Videos downloading as .MOV instead of .MP4 after iCloud upgrade

Yup, me too! I've been downloading videos from my iCloud to my PC for years, then editing them. Suddenly in mid October 2025 something changed on the iCloud site and now they're stuck on MOV. I also tried changing the download option with no success. Changing the file type doesn't help. I use Camtasia to edit videos and it's very picky about the codecs it supports. I've thoroughly tested on different PCs & Macs, different browsers (Chrome, Edge, Safari), different iPhone models and different iCloud accounts. I even disabled my antivirus and firewall but the problem persists. I opened a ticket with Apple and they said it was a known issue, so I recommend everyone open their own ticket because the more users reporting and complaining the faster they'll get it fixed.

As a work around you can try using HandBrake software to convert the files to MP4. For me, the converted video came out slightly choppy but it was usable.

I was having the same issue, and reported it.

However you can just convert your .MOV files to .mp4 files very easily.

What I do is using https://apps.apple.com/us/app/compress-video-compressor/id1525616709?mt=12 tool. It's also free if you get it from their website, but I just prefer to support the devs. I hope apple fix this soon.

zedmeemed77 wrote:

As a work around you can try using HandBrake software to convert the files to MP4. For me, the converted video came out slightly choppy but it was usable.

Try the file rename "conversion" mentioned above.

See if renaming the .mov filename to .mp4 works.

Apple is focused on HEIF and HEVC / H.265: Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices - Apple Support

The MOV and MP4 container formats share a common ancestry, and share various common encoding formats.

Let Apple to know what you would like addressed: Product Feedback - Apple

I am having the same issue, and I have seen others have also reported experiencing this change since mid-October. I didn't change my iCloud storage plan or do anything different, yet all my videos are now downloading from iCloud as .MOV files instead of .mp4 files. The "Most Compatible" setting is selected for me as well, yet that doesn't help. I hope Apple will fix this issue soon.

Is anybody on iOS 26 experiencing this issue? Apple asked me to upgrade from 18.7.1 to 26, but I'm not ready for iOS 26. Plus I told them it wouldn't have a fix for this issue because it was GA on Sept 15th, a month before this issue appeared. If and when they do fix this it will likely come out in an iOS 26 update, but I want to wait for Apple to confirm the fix is in the next update. They seem to be relying too much on users to troubleshoot.

That worked! Changed to MP4 Still opened in Quicktime just fine. This is great because many social media managers require you to upload in MP4 and it can't be done easily on an iphone or ipad - this requires an extra step of using the computer to upload to the SM manager but at least it works. Thanks!

Is this just for MAC? I have a PC.

if you're in pc get it from compress.mov or from window store https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9n1fhqz38lht?hl=en-US&gl=NL

This does not work for my situation because MOV uses a different codec than MP4.