells you on screen which path it took.

When it has to re-encode (and it says so)

Before converting anything, the tool looks inside your file and checks the video and audio tracks separately. Each one is copied only if an MP4 genuinely carries it *and* real players can decode it. Two cases come up often:

• The sound is raw PCM. Very common in MOVs from cameras, screen recorders and older editing software. An MP4 *can* technically carry PCM these days, but it gets labelled ipcm — a 2020 addition that QuickTime, Windows and phones do not play. Copying it would hand you a file that looks fine and plays silent. So the tool converts only the audio to AAC and still copies the picture untouched. You keep full video quality.
• The picture is ProRes, DNxHD, Animation or another editing codec. These are professional formats an MP4 cannot hold at all. The whole file is re-encoded to H.264 — slower, and this is the one case where picture quality changes.

You are told which of the three happened. There is no guessing.

One more thing it fixes quietly: HEVC video is re-labelled hvc1. Some cameras and editors tag it hev1 instead, which is legal but which QuickTime and iPhones refuse to open. Same picture, correct label.

About iPhone videos and HEVC

Modern iPhones record in HEVC (H.265) inside a .mov. HEVC is legal inside an MP4, so this tool will repack it in seconds and the file is correct.

But HEVC is not playable everywhere. Windows often needs a paid codec, older Android phones cannot decode it, and some editing software will refuse it. If your repacked MP4 will not open where you need it, convert the original again with Make it play everywhere — that re-encodes to H.264, which plays on essentially anything made in the last fifteen years.

A quick way to tell: if the preview on this page plays, your browser can decode it. If the preview is blank, you probably want the H.264 version.

The two modes

• Keep the quality *(the default)* — repack where possible. Seconds, no quality loss. Use this unless you have a reason not to.
• Make it play everywhere — always re-encode to H.264 video + AAC audio. Slower, and it does re-compress, but the result opens on old phones, old TVs, Windows without extra codecs, and every editor.

What people use it for

• iPhone and iPad videos that a Windows PC, an editor or an upload form will not accept
• Screen recordings made with QuickTime on a Mac
• Camera footage that needs to go into software which only reads MP4
• Uploads to sites that reject .mov but accept .mp4
• Shrinking a professional export (ProRes) down to something you can actually email or post

Good to know

• The first run downloads a one-time ~30 MB engine, then it is cached. A connection is needed only that first time.
• The work runs in a background worker, so you can switch tabs or apps while it converts. Just keep this tab open.
• Repacking is limited by your device's memory, not by a server. Very large files are fine on a desktop and may struggle on an old phone.
• Nothing is uploaded. The file never leaves your device.

Related tools

• WebM to MP4 — the same job, for a WebM file
• Compress Video — make the MP4 smaller once you have it
• Crop Video — cut the edges off, or reframe it for social
• Trim Video — cut a clip out of it
• Video to MP3 — keep only the sound
• Video Editor — a full timeline if you need more than a convert

How to use it

• Upload your MOV — click the upload area or drag a .mov file onto it
• Leave the mode on "Keep the quality" unless you already know the file will not play where you need it
• Click Convert to MP4 — you can switch tabs while it works
• Read the message — it tells you whether the file was repacked or re-encoded
• Play the preview. If it plays, you are done. If it is blank, convert again with Make it play everywhere
• Click Download MP4

Credits

Conversion is powered by ffmpeg.wasm (FFmpeg and x264, licensed under GPL-2.0).