/Video Converter /How to Convert MOV to MP4 on Mac - Ultimate Guide in 2021

1. Mp4 To Mov Converter Freeware
2. Free Convert Mp4 To Mov Machine
3. Convert Mp4 To Mov Mac Free
4. Convert An Mp4 To Mov

Over the years, a lot of proprietary file formats have been introduced. MOV was the popular format for those who use Mac computers since it can be played with QuickTime; however, that “was” in the past.

In this way, you can quickly convert mov file to mp4 with QuickTime Pro in your machine. Another Conversion Option. There is no doubt that you'are able to use QuickTime Pro to convert from MOV files to MP4 format on your Mac or PC's, but there are various terrific alternatives on the market. All you need is Quick Time PlayerFOR BUSINESS: nicholassweller@gmail.com. 6 Free MP4 to MOV Converters. UniConverter (Mac and Windows) If you are looking for the best MP4 to MOV converter, you should definitely go for UniConverter. You will not only have a good user experience when using it, you will also get high quality MOV videos. It will only take less than 1 minute to convert your videos from MP4 to MOV.

The great thing about MOV is that they are compatible with both Windows PCs and Mac computers. However, this file format is now outdated. Thus, you may want to know how to convert MOV to MP4 on Mac computers.

MP4 is one of the most common and popular video file format nowadays. The reason being it’s compatible with a lot of media playback devices and software. With MOV being outdated, it makes sense to convert it to the MP4 file format.

This article will help you learn the ropes of converting your MOV files into the MP4 video format on macOS computers. The process is fairly easy to understand and implement. Read our guide below to learn how to do it.

Article GuidePart 1. What Are MOV And MP4 File Formats?Part 2. How Do I Convert MOV to MP4 on Mac?Part 3. Other Ways on How to Convert MOV to MP4 (macOS Version)Part 4. Conclusion

Part 1. What Are MOV And MP4 File Formats?

What Is MP4?

MP4 is a storage format for multimedia files. It is usually used to store video. However, it can be used to store other types of media. It is a widely-used format and is compatible with a lot of devices. Technically, the MP4 file format is a digital container file. This means it has compressed video data plus other types of associated data in order to be able to play the video.

However, the MP4 is not the actual video itself. It only is a wrapper around that of the video. Usually, this file type is more compressed – the reason why it’s smaller compared to other video formats. The video data contained in MP4 files are encoded with that of MPEG-4 -- this is a common standard for encoding.

What Is MOV?

MOV is also a digital container file for that of videos and other types of multimedia. It is also referred to as QTFF or QuickTime File Format. This file type was developed by Apple to be used with its QuickTime Player. Again, similar to MP4, videos within MOV files are encoded with the codec MPEG-4.

MOV VS MP4: The Differences

Before we delve onto how to convert MOV to MP4 in Mac, let’s talk about the two file formats. There’s one major difference between MOV and MP4 files. MOV is typically used in Mac environments. It is a proprietary format for files made by Apple especially for the QuickTime Player. On the other hand, the MP4 file format is actually an international standard.

On Mac computers, MP4 and MOV files are generally interchangeable. And, they can be easily played by the operating system. However, other device types have a hard time reading MOV files. That’s why it’s literally important to know how to convert MOV to MP4 on Mac.

In addition, MP4 files are usually smaller since they are more compressed. MOV files are larger in size compared to MP4 formats and have better video quality. So if you convert MOV to MP4, you don't have to free up purgeable space for MOV files anymore. These file types are best for video editing within macOS computers since they’re designed for Apple’s QuickTime.

Part 2. How Do I Convert MOV to MP4 on Mac?

Converting MOV files to the MP4 format? That’s a straightforward process with our top conversion software iMyMac Video Converter. It converts audio and video files to other formats you wish losslessly.

Aside from that, this MOV converter can be used for video editing and playback functions. There’s a huge list of supported input and output formats. Plus, media can be enhanced by fixing shaky, dark, and overexposed videos through upscaling its resolution.

Mp4 To Mov Converter Freeware

SD (480p), HD (720p), FHD (1080p), and UDH (4K) are all supported. Upscaling and downscaling resolutions are possible with the tool as well. Conversions are done at ultra-fast speeds due to support of hardware acceleration technology for Intel HD Graphics, NVIDIA CUDA, AMD, and NVENC.

Here’s how to use the tool to convert MOV to MP4 on Mac:

Step 1. Download, Install And Launch iMyMac Video Converter

First, you have to download this MOV to MP4 converter app from its official website here. Then, open the installer and follow the prompts on the screen to finish the process. Launching the software is the next step in this section.

Step 2. Add Files And Choose Settings

Place your MOV files inside the software by clicking “Add Files” at the top of the interface. Simply drag and drop as an alternative way of adding your MOV videos. Choose “MP4” as the output format you wish. Change other settings as desired.

Step 3. Select Destination And Convert

Now, select the destination folder where the output file will be saved. Then, click “Convert” or “Convert All” to start the conversion process. Once complete, you will have to visit the destination folder to see a copy of the newly-converted MP4 file(s).

Part 3. Other Ways on How to Convert MOV to MP4 (macOS Version)

Method 01. Can I Convert MOV to MP4 in iMovie?

Can you convert MOV to MP4 in iMovie? iMovie is a built-in tool within macOS computers that can be used to convert video files from one format to another. It is also a video editing tool that can be downloaded within the App Store if you don’t have it in your Mac yet.

Here are the steps on how to convert MOV to MP4 on Mac iMovie:

1. Launch iMovie

Open the iMovie application on your computer by going to Finder and visiting “Applications.” In the list that appears, select iMovie. Once it is launched, choose the menu called “File” and a drop-down menu will be displayed. In this drop-down list, click “New Movie”.

2. Import Media

Click the large button labeled “Import Media” and the media browser will be opened. Choose the file(s) you wish to import and press “Import Selected” in the lower right corner.

After this, the file will be imported to the iMovie interface. Click on this file to display a yellow border surrounding it. Them, press the menu for “File” within its app toolbar. Choose “Share” from the drop-down menu and select “File”.

3. Adjust Output Settings

You can modify the output settings if you wish. You can change the description, tags, format, resolution, quality, and compression speed. After that, click “Next”.

4. Choose File Name and Save

The final step of the process involves choosing a filename and destination folder. Then, press “Save”. The progress bar will be seen as a circle in the upper right portion of iMovie. Once the export process is finished, a desktop notification will show up. By this time, you have learned how to convert MOV to MP4 (Mac) using iMovie.

Tip: If you are using iMovie for a long time and find it's slower than before, you can do something to speed up it.

Method 02. How to Convert MOV to MP4 on Mac Using The “File Rename” Technique

How to convert .mov file to mp4? MP4 is actually a subset of the older MOV format. Thus, you can also simply rename the file to change video format from MOV to MP4 on Mac. No actual conversion is required. This works on macOS and Windows PCs.

Here are the steps on how to do it:

1. Look for the folder which contains the MOV file and go to that folder location.
2. Then, right-click on your MOV file and then click “Rename”.This will enable you to change the filename including the extension of the MOV video.
3. Change the extension from .MOV to that of .MP4. This will be located at the end of the file name.
4. Once you press “Return” or “Enter” a prompt will be shown asking if you really want to change the extension.
5. Confirm that you wish to modify the extension of the file. macOS will warn you about it because it can make the file unreadable.
6. Thus, in your Mac computer, click the button named “Use .MP4” in the displayed window.
7. Open the newly-renamed file to test it out. It will now be in the MP4 format. Make sure that it is played in your media player within macOS.

Usually, you can rever the extension back to .MOV if it didn’t work. Or, you can try out the next method below.

Method 03. How to Convert MOV to MP4 on Mac Using QuickTime 7 Pro

Free Convert Mp4 To Mov Machine

QuickTime is a built-in tool within previous versions of the macOS. However, you have to download the QuickTime 7 version first. Then, you can enter your registration key in order to enable additional features within it.

Here are the steps on how to convert .mov to .mp4 using QuickTime:

1. First, you have to download QuickTime 7 from the official website. Then, install it by following the prompts on the screen. Launch the Utilities folder to open the QuickTime Player.
2. Click the menu labeled “QuickTime Player 7” and then choose “Registration”.Input your key for registration to unlock additional Pro features.
3. Locate the MOV file you wish to convert to MP4. Now, right-click on the file and make sure you open it with your newly-installed QuickTime app.
4. Now, press the “File” menu and choose “Export”.This can only be done with the registered version of the program.
5. Now, click the menu for “Export” and choose the option that says “Movie To MPEG-4”.This will enable you to convert MOV to MP4 format easily.
6. After that, click the “Save” button to create an MP4 version of your old file. This will take a few minutes depending on the size of your movie.

Method 04. How to Convert MOV to MP4 on Mac Free Online

How to Convert MOV to MP4 free? CloudConvert is an online, web-based tool that can be used on how to convert MOV to MP4 (Mac). It can be used to convert a lot of video files including MP4, WEBM, and AVI. Options are given allowing you to choose quality, video resolution, and file size.

The great thing about CloudConvert is it supports over 200 different file formats for conversion. These include audio, video, documents, archives, images, presentations, eBooks, and spreadsheets. With it, downloading software on your computer is not necessary.

You only need to use a web browser to start converting your files. Data is secure as well since the platform was built and trusted by users since 2012. You can even trim your videos to place a start and end time into your newly-converted file.

Method 05. Using VLC Media Player To Convert MOV To MP4

VLC Media Player is a popular tool among Windows users so you can easily convert MOV to MP4 in Windows. Fortunately, it can also be used within macOS computers to convert MOV to MP4. First, you have to download VLC within your macOS computer. Of course, you have to get the Mac version of the tool.

Now, here are the steps on how to Convert MOV to MP4 Mac with VLC:

1. Add your file by dragging and dropping it towards the interface of the VLC Media Player. Click the menu for “File” and then choose “Convert/ Stream”.
2. Then, add the file again by clicking “Add” on the right side of the window that pops up.
3. Then, click “Convert/Stream” at the bottom of the window.
4. Then, choose the target format by clicking the drop-down arrow for “Profile”. Make sure you choose the MP4 format.
5. Select a destination folder as well. Do this by clicking “Browse”.
6. Finally, click the “Start” button to start the conversion process. Your file will be located at the destination folder you chose earlier.

Method 06. How to Convert MOV to MP4 on Mac Using HandBrake

HandBrake is popular among macOS users when it comes to converting video files. If you want free software to help you with how to convert MOV to MP4 (Mac), then this is the one you should get. The only disadvantage to the tool is you have to go through a learning curve.

The interface doesn’t look that good. However, it still puts in the work to make conversions happen for you. HandBrake can be downloaded from its official website and then installed on your macOS computer.

Part 4. Conclusion

By now you should have learned how to convert MOV to MP4 on Mac. We have given a huge variety of methods to choose from – 7 in total. However, we do recommend using iMyMac Video Converter because of its conversion speed, editing features, and enhancement capabilities.

Getting iMyMac Video Converter for free can be done by downloading it here. You can opt for a free trial to test the product first. Once you get to know the tool, you can purchase it through a secure online payment platform. Enjoy iMyMac today!

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'how do I convert mp4 files to mov files for quicktime?' – from Apple Community

Why convert MP4 to MOV on Mac?

In short, MOV file format is fully supported by Mac, while part of MP4 files can’t be opened by QuickTime natively on Mac because of codec incompatibility.

• According to Apple, QuickTime can play most of MP4 videos with MPEG-4, MPEG-2, H.264 video codec and MP3, AAC codec. However, MP4 is a container format which can include HEVC/MPEG-H Part 2/H.265, MPEG-2 Part 2, MPEG-4 ASP, MPEG-4 Part 10 H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, H.263, VC-1, Dirac, audio (MP3, AAC, SLS, TTSI, and ALAC) and subtitles (MPEG-4 timed text). So, if there is any incompatible coding format in your MP4 video, QuickTime will fail to play it.
• MP4 can also include still images and links that can’t be handled by QuickTime.

You see MP4 is quite a complex video container format which has diverse codec combination. That’s why sometimes QuickTime Player can play MP4 files while sometimes doesn’t. That’s why you need to convert MP4 to MOV that’s fully supported by QuickTime, iMovie or iTunes on Mac.

Here we highlight 6 familiar tools to most of you Mac users so that you can make use of your existing tool without any downloading. Of course, if you prefer any good options listed here, you can try them as well.

3 Ways to Convert MP4 to MOV on Mac

Way 1. macXvideo – Losslessly Convert MP4 to MOV Format on Mac

Digiarty macXvideo is a 100% clean and free desktop MP4 to MOV converter to convert videos from MP4 to MOV on macOS at blazing fast speed, and also lets you repair corrupted MP4 video files with highest possible quality restored. This freeware empowers you to free encode between any video for playback on mobile devices or upload to YouTube/FB SNS sites without trouble.

• 200+ most popular formats supported: convert from/to MP4, MOV, MKV, HEVC, H.264, AVI, FLV, MP3, etc. up to 4K.
• Hardware acceleration supported: Intel QSV, Nvidia Cuda, AMD GPU decoding offers 5x faster conversion speed.
• Auto Copy feature enables you to convert MP4 to MOV with intact video quality when both formats use H.264 codec.
• Extra bonuses: trimming, cropping, compressing, upscaling, and parameter adjustment.

How to convert MP4 to MOV on Mac with macXvideo?

Step 1. Click on the Donwload button above, install and run it on your Mac.

Step 2. Import the MP4 file you want to convert by clicking the 'Add File' button.

Step 3. Select MOV as the output format. The optimized default settings ensure the best output quality. If you need MOV videos for editing in iMovie or playing on QuickTime, iTunes, iPhone, etc, you can select the specific presets from the list directly.

Step 4. Click on the 'Browse' button to choose where you want to save the converter video.

1. On the interface, please don't forget to check the Hardware acceleration engine and Auto Copy boxes. As mentioned above, the two features will help accelerate the whole mp4 to mov conversion when possible.
2. Here you can see the editing features below the video information. Click any button on the bar to enter into the editing window, where you can cut, crop, add subtitles, add effects, rotate videos and etc.
3. The gear icon stands for the parameters settings where you can adjust the bit rate, resolutions, frame rate, codecs etc.

Convert Mp4 To Mov Mac Free

Step 4. Press the 'RUN' button to start the conversion process.

Note: Other Mac MP4 to MOV converters out the market also include AnyMP4 Studio Free MP4 Converter, Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate, FonePaw Video Converter Ultimate, Aiseesoft Video Converter for Mac, Acethinker Video Master, Freemake, to just name a few.

Way 2. cloudconvert – Online MP4 to MOV video Converter

Online video converter can be used directly on any platforms in theory. Here, cloudconvert online video converter is chosen to help you convert MP4 to MOV on Mac easily. It is quite a powerful online file converter which is capable of converting videos, audio, vectors, spreadsheets, presentations, images, fonts, ebooks, documents, CAD and archives.

• Convert MP4 to MOV, AVI, FLV, MKV, MP4, WebM and WMV at will.
• Freely choose the output resolutions, aspect ratios, quality, video audio codec, fps and bitrate.

How to convert MP4 to MOV on Mac with cloudconvert?

Step 1. Open https://cloudconvert.com/mp4-to-mov with your Safari browser on Mac.

Step 2. Click “Select File” to choose your video from your computer.

Step 3. Choose MOV as the output format.

Step 4. Click on “Convert” button.

Step 5. After converting, just download the converted file to your Mac.

However, you should note that most of the conversion process will reduce the video quality especially when transcoding 4K MP4 videos. Besides, you have to upload your videos first and then download the converted ones, but most of the online converters will keep your videos in their cloud service for about 24 hours. So, if your video is quite private, this way is not that safe to your personal privacy.

Note: Other online MP4 video converters also include Zamzar, Wondershare Online UniConverter, online-convert.com, Convertio, etc.

Way 3. Apple QuickTime Player – Export MP4 as MOV

Not just a video player, QuickTime can also help convert MP4 to MOV on Mac for iTunes, iMovie, Web, iPad, iPhone and Apple TV. And your video will be exported as a QuickTime movie (.mov) using H.264 or HEVC codec.

Step 1. Launch QuickTime Player on your Mac.

Step 2. Open your MP4 file you want to convert with QuickTime Player.

Step 3. Choose 'File' and then click “Export As”.

Step 4. Choose an option from the drop-down menu like 4K, 1080p, 720p, 480p, Audio Only.

Step 5. Rename your file and choose a location to save the converted file.

Step 6. Click 'Save' and then QuickTime Player will start changing your MP4 video into MOV video.

Convert An Mp4 To Mov

Note: Actually, this only change the file extension and is not a real conversion as the data is not transcoded. If you want to convert your MP4 files to MOV with different coding formats, you have to use one of the above two ways. Besides, QuickTime Player only supports converting videos to MOV but doesn’t export movies as MP4 videos.

About MP4 and MOV

MP4 is nowadays an industry standard format which is the extension for MPEG-4 Part 14 in essence. It is a media container that contains digital video, audio streams, subtitles, still images and other data. It will also store advanced data like 3D graphics and UHD videos. This format has a very efficient compression method that makes it easier to be distribute among web and different devices.

MOVis a QuicTime file that applies proprietary compression algorithm developed by Apple. It's also a media container that uses tracks to hold data like video, audio, text, etc. Generally, MOV is a high-quality file format and the MOV videos will be larger than MP4. Check MOV VS MP4 for more detailed info about the two formats.