MOV to MP4 — Make iPhone and QuickTime Video Play Anywhere
MOV is Apple’s QuickTime container, and it is what your iPhone and your Mac produce by default. It is also the format that reliably refuses to open on a Windows PC, an Android phone, or half the editing software people actually use. Converting to MP4 fixes that, and MediaVault does it without uploading your footage.
Usually lossless — the streams are copied, not re-encoded
Why MOV causes problems everywhere except Apple
MOV is well supported inside Apple’s ecosystem and patchily supported outside it. The container itself is fine; the trouble is that the software on the other end frequently will not open it, and when it does the audio or the timecode sometimes goes missing. MP4 is the format effectively everything accepts, which is why it has become the safe default for sharing.
- Windows Media Player and many Windows apps refuse MOV outright
- Android phones frequently cannot play MOV at all
- Some editors import the video but drop the audio track
- Upload forms often reject the extension before the file is even read
The conversion is usually instant
A MOV from an iPhone typically holds H.264 or HEVC video and AAC audio, and MP4 supports both. That means the conversion is a container change: the video and audio streams are copied across untouched, so it finishes quickly and loses no quality whatsoever. Only footage in a codec MP4 cannot carry needs a real re-encode.
How to convert MOV to MP4
- Add your MOV file. Open the converter and drop it in — nothing is uploaded.
- Select MP4. Choose it as the output format.
- Convert and download. The result saves straight to your device.
Frequently asked questions
Does converting MOV to MP4 reduce quality?
Usually not at all. Most MOV files hold codecs that MP4 also supports, so the streams are copied into the new container rather than re-encoded.
Why will my iPhone video not play on Windows?
Windows has limited support for the MOV container and for HEVC video in particular. Converting to MP4 resolves it in most cases.
Is there a file size limit?
No. Conversion runs on your own device, so there is no server quota — your available memory is the only constraint.