How Do I Repair A Corrupt .mov File - Complete Guide

MOV is a QuickTime movie file format, natively used by the QuickTime framework. Being developed by Apple Inc, MOV files contain data types such as audio, video, and text for subtitles. Quite similar to the MP4 format, the MOV files use the same MPEG-4 codec and both the formats are interchangeable in the QuickTime environment.

Though MOV file format is used widely, sometimes you may face problems while playing them. A MOV file gets corrupted or damaged or may display error messages while playing them, making the media file meaningless. So, in such cases, it is important to repair a corrupt .mov video (movie) file. Here, in this article, we have mentioned various methods and recovery tools that you can use to fix corrupt MOV files. 

Symptoms Indicating Your MOV Files Are Corrupt

Given below are some instances that you may notice while playing your .mov files that indicate your video is corrupt or damaged:

• The file could be empty if your video file is not properly copied to a newly created target file.
• Corrupted playback in/out points indicate that your video file is empty in the Inspector. 
• Missing EOF might prevent your video file from opening. If the video data rate is less than that required to create key frames, you may get a black screen while playing the video.
• You can record MOV files with a digital camera, download them from a website, or receive them from others encoded with QuickTime. In all cases, you may face problems while playing MOV on QuickTime due to incompatible video or audio codecs. This makes your MOV files unable to play on QuickTime. Or the QuickTime player only plays MOV with audio but no video.

Why My MOV Video File Turns Corrupt?

MOV files get corrupted and become unplayable due to several reasons. Some common causes why your video files become corrupted are mentioned below:

• Improper system shutdown: Due to improper shutdown of your system, the structures of MOV video files get damaged and make your video files unable to play properly. A sudden system shutdown terminates the input/output operation of your MOV file and leaves it in an odd state.
• Incompatible video players: Few applications fail to play MOV video files and can damage or overwrite the file headers. This makes the video file data inaccessible. 
• Improper Conversion: Not all applications can efficiently convert MOV files to other file formats and can cause problems during such conversions. 
• Corrupted storage device: The MOV video might be perfect but the medium that stores it can be damaged. There may be some problem with the storage media like hard drives, pen drives, and SSDs or there may be some bad sectors.
• Compression Issues: Usually, the videos are compressed to reduce the size, but sometimes the compression process makes them corrupted. This mainly occurs if the right application is not used for compression. So, it is important to carry the process on a trustworthy platform. 
• Virus and Malware Attacks: A virus infection into the system can cause serious issues for the users. This damages the internal structure of a video file and causes permanent damage to all its components.

How do I Repair Corrupt MOV Video Files?

Once you are familiar with the exact cause of the corruption of your MOV video files, it’s time to apply proper troubleshooting methods to fix the issue. Now, let’s check some troubleshooting methods to recover corrupt MOV files. There are several methods that you can try to bring your MOV videos back to a playable state, but for a quick and safest way, make use of Stellar Repair for Video software. 

Method 01: Repair Corrupt MOV files with VLC Media Player

You can use VLC Media Player to repair corrupt MOV files. This can be done either by changing the file extension or using the conversion method. We have mentioned both methods in detail.

Repair Corrupt MOV Files by Conversion

Go through the following steps to install the required codec in your system:

• Open the VLC media player on your Windows or Mac device. Go to the Media menu and then click on Convert/Save.

• Add the corrupted MOV files that you want to repair and then click the “Convert/Save” button.

• Select the destination folder where you want to save the video file. Enter the desired file name and choose the desired video profile.

• At last, click the Start button to repair the corrupt MOV file on Windows/Mac.

Change the File Extension to Repair Corrupt/Damaged MOV Files

You can repair corrupt/damaged MOV files by changing the file extension. All you have to do is:

• Firstly, rename the extension of the corrupted MOV files from .MOV to .AVI.
• Launch the VLC player and go to Tools > Preferences.
• Click on Input or Codecs.
• Select Always Fix adjacent to Repair AVI Files.
• At last, click on the “Save” button. 

After completing the above steps, play the AVI file to check if this method resolves MP4 or MOV corruption issues.

Method 02: Using QuickTime player

QuickTime player offers several features, like editing, looping, trimming, saving, and reverting video files. It does not possess the advanced features to repair severely damaged .mov files. If any issue is detected while playing the video files using Quick Time Player, it simply shows a Black Screen error message.

The QuickTime player automatically repairs marginally damaged videos. But if the video file is severally damaged, then the QuickTime player might fail in repairing it. In such cases, you need to examine other methods to repair your corrupt .Mov file.

Method 03: Use MOV Videos Repair Software

If both the above methods fail to resolve the errors, then you can use a video repair tool. There are several tools available online that you can use to fix the errors in your video files. One of the common software that you can try to fix corrupt MOV files is Stellar Repair for Video. 

It is an advanced video repair software that allows you to repair videos that are corrupted due to several reasons. You can easily fix errors like changes in video format files, read and write errors, etc. in your corrupt or damaged MOV files. You can easily fix playing video errors like "video not playing" or "error loading media file" issues using the Stellar Repair for Video tool.

This highly efficient video repair tool is capable to fix multiple video formats, including MOV, MP4, M2TS, MKV, MTS, etc. Some amazing features that distinguish this software from others are:

This tool can easily repair videos of 17+ file formats including MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, and more.

You can repair multiple 4k, 8k, 360o & VR videos simultaneously using this video repair tool.

It supports Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, macOS Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina & older versions.

How Stellar Repair for Video Software Repairs Corrupt MOV Files?

Go through the following steps to know how exactly the software works:

Step 1: Download the Stellar Repair for Video tool on your device and launch it. Click Add File button and select the video(s) that you want to repair.

Step 2: Click on the "Repair" button to start the repair process and wait till the repair process is completed.

Step 3: In the new window that appears, you can preview the repaired MOV video files and save them at the desired location.

Conclusion

When a MOV video file gets corrupted, you will be unable to play them. In such cases, you need to apply MOV repair methods to fix corrupt MOV files. There are several methods available that you can use to repair damaged videos. We have also provided professional video repair software, i.e., Stellar repair for video that you can use to fix your corrupt MOV videos. This is the most viable option as the tool provides high-quality results with great ease.