MOV file format
MOV is Apple's QuickTime container — what your iPhone records and what professional editors export. Excellent inside the Apple world, awkward outside it.
or drag & drop them here · images, video, audio and documents · up to 2 GB
What is MOV?
Apple introduced QuickTime and the MOV format in 1991, years before anything comparable existed on other platforms. It was influential enough that MPEG used it as the basis for MP4, which is why the two formats are structurally close cousins: same underlying design, different rules about what may go inside.
MOV is what iPhones and most professional cameras produce. Since iOS 11 that recording is usually HEVC (H.265) rather than H.264, which halves the file size and simultaneously creates the format's most common headache: a Windows PC or an older editor opens the file and finds a codec it cannot decode. Converting to H.264 in MP4 resolves it.
On the professional side, MOV is the standard wrapper for ProRes, Apple's editing codec. ProRes files are enormous — tens of gigabytes for a few minutes — because they are built for fast scrubbing and repeated re-encoding in an edit suite, not for storage or delivery. Those are the MOV files people are most shocked by when they check the size.
| Extension | .mov |
|---|---|
| Category | Video |
| MIME type | video/quicktime |
| Released | 1991 |
| Developed by | Apple |
| Compression | Container (depends on codec) |
MOV: frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between MOV and MP4?
- MP4 was derived from MOV, so internally they are very similar. MOV is Apple's own container and allows Apple-specific codecs like ProRes; MP4 is the neutral international standard with the widest support. For sharing, MP4 is safer; for editing on a Mac, MOV is native.
- Why will my MOV not play on Windows?
- Usually because it contains HEVC (H.265) video, which iPhones record by default and Windows does not decode without an extra codec package. The container is not the problem. Converting the video to H.264 makes the file play on any Windows machine.
- Why is my iPhone video sideways after converting?
- iPhones record in a fixed orientation and add a rotation flag in the metadata. Apple software honours it; some converters copy the raw picture and drop the flag, so the video appears rotated. A converter that applies the rotation during processing produces correctly oriented output.
- What is ProRes and why is the file so big?
- ProRes is Apple's professional editing codec. It compresses lightly on purpose so an editor can scrub and re-render without accumulating quality loss, which costs tens of gigabytes per few minutes. Convert to H.264 or H.265 once editing is finished and delivery is what matters.
- Why are MOV files so large in general?
- Because they usually come straight from a camera or phone at full recording bitrate, with nothing optimised for delivery. A one-minute 4K clip can exceed 400 MB. Converting to MP4 at a sensible bitrate typically cuts that by 60-80% with no visible difference on a normal screen.
- Does converting MOV to MP4 lose quality?
- Only slightly, and often not visibly. If the video inside is already H.264, the streams can frequently be copied into the new container with no re-encoding at all. When re-encoding is needed, keeping the original resolution and a high bitrate makes the loss imperceptible.