.mp4 files
.mp4 file
MPEG-4 Part 14 Video
The default video container for phones, cameras, streaming and everything else.
What opens a .mp4 file
- Windows
- Media Player (built in), VLC, Any web browser
- macOS
- QuickTime Player (built in), VLC, IINA
- Linux
- Videos / Totem (built in), VLC, mpv
- In a browser
- Any web browser
What a .mp4 file is
MP4 is an ISO standard container, derived from Apple's QuickTime format, that normally holds H.264 or H.265 video with AAC audio. It plays on every phone, TV, browser and editing program without extra software, which is why it is the safe answer for sharing video. The extension says nothing about the codec inside, so a rare MP4 using an unusual codec can still refuse to play in a basic player while working fine in VLC.
Converting it
A .mp4 file is commonly converted to .mkv, .mov, .webm, .avi, .mp3 or .gif. It is a binary format, so a text editor will show unreadable characters rather than its contents.
Details
- Extension
- .mp4
- Full name
- MPEG-4 Part 14 Video
- Category
- Video
- MIME type
- video/mp4
- Created by
- ISO/IEC (MPEG)
- Format
- Binary
Common questions
- How do I open a .mp4 file?
- On Windows use Media Player (built in); on macOS use QuickTime Player (built in); on Linux use Videos / Totem (built in). The default video container for phones, cameras, streaming and everything else.
- What is a .mp4 file?
- MPEG-4 Part 14 Video. MP4 is an ISO standard container, derived from Apple's QuickTime format, that normally holds H.264 or H.265 video with AAC audio. It plays on every phone, TV, browser and editing program without extra software, which is why it is the safe answer for sharing video.
- Can I convert a .mp4 file?
- Yes. It is usually converted to .mkv, .mov, .webm, .avi, .mp3 or .gif, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.
Related pages
- .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.
- .m4v — iTunes Video Apple's MP4 variant, used for films and TV episodes bought from iTunes.
- .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