Convert a Video File to MP4
You have a video that will not open. An iPhone MOV that Windows will not play, an MKV the TV skips, a WMV from an old laptop that Premiere Pro refuses to import. Upload it here, or paste a link, and download it as an MP4, the one format phones, browsers, social apps and most editors open without a plugin.
Downloading the MP4 is on paid plans. I would rather tell you now than at the download button. The yearly Pro plan starts with a 7-day trial, so you can convert a whole batch and check every file before the first payment.
So why pay at all, when free converters exist?
Because of what happens after the upload. Every video stays in your library with a transcript. A two-hour lecture, a client call, a box of old camcorder tapes: you search what was said in them instead of scrubbing through the timeline looking for it.
An MP4 of Your Video
Downloaded from the file in your library, with no watermark on any recording or export.
A Transcript
In 100+ languages, exportable as PDF, DOCX, TXT, SRT and VTT.
Questions Answered
AI chat with any recording, so you can check a long video without watching it.
Big Files and Batches
Up to 2 GB in the tool on this page, and bulk upload of multiple files in the app.
Convert a Video Link to MP4 From YouTube, TikTok and Instagram
Not every video starts as a file. If it is on a website, skip the download-then-convert step and paste the link in the tool’s link tab. ScreenApp fetches the video itself and saves it as up to 1080p H.264 MP4 where the source offers it.
Paste a video link from
The link has to be public. Private videos, members-only posts and anything behind a login will not import. YouTube link imports do not count against the upload limit, so converting YouTube videos does not use up the free uploads.
Where These Files Come From
Most people searching for an MP4 converter are not choosing a format. They are stuck with one. This is where each common one usually comes from, and why it gets converted.
| Format | Where it usually comes from | Why people convert it |
|---|---|---|
| MOV | iPhone, Mac screen recordings, QuickTime | Windows and some TVs will not play iPhone video recorded in HEVC |
| MKV | Downloads, OBS recordings, media servers | Phones, editors and many TVs do not open it |
| AVI and WMV | Old Windows PCs and cameras | Phones, Macs and many editors do not open them |
| WebM | Browser recordings and web downloads | iPhones, editors and PowerPoint handle it badly |
| MTS and M2TS | Sony and Panasonic camcorders (AVCHD) | Files are split into clips and editors want one MP4 |
| 3GP | Old feature phones | Many current apps and editors do not open it |
| VOB | DVDs | Files are split and tied to the disc’s menus |
| MXF | Professional and broadcast cameras | Consumer apps cannot open it |
ScreenApp takes all of these and more: MP4, M4V, MOV, AVI, WEBM, MKV, FLV, TS, MTS, M2TS, 3GP, 3GPP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, VOB, OGV, RM, RMVB, MPG, MPEG, M2V, F4V, MXF.
Why the File Type Is Usually Not the Real Problem
Here is the part most converter pages skip. MOV, MKV and MP4 are containers. Boxes. The video inside the box is encoded with a codec, usually H.264 or HEVC (also called H.265), and the codec decides whether a device can play it.
That is why renaming video.mov to video.mp4 does nothing useful. It is also why an iPhone video can fail on a Windows PC when nothing is wrong with the file. iPhones have recorded in HEVC by default since iOS 11 (the High Efficiency setting), and Windows 10 and 11 do not decode HEVC out of the box. Microsoft sells the decoder separately in the Microsoft Store as HEVC Video Extensions, for about a dollar.
There are two kinds of conversion, and they behave very differently:
- Remuxing moves the same video into a new container. Seconds, no quality loss, but an HEVC video stays HEVC.
- Re-encoding rebuilds the video with a different codec. It is slower and every pass costs a little quality, which is the trade you make when the device on the other end cannot decode what is inside. Do it once, from the original file, not from a copy of a copy.
If the only problem is your own Windows PC playing your own iPhone clips, the dollar extension is the cheaper fix. If the video is going to other people, on computers you do not control, convert it.
What to Ask the Video Once It Is an MP4
Every video you save lands in your library with a transcript, and the AI chat answers from it. Click a question to open ScreenApp with it ready to ask.
In ScreenApp, clicking a moment in the transcript jumps the player to that point in the recording, so you can check any answer against the recording.
What Each Plan Does Here
Upload and Read
No card needed. Upload or import the video, read the transcript and ask the AI about it. The free plan includes 3 uploads and 2 transcriptions of recordings up to 45 minutes each.
Download the MP4
MP4 downloads are on paid plans. Pro is $19 a month billed annually, with higher limits on uploads, transcriptions and AI chats.
7 Days to Try Pro
Use every Pro feature for 7 days and confirm it does what you need before the first payment. The trial is for annual plans only. Trial terms: Card required. See the plans and terms before you start.
If all you need is one file, once, and nothing else, a free converter such as CloudConvert does that within its daily limits. The comparison further down is honest about it. ScreenApp is worth it when you convert videos regularly, or when what is said in them matters: a lecture you want to search, a client call you need notes from, a batch of interviews you have to quote.
How to Convert a Video to MP4
- Upload the file or paste a link. Drop a MOV, MKV, AVI, WMV, WebM or any of MP4, M4V, MOV, AVI, WEBM, MKV, FLV, TS, MTS, M2TS, 3GP, 3GPP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, VOB, OGV, RM, RMVB, MPG, MPEG, M2V, F4V, MXF on the tool above, or paste a public link from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Vimeo or Loom. Sign in with a free account to save it.
- Let it process. ScreenApp stores the video and transcribes the audio. Both appear in your library when processing finishes.
- Download the MP4. Open the file and press Download. Downloads are on paid plans, from $19 a month billed annually, and the yearly plan starts with a 7-day trial.
Link to MP4 explains link imports in more detail.
Three Cases Where You Do Not Need a Converter
I would rather you knew these before you upload anything.
If you only want to watch the file on your own computer, install VLC. It plays MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI and HEVC video without converting a thing.
If it is an OBS recording, OBS already has a converter built in. Go to File, then Remux Recordings, pick the MKV and press Remux. You get an MP4 next to the original in seconds, with no quality loss. To skip the step for good, tick “Automatically remux to mp4” under Settings, then Advanced.
And if the trouble is your own iPhone, one setting stops new videos from causing it:
Stop converting iPhone videos every time
Open Settings
Go to Camera, then Formats.
Pick Most Compatible
The iPhone records H.264 instead of HEVC from then on.
Record as usual
Files are still .mov, but Windows and most TVs play them.
This only affects new recordings, and the files get bigger. For videos you already have, convert them.
What It Can and Cannot Do
Good at
- Turning every format in the table above into an MP4, from MOV and MKV to MTS, VOB and MXF
- Several files in one upload
- A transcript and AI chat on every video
- Public video links from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Vimeo and Loom, as well as files
Not built for
- Codec, resolution or bitrate settings: there are none to change
- Free MP4 downloads: Paid plans only
- Making a video sharper: the MP4 keeps the detail the original had, no more
- Shrinking a file: the video compressor is built for that
Converting does not add detail. A blurry 480p clip stays a blurry 480p clip in MP4, just in a container more devices open. If you need to pick the codec, resolution or bitrate yourself, use a converter that exposes those settings.
MP4 Converter vs Other Tools
| Feature | ScreenApp | CloudConvert | FreeConvert | HappyScribe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max file size, free | 2 GB (free online tool) | 1 GB | 1 GB | Not stated |
| Free allowance | 3 uploads, lifetime | 10 conversions a day | Not stated beyond the file size cap | Not stated |
| MP4 download on the free plan | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Codec and resolution settings | No | Resolution, quality and file size options | Offers H.264 or H.265 | Not stated |
| Transcript of the video | Yes | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
Sources, checked 2026-09-12: ScreenApp pricing, CloudConvert pricing, FreeConvert MP4 converter
- vs CloudConvert: 10 free conversions a day on files up to 1 GB, with resolution and quality options. If you just need the MP4 and want control over it, this is the one I would open first.
- vs FreeConvert: free files up to 1 GB, a choice of H.264 or H.265, and uploads deleted after 8 hours. Good for a one-off. Nothing stays behind, which is the point.
- vs HappyScribe: its MP4 converter says it takes over 47 formats with no sign-up. ScreenApp needs a free account, and in exchange the upload gets a transcript.
Single-Format Pages
If you already know the format, these pages cover one conversion each, with the details for that file type.
MOV to MP4
iPhone and Mac recordings. Open the MOV page
MKV to MP4
Downloads and OBS recordings. Open the MKV page
AVI to MP4
Old Windows and camera files. Open the AVI page
WebM to MP4
Browser recordings. Open the WebM page
WMV to MP4
Windows Media files. Open the WMV page
3GP to MP4
Old phone videos. Open the 3GP page
When the Transcript Is the Reason to Use This
Most people who land on an MP4 converter want one file and never come back. Fine. But some videos are worth more than the MP4.
A lecture recording, for one. Converting the MOV your phone made is the boring half. The useful half is searching the transcript for “exam” and jumping to the minute the lecturer said what would be on it.
Client calls and interviews you have to quote. You need the exact words.
Old family videos copied off camcorder tapes and DVDs, where nobody remembers which of forty files has the wedding speech. Search the transcript for a name instead of opening them one by one.
And editors handed a folder of MKV and WebM footage they did not shoot: the transcript tells you which take has the line you need before you import a single clip into Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve.
