Kernel Data Recovery Blog

How To Repair Corrupt MOV Video File?

Read time 7 minutes

MOV is a QuickTime movie file format, developed by Apple Inc and natively used by the QuickTime framework. It contains data types such as audio, video, and text for subtitles.

MOV file format is quite similar to MP4 format as it can use the same MPEG-4 codec and both the formats are interchangeable in the QuickTime environment.

Both MOV & MP4 format files work on Apple macOS, but for running MOV files on Windows, QuickTime Player is needed. But it’s not the only media player that can run MOV format files, VLC is the best alternative, as it supports a range of video file formats.

A MOV file can also turn corrupt or damaged or may not play like any other format video file, making the media file meaningless. So, how would you repair a corrupt or damaged .mov video (movie) file?

Well, in the absence of no native tool to settle this issue, VLC Media Player stands tall, as it is available for free and receives updates periodically. VLC has many useful features, one of which is the ability to run non-opening video files, run any media, repair corrupt video files, and more.

Note: VLC does have the ability to repair a file, but it professionally is not made to be a repair tool, so it cannot address intense file corruption or damage problems. But the VLC tool’s forum constantly get the user queries that VLC not playing MOV video and creating various issues.

We’ll guide you on How to repair a corrupt MOV video file and walk through the logic behind why a .mov video file turns corrupt or damaged or inaccessible in the native media player application.

Before we discuss the fix straight away, let’s go through the points of why the MOV video file becomes corrupt.

Instant Solution

Download an automated tool Kernel Video Repair to fix corruption and damage issues of MOV video files. The software comes with a trial version with which you can save the repaired video file for up to 30 seconds for free.

Why MOV Video File Turns Corrupt

Improper System Shutdown
Due to improper system shutdowns, the MOV video file’s bit pattern gets damaged, and it creates a problem because of a change in the file structure. Sudden system shutdown causes the termination of input/output operation, leaving the MOV file in an odd state.

Incompatibility
The trials of playing the MOV video file with other media player applications damage the file header making the file data inaccessible. The alternate in this situation is to download either a video file converter or a media player that supports multiple video file formats. Otherwise, some applications overwrite the header information while playing the media.

Improper Conversion
MOV file format is not supported by all the media player applications out there, and that is the reason many opt to convert it in the format supported by the program they use, but the conversion in incorrect file format leads to corruption & damage. Also, if the conversion was interrupted in between, then also the scene will be the same.

Disrupted Transfer
Like the process of file conversion, bad media storage devices also make the MOV video file prone to corruption. Other reasons which may lead to the same situation are bad sectors, logical corruption, infection due to the virus, software conflicts, etc.

Corrupted storage device-
The MOV video might be perfect but the medium which carries it can be tampered. Sometimes the problem lies with the storage media like hard drives, pen drives, SSDs, and flash drives or it can contain some bad sectors.

Compressed videos
Often to reduce the size of the file, video is compressed into a smaller one by reducing its number of bits. This procedure must be carried on a trustworthy platform, otherwise, it causes a heavily corrupted video file.

Virus and malware infection
A virus infection into the system can cause some serious trouble for the users. It can cause permanent damage to all the components.

How to Repair Corrupt MOV Video File With VLC Media Player

Like it’s cited above, the chances of MOV video files turning corrupt or getting damaged badly are there, and low-level file corruption remains addressable with the help of the VLC Media Player application and it can fight VLC not playing MOV video problem in a lighter form.

For detailed step-by-step instructions and more information on the same, go through the Free Methods to Repair Corrupt MP4 Video File guide, here we’ve provided steps with proper details, and because both MP4 & MOV file uses MPEG-4 format, the approach for fixing the issue is same.

Re-Indexing

There are certain conditions in which the need for Re-Indexing will arise, which are as follows:

It is imperative that the fix advent should be absolute. Otherwise, the level of corruption would step up. For reference, one minute of MOV video contains 4000 frames of both audio & video, which means whatever medium you choose to fix the issue, should identify all 4000 elements stored in bulk inside the MOV video file.

Thus, a tool with a 1/1000 fail rate will cause four (4) glitches in the repaired video, at the minimum and that wouldn’t make any difference in comparison with the corrupt media.

And that being the reason, we’d suggest using the the tool, as it fills the space in the absence of a native method for fixing the issue.

Advanced Solution to Fix MOV Video File Corruption & Damage

Kernel Video Repair is an advanced solution to the issue of MOV video file corruption & damage.

It is bundled with the options to keep it as user-friendly as possible with beautiful & intuitive GUI; also, it works irrespective of the version or builds of Windows OS you use; the software is available to download on the whole range of Microsoft Windows environment. In case of doubts regarding the tool’s functioning & workability, you may download the trial version and opt to repair corrupt video file(s) and save up to 30 seconds of the video file for free.

Conclusion

In the absence of a native approach or tool for addressing the issue of MOV Video File corruption & damage issue, software is the best find amongst the tools available on the web.