MP4 to MOV converter
Drop in an MP4 and get an MOV back. MP4 is the video file that plays everywhere: phones, TVs, browsers, editors and every social platform. Worth knowing: an MOV will not open in a browser tab, so it is a file for software rather than for the web. Your file never leaves your computer.
Need the other direction? Convert MOV to MP4
How to convert MP4 to MOV
- 1 Drop your MP4 .mp4 file onto the page, or click to browse for it.
- 2 Set the quality, or leave the default, which keeps the file small without anything showing.
- 3 Convert. The work happens on your own machine, so how long it takes depends on your computer and the file.
- 4 Download the MOV, or add more files and do the whole set in one go.
Why convert MP4 to MOV
- Carries the high quality footage professional editing tools expect.
- Supports timecode, several tracks and transparency for editing.
- iPhone, iPad and Apple camera recordings.
- MP4: larger than the newest web formats at the same visual quality.
MP4 compared with MOV
How the two formats differ on the things that decide whether a conversion is worth making.
| Property | MP4 | MOV |
|---|---|---|
| File extension | .mp4 | .mov |
| Compression | Lossy | Lossy or lossless |
| Transparency | No | Yes |
| Typical file size | Smaller | Depends on mode |
| Browser support | Every browser | Some browsers |
| Introduced | 2001 | 1991 |
| Developed by | ISO/IEC MPEG | Apple |
| Standard | Open | Proprietary |
Quality and what changes
MOV stores the same content under a different set of rules, so what matters here is compatibility rather than picture quality. Convert once from the best source you have rather than through a chain of intermediate files.
- Browsers will not display an MOV, so it downloads rather than opening in a tab.
- One MOV limitation to keep in mind: browser support outside Safari is unreliable.
Questions about MP4 to MOV
Is my MP4 file uploaded anywhere?
No. The whole thing runs inside the browser tab you already have open. Your MP4 is read straight from your own disk, converted on your machine and handed back as an MOV. Nothing is sent anywhere, nothing is stored and there is no account.
Is there a file size limit?
There is no server-side limit because no server sees the file. The real ceiling is your device memory, since the input and the output both have to fit in the tab. A few hundred megabytes is usually fine on a desktop machine and considerably less on a phone.
Can I convert several MP4 files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like and they are processed one after another, then offered as separate MOV downloads or as a single ZIP. Speed depends on your own processor rather than on a queue.
Does the converter work offline?
Yes, after the page has loaded once. The engine is cached by the browser, so you can disconnect, reload and keep converting. That falls out of doing the work locally rather than being a separate mode you switch on.