Convert QuickTime (MOV) to MP4
Free online converter for QuickTime (MOV) files. H.264/AAC video that plays on virtually any device. Nothing to install, no watermark, and every file is deleted automatically.
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Upload a QuickTime (MOV) file to convert it to MP4. Up to 3 files at once, 100 MB each.
Free · up to 3 files · 100 MB each · files deleted automatically after 1 hour.
About MOV and MP4
QuickTime (MOV) .mov
Apple's QuickTime container. Technically close to MP4 — the two share ancestry — but tuned for editing and Apple's tools.
Good for
- The native output of Apple cameras and Final Cut
- Handles high-quality intermediate codecs like ProRes
- Supports transparency with the right codec
Trade-offs
- Larger than MP4, especially with editing codecs
- Inconsistent support outside Apple platforms
- ProRes files are enormous
video/quicktime
MP4 .mp4
The universal video container, normally holding H.264 video and AAC audio. If a device plays video at all, it plays MP4.
Good for
- Plays on effectively every device, browser and editor
- Excellent compression at high quality
- Streams well, and seeks quickly
Trade-offs
- H.264 carries patent licensing obligations
- Lossy — quality drops each time it is re-encoded
- Less flexible than MKV for subtitles and multiple tracks
video/mp4
MOV and MP4 side by side
| MOV | MP4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Container — often H.264 or ProRes | Lossy (usually H.264) |
| Transparency | Yes — with ProRes 4444 | No |
| Typically used for | Apple cameras, video editing | Everything — the safe default for video |
What changes when you convert MOV to MP4
MOV and MP4 are close relatives
MP4's file structure was taken directly from QuickTime, which is the format MOV uses — they are close cousins rather than rivals. That is why the same player usually opens both, and it is worth knowing generally: the extension on a video tells you far less about it than the codec stored inside does.
This is a re-encode, not a repackage
Some tools can move a stream into a different container untouched when the codecs happen to line up. We do not — every job here is decoded and encoded again, so the conversion takes time in proportion to the length of the file and costs a small amount of quality even where a repackage would have been possible. In exchange the output is predictable: it plays everywhere, rather than inheriting whatever the source happened to contain.
What your MP4 will contain
The output is H.264 video with AAC audio — the index is moved to the front of the file so it can start playing before it has finished downloading, and the colour is written as 8-bit 4:2:0, which is what phones, browsers and TVs all agree on. Quality is set by a constant-quality target rather than a fixed bitrate, so a still interview compresses small and a fast-moving clip is allowed the bits it needs.
Other QuickTime (MOV) conversions
Other ways to get MP4
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