Mp4 To Mov Converter Mac Free

MOV and MP4 are both common video formats in our life these days. But still, MP4 has wider support across more platforms and devices. Besides, MP4 is typically more compressed, thus consuming less storage. Once you get troubled in issues while playing, editing, or transferring MOV files, converting it to MP4 is a good way out.

Now here comes another question – which is the best MOV to MP4 converter? Many tools out there offer you free services, but deliver watermarked or quality-degraded results, or good outcomes but file size limits. After comprehensive tests on the top video format converters in the market, we figured out the best 3 MOV to MP4 converters. Let’s have a look.

  1. Convert MOV to MP4 with VideoProc Converter

VideoProc Converter is a free MOV to MP4 converter for Mac and Windows. Different from other converters, it offers more professional conversion methods for various purposes – better compatibility, smaller file size, better video quality, and more. What’s more, it has a self-explaining UI and beginner-friendly workflow. So whether you are tech-savvy or not, you can get the hang of video conversion in no time.

Convert MOV to MP4. Open iMovie and create a new project. Add the MOV file to the project’s library by dragging and dropping it on to the My Media area. Once added, drag & drop it onto the timeline. That’s all you need to do. You can now export the file as an MP4 file. Go to FileShareFile. In the panel that opens, select a resolution. So if you are in search of a free, simple, and quick way to convert MOV to MP4 on Mac or Windows, Wondershare Free Video Converter will prove to be the right choice. This free-to-use desktop software has a very similar interface and functions with Wondershare UniConverter as it is the free version of it. Summary: Best free, Mac MP4 to MOV converter software. It may take a while for you to test and choose which is the best program suiting your needs. If you're frequently converting MP4 to QuickTime MOV on Mac or Windows, you'd go with Video Converter mentioned in Option 2. Double click the download button above and then follow the instructions to install and run this free MP4 to MOV converter on your Mac/PC. Make sure you download the right version based on your system. When you enter the main window, you can click Add File (s) to import the MP4 file (s) you want to convert.

Macos Mov To Mp4

Top Features of VideoProc Converter

  • Convert MOV to MP4 without losing quality or re-encoding.
  • 47x real-time faster conversion by full GPU acceleration.
  • 100+ MP4 profiles for web, Apple devices, Android, Xbox, PS 5/4, TV, DVD…
  • Customizable settings of video resolution, frame rate, codec, and bitrate.
  • Better support for 8K, 4K, 1080P, HEVC, AVC, AV1, VP9, MPEG-4, etc.
  • All-in-one toolkit: transcode, compress, quick edit, and record computer screen.

Follow the steps below to convert MOV to MP4 without fuss.

Step 1. Open VideoProc Converter and click the Video option on its homepage.

Step 2. Drag and drop the MOV file(s) from your computer to its main interface.

Watermark

Step 3. Click Target Format in the lower-left corner and search MP4 in the upper tab. Then you can select an MP4 profile. MP4 H.264 is recommended for its compatibility with all media players, video editors, and apps like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Tips: If you want to convert MOV to MP4 without transcoding, choose the same codec as the original video. For instance, convert MOV H.265 to MP4 H.265. You can check the information of the source file by clicking the info icon beside the file name.

Step 4. Browse to choose an output folder, enable Hardware Acceleration, and hit the RUN button to export the video.

  1. Convert MOV to MP4 with iMovie

You may notice or not, MOV and MP4 formats are included in the format option in Export Settings of iMovie. So skipping the editing steps, you can’t take iMovie as a free MOV to MP4 converter on Mac.

Step 1. Open iMovie and create a new project for your video.

Step 2. Import the MOV video to iMovie, and add it to the timeline.

Step 3. Click the File option in the navigation bar, and choose the Share option.

Step 4. Then a file window pops up where you can see set basic video information. Choose Video and Audio as the target format. If you want to retain the video quality as much as possible, choose the same resolution, high quality, and standard compression.

Step 5. Do not choose ProRes in the Quality option that will contain your video in MOV format. Click Next.

Step 6. Type the name of the video file. Click Save and your video will be converted to MP4.

Note: The solution from iMovie only changes the format container and file extension from MOV to MP4. If you are troubled by codec issues, turn to a professional video converter.

  1. Convert MOV to MP4 Online for Free

Online video converters need no installation and put less pressure on your device if you want a quick solution. But there are too many options to choose from. After many tests, we found a safe, and relatively powerful converter, FreeConvert. If you want to convert MOV to MP4 on iPhone, it works in the same steps below.

Step 1. Enter the link address of FreeConvert in your browser and visit it.

Step 2. Navigate to its Video Converters, and choose MP4 as the target format.

Step 3. Load your MOV file from your device, Google Drive, or Dropbox.

Step 4. Choose MP4 again as the target format once it accepts the file.

Step 5. If necessary, click the gear icon to tweak the settings of video resolution and bitrate. Apply settings.

Step 6. Click the convert button and wait for a while for it to process. When it is done, you can download the converted video to your device.

Note: Online MOV to MP4 converters put limits on file size or conversions per day. What’s worse, they degrade the visual quality for faster processing. If you got a large 4K MOV file to convert, it is recommended to use offline programs on Mac and Windows.

'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.

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.

Mp4 To Mov Converter Mac Free Software

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.

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.

Formats

MOV

MP4

Type

Video Container

Video Container

File extension

.mov

.mp4

Developed by

Apple

International Organization for Standardization

Video Codecs

MPEG-2 (OS X Lion or later),
MPEG-4 Part 2, H.264, H.263, H.261, Apple ProRes, Apple Pixlet, Cinepak, Component Video, DV, DVC Pro 50, Graphics, Motion JPEG, Photo JPEG, QuickTime Animation, Sorenson Video 2, Sorenson Video 3

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, other, audio (MP3, AAC, SLS, TTSI, and ALAC), and subtitles (MPEG-4 timed text).

Compatibility

Mac-based programs and iDevices

Web, Mac and Windows, Android and iDevices

Quality

High quality

High quality

File Size

Large

Smaller