MOV is the QuickTime format used by many cameras and phones. MOV and MP4 are close relatives, so a MOV with H.264 or H.265 video usually becomes an MP4 without re-encoding: the streams are copied into the new file, the picture is identical and the conversion is quick.
How to convert MOV to MP4
- Upload the MOV file (up to 2 GB).
- Keep Convert to: MP4 and Conversion: Automatic.
- Download the MP4.
What is copied and what is re-encoded
- H.264 and H.265 (HEVC) video is copied unchanged.
- ProRes, Motion JPEG, DNxHD and other editing or camera codecs are re-encoded to H.264, which makes the file much smaller.
- AAC and MP3 sound is copied; uncompressed PCM, ALAC and other sound becomes AAC.
Upright videos stay upright
Phones often store videos filmed upright as landscape pictures with a rotation flag. When the video is copied, the flag goes into the MP4 and players turn the picture upright, as before. When the video is re-encoded, the picture itself is turned upright.
Things to know
- H.265 (HEVC), used by many newer phones, is copied as it is. Newer devices play it; if an older player or website refuses the MP4, convert again with Always re-encode to get H.264.
- HDR videos stay HDR when they are copied. When they are re-encoded they are converted to standard dynamic range, so they don't look washed out on ordinary screens.
- The file's own tags, such as the recording location, are not copied into the MP4.
- Copying works for videos up to 3 hours; re-encoding is limited to about 25 minutes of 1080p (6 minutes of 4K), or more at a lower maximum resolution under “More options”.
More about what this tool reads and writes: Video Converter.