The short answer
Open the Video Compressor’s MOV to MP4 page and keep “Just MP4” selected. Add your video with “Choose videos”, select “Convert all” and download the MP4. It uses H.264 picture and AAC sound, the combination almost every device and website plays.
Open the free toolSee the steps in action
A short recording of our tool, without sound. Turn on captions for the steps in your language. The written instructions below cover the same process.
Open or download the video · 0.2 MB · 16.17 s
Each step is also explained in writing.
- Choose “Just MP4” to keep the picture as it is.
- Add the example MOV clip, recorded in HEVC like many iPhones.
- The video is converted on this device to H.264 MP4.
- Check the result: an MP4 that plays almost everywhere.
- Download the MP4 for Windows, Android, TVs and websites.
Why a video does not play: file type and codec
MOV and MP4 are containers: boxes that hold a picture track and a sound track. What matters most is how the picture inside is compressed, the codec. iPhones record HEVC (also called H.265) by default, because it needs about half the storage of the older H.264.
Many Windows PCs, older TVs, video editors and websites expect H.264. So the same video can play on a phone and fail on a computer. An MP4 with H.264 and AAC sound is the safest choice to share.
Convert to MP4 in four steps
Keep “Just MP4”
Under “What do you need?”, keep “Just MP4”. It creates an MP4 copy from MOV, WebM or MKV without trying to make it smaller.
Add your videos
Select “Choose videos” and pick one or several files: MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI or TS, from iPhones, Android phones, WhatsApp or TikTok. Nothing is uploaded.
Convert
Select “Convert all”. Each card shows the progress and the time left. Long 4K videos take longest; keep the tab open until the card is done.
Check and download
Use “Preview” to check picture and sound, then “Download”. On a phone, “Share” sends the MP4 straight to an app.
Why the MP4 can be larger
Because H.264 is less efficient than HEVC, a compatible MP4 is often a little larger than the iPhone original. In our recorded example, a 5.5 MB HEVC clip became a 7.7 MB H.264 MP4. That is the price of a file that plays everywhere.
If size matters too, choose “Smaller file” instead of “Just MP4”: the tool then converts and shrinks in one go, and you see the expected size before you start. For a strict limit, such as an email attachment, choose “Exact size”.
If the tool cannot read your video
HDR videos from iPhones and newer Galaxy phones use 10-bit HEVC. Some phone browsers cannot read those at all; the tool then tells you so and suggests a fix. Open the page on a computer in Chrome or Edge, where it usually works.
- iPhone: Settings › Camera › Formats › “Most Compatible” records H.264 from now on; some modes such as 4K at 60 fps need “High Efficiency”.
- iPhone: under Settings › Camera › Record Video, “HDR Video” can be switched off.
- Very old codecs such as Xvid, WMV or ProRes are read by no browser: convert them once with the free program HandBrake or VLC.
Private, free and also as an app
The conversion runs entirely in your browser; your video never leaves the device, and the location data recorded by phones is left out of the new file. The Video Compressor can also be installed as an app for your home screen or desktop, and it then works without internet.
Need only the sound as MP3, a GIF or a 9:16 version for Reels? LoschaZ’s Video Converter does those conversions, also in the browser.
Questions you might still have
Do I lose quality when converting MOV to MP4?
Converting re-encodes the picture, but “Just MP4” uses a generous data rate, so the difference is not visible in normal viewing. Always convert from the original, not from a copy that was already shrunk.
Can I convert MP4 to MOV?
The tool always saves MP4, because MP4 plays on more devices than MOV – including iPhones and Macs. A MOV copy is rarely needed.
Is there a size limit?
No upload limit, because nothing is uploaded. Very long 4K videos need more memory and time; a computer handles them more easily than a phone.
Sources & useful details
- Apple Support: Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices
- MDN: Media container formats
- MDN: Web video codec guide
The screen recordings show LoschaZ tools using sample files created for these guides. They are demonstrations, not tests on every phone or promises of an identical result. Examples are not customer files.
