3 Easy Ways to Repair a Corrupt MOV File for Free (2023)

Table of Contents:

Why My MOV Video is Not Playing?

User Query: When I tried to open one of the videos that I took a few months back, to my shock, some looked terrible and some simply refused to play. Why can’t my videos just play? How to repair MOV files?

Yes, you can repair your videos and make them play again, and that too without spending a dime. There are several ways to repair a corrupt .mov file. They can do a good job depending on how damaged the video file is.

Why is My MOV File Corrupt?

Video Compression Issues:

When you try to compress large video files, the video compressing tool inspects the pixels in each and every frame of the video file and compresses them by grouping identical pixels together. So, bad video compression gives you patchy images without prominent details.

Broken Video Header:

Video files have headers related to the movie and serve as route maps with regard to giving directions to your computer. The header file has all the technical information to run the video smoothly. A video with a broken header will stop your computer from playing the video or even opening it.

Power Interruption While Recording Videos:

This is the most common reason of all. While recording videos, the header file is the last element written to a video, and interruption in the power supply leads to an improper header write operation, making the video corrupt and unplayable.

There can be various other reasons that can cause damage or corruption to a video. The troubleshooting methods involved to repair a video file can completely depend upon the video format.

Now, let us see 4 different methods to repair a corrupt MOV file, but for a quick and safest way to repair a MOV file, make use of Remo Repair for MOV. The tool is exclusively built and specialized for your video file. Download and try the tool for free now.

How to Fix Corrupt MOV Files?

The below mentioned methods will help you repair corrupt MOV on file on Mac and Windows operating system.

1. Repair Corrupted MOV Video Files on Mac Using QuickTime Player

The latest QuickTime 7.7.9 player comes with a lot of new features editing, trimming, looping, saving, and reverting video files. And yes, QuickTime players can repair slightly damaged videos automatically. If a MOV or MP4 video is severely damaged it throws a Black Screen error message.

QuickTime 7.7.9 has the feature to check the properties of damaged video files. To do that:

Run QuickTime player and select Show Movie Inspector from the Windows tab. This will let you know the details like – Movie FPS, Video Format, Playing FPS, Pixel Information, Duration, Data Rate, Data Size, etc. If the MOV video is damaged and QuickTime 7 shows a black screen error message, then the ‘Movie Inspector’ will show the details in the video file metadata.

2. Repair Damaged MOV File Using VLC

We know VLC as a media player to just watch videos or movies. What we are unaware of is that it has features that are capable of mending your corrupted MOV or MP4 videos. Surprising, but true. Next time, when your VLC player prompts you of repairing corrupted or unplayable videos, click YES.

A. Steps to Repair MOV Files using VLC media player:

• Run the VLC player and go to ‘Media’, and then select Convert/Save.
• Click ‘Add’ to select the video that needs to be repaired.
• To edit or to check profile settings tick-mark the box Show more options and hit the Convert/Save button.

• Now, the Convert window opens. Under the ‘Settings’ heading Select the preferred codec from the drop-down list provided.
• Give a name for the destination file and browse a location to save the file.
• Hit Start

Note: You’ll even have the option to Add a new profile or to Delete an existing one.

B. Repair A Corrupt MOV File by Changing the File Extension

• Start by creating a copy of the original MOV video and change the file extension to AVI
• Run VLC player, go to the ‘Tools’ tab, and select ‘Preferences’,
• In the Preferences window on the top ribbon select ‘Input/Codecs’

• In the ‘Files’ select ‘Always Fix’

• Click Save and follow the steps mentioned in Option 1.

3. Repair MOV File With Remo Repair MOV

If you are still unable to fix the corrupted MOV file from the above-mentioned methods, your last resort would be to use a professional Video Repair Tool.

Remo MOV Repair software is the most recommended tool to easily repair corrupted MOV files due to broken video headers, compression problems, codec issues, etc. The software can repair videos and movies created on any digital camera, drone camera, CCTV, smartphone, QuickTime & so on.

Expert in repairing MOV and MP4 files shot on GoPro, Canon, Nikon, and all other DSLR models, Apple devices, and more. It is available for both Windows and Mac versions and comes with technical assistance if you need any help.

Download, install, and launch the software based on your operating system. Remo Repair MOV works well on Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8 and 8.1, Windows 7, Vista, XP, Windows Server 2003, 2008 & 2012, Windows 2000, and on all macOS including macOS Ventura, High Sierra, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, Mountain lion, Snow Leopard, etc.

Steps To Repair MOV videos using Remo Repair MOV:

• From the main screen click on ‘Select File’ and choose the corrupt MOV file you want to repair.

• On the next screen, choose a healthy video file as a reference video file that is shot on the same camera to accurately repair your damaged MOV file.

Note: (It can be a different video but should have the same codec i.e., the video should be shot from the same device.) – a healthy video file acts as a reference point to repair the corrupted MOV file.

• Click ‘Repair’ to start the repair process.

See Also

5 Easy Ways To Repair Corrupted/Damaged MOV Video Files

• Once the MOV video file is repaired, you can preview the repaired MOV video file by double-clicking on it.
• Now after previewing repaired MOV file, you can recover the corrupted MOV file by clicking on the Save button.

4. Change MOV File to Other Video Formats

You can also try manually changing the MOV file to a different format. It is simple and free. If you use a Mac computer, try the steps on your Mac computer since the steps below are for Windows users.

Steps to change MOV file format on Windows:

• Launch File Explorer and select Options from the View tab.
• Uncheck the box next to Hide extensions for known file types in the Folder Options window.

• Make a copy of the desired MOV file and then, with the right click, choose Rename.
• Rename the video file's .mov file extension to .mp4. In order to accept the change, click Yes.

Conclusion:

With Remo Repair MOV, turns your unplayable and corrupted MOV videos into a smooth playing healthy file. Did I mention that it repairs MP4 files as well? Yes, the video repair tool can repair different video file formats shot from different sources like the DSLR, Camcorder, smartphone, and digital cameras having avc1, mp4v, and mjpeg codecs.

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