Convert MOV to MP4

Turn a QuickTime .mov into an .mp4 that plays anywhere. In most cases the video is copied, not re-encoded, so it finishes in seconds with zero quality loss.

The converter is ffmpeg compiled to WebAssembly. It downloads once (30 MB) when you pick your first file, then stays in your browser cache.

Your file is processed by your own browser and never uploaded. The engine itself is a one-time 30 MB download the first time you use it, and after that it comes out of your browser cache.

How to use MOV to MP4

  1. 1Drop your .mov file onto the box above, or click to pick one. Several files queue up fine.
  2. 2The tool inspects what is inside and copies every stream MP4 can hold; only incompatible ones are re-encoded. Each row tells you which happened.
  3. 3Download the .mp4. The picture is identical to the source whenever the row says no re-encode.

Why MOV files need converting at all

MOV is Apple's container. Everything Apple makes handles it natively, and much of the rest of the world does not: Android phones, older smart TVs, many web forms, some Windows editors and most embedded players either refuse a .mov outright or handle it unreliably. MP4 is the same idea with universal support, and the two are so closely related that the conversion is usually just repackaging.

That relationship is the useful fact on this page. A modern MOV from an iPhone, a GoPro or a screen recording holds H.264 or HEVC video with AAC audio, and MP4 holds all of those natively. So the tool copies the streams across without decoding a single frame: seconds of work, output identical to the input.

When it does re-encode

Some MOV files carry codecs MP4 cannot hold, such as ProRes from an editing workflow. The tool detects this before starting and re-encodes just what it must, to H.264 with AAC audio. That path is honest about its cost: it runs slower than real time in a browser, and the row shows a re-encoding label while it works so you know which kind of job you got. If the file is long and you have desktop software available, that will be faster for this one case.

What comes out

An .mp4 with the same picture whenever the streams were copied, the index moved to the front so playback can start before the download finishes, and the original filename with a new extension. Files up to 500 MB are accepted, several can queue at once, and a zip collects the results of a batch. Everything runs locally in your browser, so converting MOV to MP4 here works the same on a plane as at a desk, and private footage stays private.

Frequently asked questions

Will converting MOV to MP4 reduce the quality?
Usually not at all. MOV and MP4 are close relatives, and the H.264 or HEVC video inside a typical MOV fits into MP4 unchanged. When that is the case the stream is copied byte for byte and the result is pixel-identical. Only when the MOV holds a codec MP4 cannot carry does the tool re-encode, and the row for that file says so.
Why does the conversion finish so quickly?
Because most of the time nothing is being compressed. Copying packets from one container to another runs at read speed, the same way renaming a file does not rewrite its contents. If a file does need re-encoding it will take noticeably longer, which is exactly the honest signal that real work is happening.
My MOV is HEVC (H.265). What happens to it?
It stays HEVC. The stream is copied into the MP4 and tagged as hvc1, which is what QuickTime and iPhones require to recognise it. Keep in mind the codec does not change, so a device that could not decode HEVC before will not decode it after. If you need maximum compatibility, run the file through our video converter and pick MP4, which re-encodes to H.264 when needed.
Are subtitles and chapters kept?
No. Subtitle and data tracks are dropped, because they are the most common reason a clean remux fails, and they are rarely what someone converting camera footage needs. Keep the original if its extra tracks matter.
Is my video sent to a server?
No. The file is processed entirely in your browser by ffmpeg compiled to WebAssembly. Nothing leaves your device, which also means the conversion works on footage you cannot share.

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