How to convert MOV to MP4 on your Mac

The app most people try first, QuickTime Player, only exports QuickTime movies, which are .mov files. Apple's own guide says so. To get an .mp4 on a Mac you need another app: iMovie, which is free from Apple, or one that converts files. Koi does it in one drag: drop the video on Convert, click MP4, and the copy is saved beside the original without the picture being encoded again.

We make Koi, so read the Koi part with that in mind. Everything about Koi here is what version 1.13 does. The QuickTime and iMovie steps come from Apple's support guides, checked October 21, 2026.

MOV and MP4 are containers. The picture inside is usually H.264 or HEVC either way, and the sound is usually AAC. That's why a conversion can be quick and lose nothing: the video is moved into the new box, not drawn again. You only lose quality when an app encodes the picture a second time.

You usually want MP4 because something else is picky: an upload form that only lists .mp4, a Windows PC, or a video editor on another system. Your Mac saves its own screen recordings as .mov, and so do many cameras, so this comes up a lot.

QuickTime Player's File, Export As menu offers 4K, 1080p, 720p, 480p and Audio Only. Every video choice is a QuickTime movie, so the result is still a .mov. Apple's export guide lists them all. That makes QuickTime handy for a smaller MOV, not for an MP4.

iMovie is Apple's free video editor. Its share menu writes a new file at the size and quality you pick.

1. Open iMovie and import the MOV (File, Import Media).
2. Select the clip in the browser. iMovie exports one item at a time.
3. Choose File, Share, File.
4. Leave Format on video and audio, then pick a Resolution, a Quality and a Compress option.
5. Click Next, give it a name, pick a folder and click Save. The finished file opens in QuickTime Player.

Apple's iMovie guide doesn't say which file type each setting writes, so look at the file's name in Finder before you send it. iMovie also encodes the picture again, which takes longer than a straight conversion on a long video.

1. Start dragging the MOV in Finder or on your desktop.
2. While you're still holding it, press and hold Shift. The video wheel opens round your pointer.
3. Drop the video on More. The wheel turns into Split, Metadata, Redact and Convert.
4. Click Convert. The wheel turns again, into MP4, MOV, GIF and M4A.
5. Click MP4. Koi shows its progress, then saves the MP4 beside the original and shows it in Finder.

• The picture is copied as it is, not encoded again, so nothing is lost and a long video doesn't take long.
• The original is never touched. When its folder can't be written to, the copy goes to Downloads.
• MP4 to MOV works the same way: click MOV instead.
• MKV, WebM, AVI and WMV show as empty wedges. Your Mac can't write them without a converter Koi doesn't ship.
• It runs on your Mac with Apple's AVFoundation. Nothing is uploaded.

The full list of what the wheel does is on the Shift wheel page, and the how-to walks through it from the first drag.

• One video now and then, and you don't mind waiting while it's encoded: iMovie. It's free from Apple.
• Screen recordings or phone clips you convert every week: Koi. It's one drag, the picture isn't encoded again, and the copy lands next to the original.
• You only need the file smaller, not an MP4: QuickTime's File, Export As at 720p or 480p is free and already on your Mac.
• You need MKV, WebM or AVI: neither Apple's apps nor Koi write those. Use a dedicated converter.

Not sure what's inside your MOV? Open it in QuickTime Player and choose Window, Show Movie Inspector, or press Command-I. Apple's inspector shows the compression format, the size in pixels and the frame rate. If it says H.264 or HEVC, a straight conversion to MP4 keeps every frame exactly as it is.

• Renaming .mov to .mp4 changes the name, not the file. Some players cope, others refuse it. Convert it properly.
• An MP4 isn't smaller just because it's an MP4. The size comes from the picture inside. To shrink it, follow the guide to compress a video.
• An iPhone video is often HEVC. Its MP4 is still HEVC, which some older PCs can't play. Koi's Edit Video exports an H.264 MP4 if you pick Encoding Fast.
• A video your Mac can't open, like most MKV and WebM files, won't open in Koi either.

Need it smaller as well? Read how to compress a video on Mac. Want just the sound? Extract the audio as M4A. Want a moving picture for a chat? Make a GIF.

QuickTime Player and iMovie are free from Apple. Koi has no free plan: Pro is $20 a month, or $192 a year, after a 3-day free trial that needs a card. Lifetime is paid once, from $59. The Shift wheel uses no AI, so it never counts against Koi's usage. See the plans.