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I recently filmed an important event, but when I tried to play the video, it wouldn't open. I think the file might be corrupted. Does anyone know how to repair a video file (MP4)? I really need to recover this footage. Any reliable Free methods or tools online you can recommend would be appreciated.
Mac Pro, macOS 10.13
Yo, gotta try all these methods, no other way around it.
Clever Online Video Repair - Really free, but sometimes glitchy. Give it a shot: repair.cleverfiles.com.
Fix.Video and Restore.Media - Top online services, but not free. Fix.video, restore.media
Untrunc - Free but tricky to use, works for a bunch of file types: Untrunc on GitHub.
Videolan - Free, might have VLC already. Go Media -> Convert -> Select your file. Doesn’t always work, but worth a try: videolan.org.
Manual repair - None of that worked? Find a local pro who knows their way around a HEX editor to fix the file. If they don’t get what a moov box is, find someone else 😁.
Yo, gotta try all these methods, no other way around it.
Clever Online Video Repair - Really free, but sometimes glitchy. Give it a shot: repair.cleverfiles.com.
Fix.Video and Restore.Media - Top online services, but not free. Fix.video, restore.media
Untrunc - Free but tricky to use, works for a bunch of file types: Untrunc on GitHub.
Videolan - Free, might have VLC already. Go Media -> Convert -> Select your file. Doesn’t always work, but worth a try: videolan.org.
Manual repair - None of that worked? Find a local pro who knows their way around a HEX editor to fix the file. If they don’t get what a moov box is, find someone else 😁.
Filmed with which camera? What exactly happens when you try to open? If you get an error message, please post a screenshot.
It may be that the file is corrupted, but it might be that it was recorded in some weird format.
I think the key word here is "old".
Many old codecs were deprecated and are not longer supported in Quicktime.
Do please open one of these files in Invisor (or MediaInfo) like Urquhart1244 requested.
You may be able to convert them using ffmpeg.
Did you try playing back with VLC? It can play many formats that Quicktime Player can't.
Try the extended info from a media analyses tool like Invisor Lite. That would help with getting some important file properties (codecs, etc) for this video.
I had videos from a competition on an old disk, and I copied them to my Mac. I wanted to create a beautiful montage, but they just won't open. I filmed them with Canon and Sony cameras.
Great advice! Thanks a lot, I'll try each one!
How to repair or fix broken (unreadable) MP4 video files, free?
