Convert MP4 to QuickTime (MOV)
Free online converter for MP4 files. Editing-friendly container from the Apple ecosystem. Nothing to install, no watermark, and every file is deleted automatically.
Drag and drop your files
or
Upload a MP4 file to convert it to QuickTime (MOV). Up to 3 files at once, 100 MB each.
Free · up to 3 files · 100 MB each · files deleted automatically after 1 hour.
About MP4 and MOV
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
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 and MOV side by side
| MP4 | MOV | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy (usually H.264) | Container — often H.264 or ProRes |
| Transparency | No | Yes — with ProRes 4444 |
| Typically used for | Everything — the safe default for video | Apple cameras, video editing |
What changes when you convert MP4 to MOV
MP4 and MOV 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 MOV will contain
The output is H.264 video with AAC audio — the same codecs an MP4 gets, in the QuickTime container Final Cut and older Apple tooling expect.
Other MP4 conversions
Other ways to get QuickTime (MOV)
Worth reading next
MP4, MOV and MKV are not really video formats
The extension on a video file tells you far less about it than most people assume. Understanding the difference between a container and a codec explains almost every confusing thing about video conversion.
7 min read
GIF is a terrible video format, and sometimes the right one
A three-second GIF can be larger than the minute-long video it came from. Here is why that happens, and the narrow set of cases where GIF still wins anyway.
5 min read