How to convert MOV to MP4 online, free
- Choose or drop your .mov file above. It opens in this tab; nothing is uploaded.
- Check the codecs shown. If the video is H.264 or HEVC and the audio is AAC, the file can be copied straight into an MP4.
- Tick Most compatible if the MP4 has to play on older Windows PCs, Android phones, or sites that reject HEVC. That re-encodes to H.264 and AAC.
- Press Convert to MP4 and download the result.
MOV and MP4: what actually changes
MOV (QuickTime) and MP4 are both containers: boxes that hold a video stream, an audio stream and some timing data. They are close relatives, since MP4 was based on the QuickTime format. Most of the time the video inside a MOV is already H.264 or HEVC, which MP4 supports too. In that case conversion is only a change of box (a remux): it is fast, and the picture is bit-for-bit the same.
A re-encode is needed when the MOV holds something MP4 players don’t handle well, such as ProRes from a camera or editor, or uncompressed PCM audio. Re-encoding decodes every frame and compresses it again, so it takes longer and the file size will change.
Where your MOV probably came from
| Source | Usual codecs | What this page does |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone camera (High Efficiency) | HEVC + AAC | Copies. Tick Most compatible for H.264. |
| iPhone camera (Most Compatible) | H.264 + AAC | Copies |
| Mac screen recording (Cmd+Shift+5) | H.264 + AAC | Copies |
| QuickTime Player export | H.264 or HEVC | Copies |
| Final Cut, cameras (ProRes) | ProRes + PCM | Re-encodes, if your browser can decode ProRes |
Limits worth knowing
- Browser support. Copying works in any modern browser. Re-encoding uses WebCodecs, which Chrome and Edge support best; Safari and Firefox support it in recent versions.
- Memory. The MP4 is assembled in memory before download, so very large files (several GB) can fail on machines with little RAM.
- ProRes. Most browsers can’t decode ProRes. For those files use ffmpeg or QuickTime Player instead.
Other ways to convert MOV to MP4
On a Mac, QuickTime Player can do it: File → Export As → choose a resolution. The result is a .mov, but renaming it to .mp4 usually works when the codecs are H.264 and AAC.
ffmpeg does a lossless copy with ffmpeg -i input.mov -c copy output.mp4, or a re-encode with ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v libx264 -crf 20 -c:a aac output.mp4.
HandBrake is free on Mac, Windows and Linux and always re-encodes, with presets for most devices.
FAQ
How do I convert MOV to MP4 for free?
Drop the .mov on this page and press Convert to MP4. It runs in your browser with no sign-up, no watermark and no file size cap beyond your computer’s memory.
Does converting MOV to MP4 lose quality?
Not when the video is already H.264 or HEVC, which covers iPhone videos and Mac screen recordings: the streams are copied into the MP4 unchanged. Only a re-encode (for ProRes, or when you tick Most compatible) recompresses the picture.
Can I just rename .mov to .mp4?
Sometimes. If the MOV holds H.264 and AAC, many players will open the renamed file, but some apps and upload forms check the file structure and reject it. A remux like this page does produces a proper MP4 in a few seconds.
Why won’t my iPhone MP4 play on Windows?
Newer iPhones record HEVC, which some Windows PCs and older devices can’t play without an extra codec. Tick Most compatible before converting to get H.264, which plays almost everywhere.