FixFile
File Format

MOV (.mov)

Apple QuickTime Movie format. Native video container on macOS and iOS, used by iPhones, iMovie, and Final Cut Pro for high-quality video recording and editing.

Extension
.mov
MIME Type
video/quicktime

Last updated

Overview

MOV is Apple's QuickTime Movie container format, introduced in 1991 alongside QuickTime 1.0. It is a flexible multimedia container that can hold video, audio, text, and multiple editing tracks simultaneously. Unlike simpler containers, MOV supports non-destructive editing — it can reference media data at different positions within the file, enabling efficient timeline-based editing without re-encoding.

iPhones record video in MOV format (using H.264 or HEVC codecs), and macOS applications including iMovie, Final Cut Pro, and QuickTime Player all work natively with MOV. The format is closely related to the MPEG-4 MP4 container — both are derived from the ISO Base Media File Format (ISOBMFF) standard.

Common Uses

  • iPhone video recording — all iPhone-recorded videos are stored as MOV files
  • macOS video editing — iMovie, Final Cut Pro, and DaVinci Resolve use MOV for project exports
  • Screen recording on macOS — the built-in screen recorder saves to MOV by default
  • Professional video production — used in broadcast pipelines that work primarily on Apple hardware

Advantages

  • High quality — supports H.264, HEVC (H.265), ProRes, and other high-quality codecs
  • Multi-track support — can contain multiple audio tracks, subtitle tracks, and timecode data
  • Editing-friendly — reference movie structure enables non-destructive edits without re-encoding
  • Native macOS/iOS — zero conversion needed for Apple-to-Apple workflows

Limitations

  • Limited Windows support — requires QuickTime Player for Windows (discontinued) or a compatible codec pack; VLC plays MOV reliably
  • Large file sizes — MOV files from iPhones can be 300–500 MB per minute in HEVC mode
  • Web incompatibility — browsers do not support MOV natively; must convert to MP4 for web embedding
  • Editing-specific features — multi-track reference structure can confuse non-Apple video tools

Supported Software

  • macOS/iOS: QuickTime Player, iMovie, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Compressor
  • Windows: VLC, Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve (with codec pack)
  • Online conversion: HandBrake, FFmpeg, CloudConvert