Drop iPhone videos here
or
.mov · up to 2 GB each · nothing leaves your device
What this does
iPhones record video in a QuickTime (.mov) file. Many programs, websites and Windows PCs prefer MP4. This page moves your video into an MP4 file. With the Fast choice the picture and sound are not changed at all, so it takes seconds and loses no quality, even for long videos.
How to use it in 4 steps
- 1Choose Fast or Most compatible.
- 2Drop your .mov videos onto the box, or press Choose videos.
- 3Watch the bar on each video. Fast is usually over in seconds.
- 4Press Save beside a video when it says Converted.
MOV and MP4: what is the difference?
MOV is Apple’s video container and is what iPhones and many cameras record. MP4 is the container nearly every phone, computer, television and website accepts. A container is a wrapper: inside it sit the video and the sound, which are stored in a coded form such as H.264 or HEVC. Often the video inside a MOV is perfectly standard, and only the wrapper needs to change.
Fast or most compatible?
This page offers two ways to convert. Fast repackages the video into an MP4 wrapper without touching the picture, so it takes seconds and loses no quality. Most compatible re-encodes the video as H.264, which plays on the widest range of devices but takes longer and works best in Chrome or Edge. If a video made with Fast will not play on a device, try the other option.
iPhone HEVC videos
Recent iPhones can record in HEVC. Many older computers and televisions cannot play HEVC even inside an MP4. If you see sound with no picture, choose Most compatible so the video is made again in H.264. If the page cannot convert a file in your browser, it tells you rather than giving you a silent or picture-less file.
Big files
Everything happens on your device, so a long video needs enough memory and takes time. Keep the tab open while it works and watch the progress bar. If you only need a smaller file, use Compress video.
Related tips
- How to Make a Video Small Enough to Send
- How to Save the Sound From a Video as MP3 or M4A
- iPhone Photos and Videos on a Windows PC: Why They Will Not Open, and What to Do
A quick example: a clip for a relative who uses Windows
You filmed a 45-second birthday clip on your iPhone, and the .mov file will not play on your uncle’s Windows PC. Choose Fast, drop the clip in and in a few seconds you have an MP4 with exactly the same picture and sound. If your uncle still sees a black screen or hears sound only, run it again with Most compatible so the picture is remade as H.264.
As a rough guide, a minute of 1080p iPhone video is somewhere between 60 and 150 MB, and the file stays about that size with Fast.
Good to know
Fast is quick because nothing is remade, so try it first and only switch if the result will not play. Most compatible takes much longer and is more likely to work in Chrome or Edge than in other browsers, and the page tells you if yours cannot do it. The whole video sits in your computer’s memory while it works, with a limit of 2 GB per file, so close other heavy tabs for a long clip. Do not delete the original until you have played the MP4 from start to finish.
You can add several clips in one go, and the choice between Fast and Most compatible applies to the videos you add next, so set it before you drop them in.
Related tools
Questions people ask
What is the difference between Fast and Most compatible?
Fast keeps exactly the same picture and sound and only changes the wrapper around them, so there is no loss of quality. But an iPhone's usual video type, HEVC, stays HEVC, and some Windows PCs need an extra add-on to play it. Most compatible turns the picture into H.264, which plays almost everywhere. That takes longer and makes a bigger file, and it needs a browser that can do it, such as Chrome or Edge. If yours cannot, the page tells you.
Will my video lose quality?
Not with Fast. With Most compatible the picture is made again, so there can be a small loss and the file is usually bigger.
Do portrait videos stay the right way up?
Yes. The turn-the-picture information is kept, and the sound is kept too.
Is there a size limit?
Up to 2 GB per video. The video is held in your computer's memory while it is converted, so very large videos need a computer with plenty of memory.
Why does it say a video could not be converted?
Some videos, such as certain professional formats, use a kind of picture that cannot be put into an MP4 by a browser. Rather than hand you a video with no picture, the page says so.
Is my video uploaded?
No. The conversion happens inside your browser, so your video never leaves your device.