If you’ve never heard of the MKV file format, you’re not alone. It’s a newer standard than familiar file types like MOV or the more standard MP4 format. But there’s good reason it’s been popping up, and now is a great time to learn about converting MKV to MP4.

MKV is gaining traction because it can support an endless number of videos, audio files, pictures, or subtitled tracks in one file. It’s also open-standard, and free. The term MKV is acronymous for “Matroska,” commonly known as Russian nesting dolls. (See, all kinds of files nesting into one larger file!)

This ability to wrap all types of media into one file type is what makes MKV so popular. But it’s only available to a limited number of devices, and most often used as a video file-type rather than for true multimedia files. Because it’s open-standard, there’s no advantage for large tech firms like Apple to support MKV, or adopt it onto their platforms.

Convert mp4 to mp3 mac free download - MP3 Juice - Free MP3 Downloader, Aiseesoft MP4 Converter for Mac, Free Convert MP4 To MP3, and many more programs. Feb 18, 2020  Convert MOV to MP4 Open iMovie and create a new project. Add the MOV file to the project’s library by dragging and dropping it on to the My Media area. Once added, drag &. Click “File” on the top toolbar, from the drop-down box, choose Convert/Steam option. Click on “Open media” browse an MP4 file from location Click “Open” button. Or you can drop MP4 media to the fixed area straight. Choose “Audio-MP3” as output profile.

In fact, there’s no native support for MKV within macOS. If you were sent an MKV file, you would quickly have to convert the MKV to MP4. In this article, we’ll talk you through how the conversion works using several different MKV to MP4 converter apps.

MKV to MP4 without losing quality

Remember when we said MKV files were still not terribly popular? Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about that. There will still be plenty of times you’ll need an MKV converter for your Mac, especially if you’re going to share your files with anyone. Chances are they will find the MP4 format much easier.

For this use-case, we recommend Permute converter. It’s an app focused on converting just about any and all file types to – well, just about anything! It’s really simple to use, too. Here’s how to convert MKV to MP4 using Permute:

1. Open Permute.
2. From the menu bar, go to File > Open.
3. Select the MKV file on your Mac you’d like to convert.
4. Select ‘Open.’
5. From the ‘Video’ dropdown menu, select ‘MP4.’
6. Click the ‘play’ button in the sub-window housing your MKV file. Keep in mind the video itself has a play button, too; the play button on the sub-window is what starts the conversion.

That's it! Your MKV file will convert to the MP4 format. Keep a few things in mind before you start a transfer, though. In the upper-right corner of the sub-window, you’ll see a gear icon. This is where you can control where your converted file is placed. You can also make other changes like rotating the video, should you need that functionality.

Permute is also adept at batch conversion of files. If you had a few MKV videos you wanted to convert to the MP4 format, you don’t need to go one-by-one. You could choose multiple videos in step three above, if they were all in the same location on your Mac. If the videos were in different places (one may be in downloads, the other in ‘documents,’ another in a folder – you get it) you could simply repeat steps two, three, and four until all your videos were added.

The ‘sub-window’ in Permute holds files to be converted, so adding multiple videos will convert them all the same way. Keep that in mind before you start; if you didn’t want all your videos to be MP4s, you’d have to create new groups.

That’s pretty simple, though. On the bottom left of the video is a gear icon, where you’ll see an option to ‘create new group.’ Simply do that and you’ll find the video in its own sub-window, ready for conversion to a different format.

How to play MKV on Mac

Because MKV isn’t natively supported, you shouldn’t expect your Mac to spin up QuickTime to play downloaded files as it does with so many other media file types. Instead, we have two great options for MKV playback: Elmedia Player, and Movist Pro.

Elmedia Player is exceptionally strong at playing just about any file type you can throw at it. The app uses hardware accelerated decoding to play files, which ensures your MKV playback will be strong. Elmedia player also supports MP3, MP4, SWF, FLV, AVI, MOV, and DAT file types.

Here’s how you can play any MKV file using Elmedia Player:

1. Open Elmedia Player.
2. From the menu bar, go to File > Open.
3. Select the MKV file on your Mac you’d like to play.
4. Select 'Open.'
   

And that’s it! Your MKV file will automatically play in Elmedia Player. In the Elmedia Player window, you’ll be able to pause and play your file, fast forward or rewind, and choose the volume level. On the bottom right of the screen you’ll see a gear icon, where you’re able to finesse the playback speed, manage audio and subtitle delays, control the brightness, saturation, contrast, gamma, and hue of your video, and enjoy a full equalizer for your MKV video files.

Movist Pro is just as impressive when it comes to video playback. Here’s how to play an MKV video on Movist Pro:

1. Open Movist Pro.
2. From the menu bar, select File > Open File.[MKV3]
3. Select the MKV file on your Mac that you’d like to play.
4. Select ‘Open.’

Deja vu, eh?! It’s the same process as Elmedia Player, which is great. Movist Pro has a lot of really great things going for it, too.

It has a really minimalist interface, with controls that quickly dive out of the way when a video is being played. The scroll-bar is as far to the bottom as possible, and the ‘play’ button is all the way on the bottom left. Even with controls on-screen, you end up seeing more of the video than with most other players.

Movist also supports the Mac’s native picture-in-picture mode, which pins a video to the bottom-right side of your screen. It’s a great way to keep track of videos while doing other things.

If you’re just looking to play a particular section of a file, Movist Pro has a really neat feature that lets you choose a range within a file, and loop the playback for that range. You can also add bookmarks to any video; an excellent option if you want to keep tabs on a video lecture, or mark favorite parts of a movie.

When you need to convert MKV to MP4, there’s nothing better than a simple, effective converter. For our liking, Permute is the way to go. It’s simple, effective, and doesn’t create any issues with the converted files. Too often we’ve seen converters which degrade the quality of a video.

Playback is also a critical component. While Permute can convert with ease, you may not always need that feature. Besides, you’ll want to watch your converted video files, too!

Elmedia Player and Movist Pro are both excellent video player apps. In our testing, each performed spectacularly. We also viewed converted files on Elmedia Player and Movist Pro to ensure there were no issues on conversion or playback. All three apps worked perfectly.

And all three – Elmedia Player, Movist Pro, and Permute – are available for free as part of a 7-day trial of Setapp, the world’s best suite of productivity apps for your Mac. Setapp also affords you free access to dozens more of the best Mac apps, which span all kinds of use-cases.

When your free trial period is over, Setapp is only $9.99 per month. If you pay for a full year in advance, it brings the total down to $8.99 per month, a 10 percent discount! Families will enjoy Setapp’s $19.99 per month plan, which provides unlimited access to the full setapp catalog on up to four different Macs.

It’s an incredible deal. Give Setapp a try today!

by Christine Smith • 2020-07-10 16:33:54 • Proven solutions

Developed by Apple Computers, MOV is a video container format that is mainly used by Apple QuickTime for storing video files. MOV files are uncompressed, large, and commonly used by Mac users. Though MOV files are compatible with Mac OS X, there are times when these MOV videos can’t open in QuickTime properly. Additionally, these files occupy lots of space on your system and also cannot be played on other portable devices, gaming consoles, or uploaded in video sharing sites.

In all the above-listed situations, the best solution is to convert MOV to MP4 Mac. MP4 is the most popular and commonly used video format that is compatible with almost all media players and portable devices. Check out various solutions on how to convert MOV to MP4 on Mac in the below parts of the article. If you're using a Windows computer, you may want to know how to play MP4 on Windows Media Player, which may help you to make the video playback on your computer.

Part 1. [Most-Recommended] Best MOV to MP4 Converter for Mac

There are different types of MOV to MP4 converters on Mac. If you are in search of a powerful tool that takes complete care of all your conversion need, Wondershare UniConverter (originally Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate) is the best choice. The professional software is available for Mac as well as the Windows system and is specially designed for conversion purposes with a host of additional advanced settings.

Wondershare UniConverter - Best Video Converter for Windows / Mac (Catalina Included)

• Allows converting MOV to MP4 on Mac without any quality loss.
• MOV to MP4 video conversion is 30 times faster as compared to other conventional converters.
• Convert multiple MOV files to MP4 format with just simple clicks.
• Convert MOV to other 1000+ video/audio formats, and specific device targeted preset profiles.
• Download videos from more than 10,000 sites, including YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and others.
• Crop, cut, trim, rotate MOV files, and adding watermarks, effects on the MOV videos.
• Transfer MOV files from Mac to iPhone/iPad devices via a USB cable.
• Support more additional functions, like Video Compress, Screen Recording, DVD Burning, GIF Maker, etc.
• Supported OS: Mac OS 10.15 (Catalina), 10.14, 10.13, 10.12, 10.11, 10.10, 10.9, 10.8, 10.7, 10.6, Windows 10/8/7/2003/XP.

Watch Video Tutorial to Convert MOV to MP4 Mac Easily and Quickly

Step 1 Add MOV file(s) to Wondershare MOV to MP4 Converter Mac.

Download, install, and launch Wondershare UniConverter on your Mac system. Drag and drop desired MOV file(s) from the Mac system to the software interface. You can also add the files by clicking on the Add Files icon on the left-top corner.

Step 2 Select MP4 as MOV to the MP4 output format.

Click the drop-down icon beside the Output Format option to enter the format panel, select the MP4, and resolution from the Video tab as the desired output format. You're optional to click Create to build a new format with customized frame rate, encoder, bitrate, etc.

Step 3 Convert MOV files to MP4 on Mac.

Finally, click the Start All button to convert .mov to .mp4 on Mac. You can choose the file location by clicking on the Finished icon.

Your MOV files will be converted to MP4 format after a while. As both Mac and Windows versions have similar interface and functions, you can follow the same steps above on the Windows version or watch the video below to learn more details.

Part 2. Other 4 Ways to Convert MOV to MP4 Mac Free Online

1. Wondershare Free Video Converter - Best Free Video Converter for Mac

The professional desktop software is undoubtedly the best way to convert MOV to MP4 on Mac and Windows, but the full features of these tools need to be paid. So if you are in search of a free, simple, and quick way to convert MOV to MP4 on Mac or Windows, Wondershare Free Video Converter will prove to be the right choice. This free-to-use desktop software has a very similar interface and functions with Wondershare UniConverter as it is the free version of it. So it allows converting MOV videos to MP4 or iOS and other device compatible formats with the same steps in Part 1. Besides, the software also allows downloading YouTube videos and playlists in high quality.

Steps to Convert MOV to MP4 on Mac with Wondershare Free Video Converter:

Step 1: Download, install and launch Wondershare Free Video Converter on your Mac. Then you'll come to the Convert tab by default.

Step 2: To add the desired MOV videos, you can simply drag and drop to the software interface or can click on the Add Files button to browse videos from Mac.

Step 3: Select MP4 or other compatible video formats as your target video format. You should click on the Convert all files to option and then choose the Video tab, and the formats list will open up.

Convert Mp4 To Mp3 Mac App

Step 4: Finally, click on the Convert All button on the right-bottom corner to start converting MOV to MP4 for free.

2. Online UniConverter - Convert MOV to MP4 Online and Free

If you need to convert a limited number of files at times, then using an online converter makes sense. Online MOV to MP4 converter Mac does not require any software download or installation and can be used directly from your Mac browser. One such decent online tool t convert MOV to MP4 on Mac is Online UniConverter (originally Media.io). Using the tool, you can save your MOV and other files to MP4 and range of commonly used audio and video formats. It is a MOV to MP4 converter Mac freeware online tool that allows adding two files at a time for conversion.

Steps to free convert MOV to MP4 Mac using Online UniConverter:

Step 1: Open Online UniConverter (https://www.media.io/) on your Mac browser. To browse and add MOV files present on your system, click Drag & Drop or Hit to Add File button. A maximum of two files at a time can be added for conversion.

Step 2: Select MP4 format from the Video list at Convert all files to section.

Step 3: Finally, just hit the CONVERT button. The added MOV files will start uploading, and the program will convert MOV to MP4 on Mac.

Once the conversion is complete, MP4 files can be downloaded from the interface.

3. QuickTime

Another simple and straightforward MOV to MP4 converter Mac is QuickTime Pro. The default media player for the Mac platform is QuickTime, which is free to use, while QuickTime Pro is the paid version of the same. The Pro program comes with an array of features, including conversion, editing, authoring, and others. So if you do not want to install any third-party software on your Mac, go for QuickTime Pro for video conversion.

Steps on how to convert MOV to MP4 Mac using QuickTime Pro:

Step 1: Install and launch the QuickTime Pro app on your Mac system. Open the drop-down menu at the File tab from the top bar. Select “Open File…” to browse and add MOV files present on your Mac.

Step 2: Once the files are added, the option of “Export…” from the drop-down menu will be activated. Select to move ahead.

Step 3: The Export panel will show a list of options. Select the “Movie to MPEG-4” option.

Step 4: Click Save to start converting MOV files to MP4 format.

The steps above will quickly convert MOV to MP4 Mac QuickTime

4. iMovie

iMovie is a video editing software by Apple to be used on Mac and iOS devices. This free to use video player and editor also works as a decent video conversion tool. So for your basic MOV to MP4 conversion needs, you can simply use the iMovie app present on your Mac system.

Step on how to convert MOV to MP4 on Mac using iMovie:

Step 1: Launch iMovie Mac MOV to MP4 converter app on your Mac. If you cannot find the icon of the app in your dock, go to Finder > select Applications > hit on iMovie from the list.

Step 2: Open the File menu and select “New Movie” from the drop-down list. Select the option of “No Theme” if you are asked to choose any.

Step 3: Next, opt for “Import Media.” Browse and add the MOV file that you want to convert by selecting and hitting the 'Import Selected' button present at the right-bottom hand corner.

Step 4: The selected MOV video will open as a new Project. Next, go to the app toolbar, select File, and choose the Share option.

Step 5: In the subsequent window, click the File button and, if needed, edit the preferences and then click the Next button.

Step 6: From the new pop-up window, enter the location where you want to save the converted MOV file. Finally, click Save to start the MOV to the MP4 conversion process.

Part 3. Comparison Table of the MOV to MP4 Converters on Mac

The above parts of the article have mentioned three best ways to convert MOV to MP4 on Mac. Each of the suggested solutions has its pros and cons. Depending upon your requirements, many files, and other factors, you can decide upon the best-suited solution. Given below is a comparison table that will further help you with the task of selecting an apt converter.

Mac App Convert Mkv To Mp4

It can be concluded that Wondershare UniConverter is the best and all-rounder professional MOV to MP4 Converter for Mac that takes care of file quality, speed, and overall conversion process. So, if budget is not a constraint, then wait no more and download the software to enjoy its fantastic list of features.