.m4v files
.m4v file
iTunes Video
Apple's MP4 variant, used for films and TV episodes bought from iTunes.
What opens a .m4v file
- Windows
- Apple TV app, VLC (DRM-free files), Media Player (built in, DRM-free files)
- macOS
- QuickTime Player (built in), Apple TV app, VLC
- Linux
- VLC (DRM-free files), mpv
What a .m4v file is
M4V is essentially MP4 with Apple extras such as chapter markers and, on purchased content, FairPlay DRM. Files without DRM play anywhere once renamed to .mp4; protected ones only play in Apple's own apps signed in to the account that bought them, and no converter can legally remove that. Home-made M4V files from iMovie or Handbrake are DRM-free.
Converting it
A .m4v file is commonly converted to .mp4, .mkv, .mov or .avi. It is a binary format, so a text editor will show unreadable characters rather than its contents.
Details
- Extension
- .m4v
- Full name
- iTunes Video
- Category
- Video
- MIME type
- video/x-m4v
- Created by
- Apple
- Format
- Binary
Common questions
- How do I open a .m4v file?
- On Windows use Apple TV app; on macOS use QuickTime Player (built in); on Linux use VLC (DRM-free files). Apple's MP4 variant, used for films and TV episodes bought from iTunes.
- What is a .m4v file?
- iTunes Video. M4V is essentially MP4 with Apple extras such as chapter markers and, on purchased content, FairPlay DRM. Files without DRM play anywhere once renamed to .mp4; protected ones only play in Apple's own apps signed in to the account that bought them, and no converter can legally remove that.
- Can I convert a .m4v file?
- Yes. It is usually converted to .mp4, .mkv, .mov or .avi, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.
Related pages
- .mp4 — MPEG-4 Part 14 Video The default video container for phones, cameras, streaming and everything else.
- .mov — QuickTime Movie Apple's video container — what an iPhone records and what Final Cut works in.
- .mkv — Matroska Video An open container that holds any codec plus multiple audio tracks and subtitles.
- .avi — Audio Video Interleave Microsoft's 1992 video container, still common in old archives and camcorder foo
- .srt — SubRip Subtitle The plain-text subtitle format almost every player understands.
- .webm — WebM Video A royalty-free video container built for the web, based on Matroska.
- .ts — MPEG Transport Stream The broadcast and streaming video segment format — also, confusingly, the TypeSc
- .wmv — Windows Media Video Microsoft's legacy video format from the Windows XP era.
- .mpg — MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 Video The original MPEG video file, from Video CDs, DVDs and old digital cameras.
- .vtt — WebVTT Caption The W3C caption format HTML5 video uses, essentially SRT with a header and styli
- .swf — Shockwave Flash Movie A Flash animation or game — the plugin that ran these was killed off at the end
- .mts — AVCHD Video The clip format written by Sony, Panasonic and Canon camcorders.
Sources
- Media Types Registry — IANA
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place