“Hello, I transferred some of my old videos from my Mac computer and the video just plays for one second, and later, just the audio plays. These are some of my most important videos of mine and I had preserved them for a long time. My MOV file has no video, please tell me how I can fix this. Any help would be really appreciated” - A User on Quora
MOV is a video file format that was developed by Apple Inc. and is compatible with both Windows and macOS. With technology, video file formats have been evolving too. Here, in this Quora user’s situation, it is mentioned as an “old video”. if the MOV video is very old and if the user is using a recently updated QuickTime media player, the probability of the MOV file having no video error or MOV file doesn’t play or the MOV file stuttering while playing is always high. However, this issue can be fixed efficiently with the help of a few methods without working on it.
If you are looking for answers to any of the below-mentioned questions.
- Why are my MOV Files not playing?
- MOV is not compatible with QuickTime
- MOV file not playing video
- MOV file not playing audio
- how to play MOV files on mac
- Why won’t my MOV files play?
Then you have ended up in the right place. Here we will be discussing everything that you should know about MOV files, right from why are you unable to play MOV files on Windows or Mac to how to fix video or audio not playing issues.
So without wasting any more time, let's jump right into it.
Table of contents
Why Are my MOV Files Not Playing Video or Audio?
How To Fix MOV File Not Playing Audio or Video?
Why Are my MOV Files Not Playing Video or Audio?
One of the most common questions that most users usually ask is why my won’t my MOV file play. The reason why your MOV file is unable to play either audio or video or at times both is because of the following reasons:
- Incorrect Download of the MOV Video files
Partially downloaded MOV videos might also be a reason for unplayable audio or video.
- Downloading MOV Video Files From Unreliable Sites
Where you download your MOV files is as important as what you download. Downloading them from untrustworthy sites will do more harm than good.
- Incompatible Codecs
Codecs are absolutely necessary to play the media files. Not using the right codecs or using incompatible codecs make your video files unplayable.
- Incompatible Media Player
Playing a healthy video file(s) on any incompatible or unsupported media player might also make any healthy video files unplayable.
- Accumulation Of Bad Sectors on the Hard Drive
If your hard drive starts accumulating bad sectors, the partition or volume where you have saved your video files might also get corrupted. Making the files corrupt and eventually unplayable.
- Corruption in the Video or Audio Data
When your MOV video files get corrupt the system is restricted to read-only audio and when your audio files get corrupt the system is forced to read-only video. Thereby playing either only audio or video.
So now that you are aware of the causes. Let’s get to know how you can fix these issues so that you can make your favorite MOV video file corruption-free and playable.
How To Fix MOV File Not Playing Audio or Video?
Following are the various methods to fix MOV files playing audio but not video or playing video but not audio. Once you are done following these sure-shot methods, you are guaranteed to play your MOV video files.
Method 1: Try using a Different Media Player
Method 2: Fix Incompatible Codec of MOV Video
Method 3: Media Player Not Compatible to play MOV Videos
Method 4: Fix MOV Videos using VLC Media Player
Method 5: Fix Corruption with a Powerful Video Repair Software
Method 1: Try Playing the Unplayable MOV Video on Another Media Player
As mentioned earlier, the issue behind video or Audio not playing can be the missing of necessary codecs. If that is the major reason why the media player you selected is only able to play audio but not video or vice-versa.
Then we have the easiest solution to your problem.
Try playing the same video on any other media player and see if this has solved your problem. If MOV File is not compatible with QuickTime, or If QuickTime Player can’t open MOV files. Then you can play the same video file on a Windows media player. if the Windows media player can’t play MOV files, then we suggest you try some other media players.
If this has solved the issue, then the problem was with the codec, if you are still unable to play the MOV video on any other media player, then the issue is corruption.
Worry not we have provided 2 ways to repair corrupt MOV videos in the latter part of the article.
Method 2: Fix Incompatible Codec of MOV Video
Regardless of what media player you used to play your MOV video file, a codec pack is something that will remain the same. However, at times a media player might be incompatible with a few codecs, or the necessary codecs might have not been installed on the system. We recommend you download the MPEG-4 codec pack on your Windows or Mac system, which is responsible to play the MOV video file smoothly. Make sure to verify that your media player supports MPEG-4 codec videos. After verifying, just go to Google and search for MPEG-4 codec pack download. Make sure to download only from reputed websites. Most of the suspicious or spammy websites have codec packs filled with bloatware so verify before proceeding with the installation process.
Method 3: Media Player Not Compatible to Play MOV Videos
Incompatible media players don’t mean you are using the wrong media player, it can also mean that your media player might be outdated. Even if you are using the QuickTime player, which is the parent media player for MOV, you might still encounter MOV no video issue. Updating the media players can fix such issues most of the time. Follow the steps given below to know how you can update your QuickTime media player.
For Windows:
Step 1: Open QuickTime Media Player and then go to Edit > Preferences > QuickTime Preferences.
Step 2: Click on the Update button and wait till the player has been successfully updated.
Step 3: Restart the QuickTime media player and then check if your MOV video is still playing only audio.
For Mac:
Step 1: Launch QuickTime, and click on QuickTime player.
Step 2: Then click on Update Existing Software.
Or you can also download the latest version of the QuickTime media player from the internet.
Updating the player should have fixed the MOV no video issue. However, if the video is still unplayable. Read the last and most effective method and know how you can fix MOV no video.
Method 4: Fix Corrupt MOV Videos using VLC Media Player
As mentioned earlier in the article. The main reason why your MOV Videos are not getting properly played is due to corruption.
Corruption can happen in various ways including, Improper downloads, downloading video files from unreliable sources or sites, Virus attacks, etc.
But thankfully, you can make use of VLC Media Player to repair minor corruption.
Follow the steps mentioned below to repair any minor corruptions:
Step 1: Launch the VLC Media Player, Click on Media from the top of the screen.
Step 2: From the drop-down menu, click on Convert / Save option.
Step 3: Click on the File tab, and click on the Add button, to add the corrupt/ unplayable MOV file. Then click on Convert / save option.
Step 4: Click on the Browse option. Go to the destination file and rename the destination. This will help you convert the MOV File into AVI format.
Step 5: Kindly go navigate through the following. Go to Tools > Preferences > Input/Codec.
Step 6: Select the Always fix option. From Damaged or incomplete AVI files.
Once the process is completed, the old corrupted MOV video will be converted into a healthy AVI format.
As mentioned earlier this method only works if your video file is minorly corrupt. If there’s severe corruption then kindly follow the next method talks about a Video repair tool that is renowned to repair any level of corruption effortlessly.
Method 5: Fix Severe Corruption in MOV Video to Solve MOV No Video Issue
If your MOV video file has been corrupted, then trying to fix it with the help of free methods or workarounds will not be effective. Making use of a professional MOV repair tool is the most advisable solution. Remo Repair MOV tool is a well-known and widely used utility amongst novice users and professionals. Remo Repair MOV is a robust yet simple utility that separates the audio and video data of the corrupt video file and fixes it.
Built with a simple yet intuitive interface that can be used by professionals as well as amateurs. Even the most novice computer user can make use of this MOV repair tool and fix their corrupted MOV videos. The self-explanatory interface and 3-clicks-to-repair module keep the process very simple and quick. Once the MOV video is fixed, you can also preview the video for free to verify the quality of the video and the repair process.
Moreover, this tool is absolutely free for download.
Download the Remo Repair MOV tool now and follow the steps that are given below to quickly fix your MOV no video.
Step 1: Launch the tool, from the main screen, click on Select File and Browse for a corrupt MOV video that needs to be repaired.
Step 2: Now click on Choose Reference MOV File and select any healthy video file of the same format and codec, then click on Repair.
Step 3: Wait till the video is repaired and then click on Preview once the video is repaired to check the performance of the tool.
Step 4: After verifying the quality, click on Save to proceed with the file saving process.
Hopefully, your MOV no video issue has been resolved by now.
Conclusion:
Here we will be ending our comprehensive talk about MOV files. By now you must have understood the reasons which lead to MOV no video and prevent such situations in the future by keeping your media player and codecs up-to-date. If you have any queries related to the Remo Repair MOV tool, feel free to contact the technical support team of Remo Software.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I convert .mov to .mp4?
The easiest way to convert any video file of MOV format to MP4 format is by making use of any good and trustworthy video file converter.
You can also do it manually by following the steps mentioned below.
On Windows:
Step 1: Launch your VLC media player and select Media from the drop-down menu.
Step 2: Next, from the listing, select Convert/Save.
Step 3: It will lead you to the Open Media window, where you must select a MOV file to convert.
Step 4: Click the Convert/Save button in the bottom right corner.
Step 5: In the Convert window, go to Settings and select the Convert radio option.
Step 6: Next, go to profile and select MP4 as your output format.
Step 7: Finally, choose a location to save your converted file.
On Mac:
You can refer to this article to find out how to convert MOV to MP4 using iMovie on Mac.
2. Does MOV (.mov) play on Windows?
The answer is Yes, you can play MOV video files easily on Windows using any media player which has the necessary codecs that are required to play MOV video files. You can try Windows media player or QuickTime player.
3. How to open, play/or watch MOV files on Mac or Macbook?
Applications such as iTunes, media players like QuickTime, VLC, etc. are all capable of playing MOV files on iMac or Macbooks.
4. How to Download MOV files from google drive?
Log in to google drive with your Google account on the device where you want to download the MOV files. Go to My Drive, locate and select the files that you want to download. Right-click on it and from the drop-down menu click on the Download button.
