How to open .MOV files (QuickTime movies) on Android, Windows and Linux

Someone with an iPhone shares a video, you copy it to your Windows laptop or Android phone, and it won’t play, or plays sound over a black screen. The file ends in .MOV, and the usual suspect is the codec inside, not the file.

MOV is Apple’s QuickTime format, and outside Apple’s own devices it needs a player that understands what’s inside. Folders’ video player, built on mpv, plays MOV and QT files for free on Android, Windows and Linux.

What is a .MOV file?

MOV is the QuickTime File Format, introduced by Apple with QuickTime in 1991. Older QuickTime movies sometimes use the .qt extension; it’s the same format. MOV organises a video into nested “atoms”, and that design became the basis of the MP4 standard, which is why the two formats are close relatives.

Like MP4, a MOV is a container, and what’s inside varies:

Where it came from	What’s usually inside
iPhone or iPad, High Efficiency setting	HEVC (H.265) video, AAC audio, sometimes HDR
iPhone or iPad, Most Compatible setting	H.264 video, AAC audio
Live Photo	A short clip of a few seconds that goes with the still photo
Mirrorless and DSLR cameras	H.264 or HEVC, sometimes with PCM audio
Professional cameras and editing software	Apple ProRes, large files meant for editing
Old CD-ROMs and websites (.qt)	Older codecs such as Sorenson Video

The iPhone setting lives under Settings → Camera → Formats. High Efficiency gives smaller files, but HEVC is exactly what many Windows PCs and older devices can’t decode out of the box.

How to open a .MOV file with Folders

On Android

1. Download and install Folders from the download page, then allow file access.
2. Locate the MOV: in Download, a chat app’s folder, or wherever you saved it (here’s where WhatsApp and Telegram keep their files).
3. Tap it to play in Folders’ video player.
4. Opening it from Gmail, Drive or a messenger? Choose Open with → Folders.

On Windows and Linux

1. Install Folders.
2. Browse to the MOV or QT file in Folders and double-click it.
3. On Windows, Folders also appears in File Explorer’s right-click Open with menu for MOV and QT files.

What you can do with it in Folders

• Play iPhone videos, HEVC included. The player is built on mpv, which brings its own decoders, so it doesn’t need Windows’ HEVC add-on.
• Zoom into the frame: pinch and drag on a phone, or Ctrl + mouse wheel on a computer.
• Change speed to replay a moment slowly or skim a long clip.
• Resume later. Folders remembers where you stopped, and the Toolbox’s Video player lists your videos by folder, with unwatched ones counted.
• Subtitles: an embedded track, a same-name file beside the video, one you pick, or Search online…, with delay, size and colour settings.
• Audio tracks and audio delay, for cameras that record several tracks or sound that lags.
• Picture in picture on Android, with controls in the notification and on the lock screen; a small always-on-top window on computers.
• Decoder switch: HW, HW+ on Android, or SW.

Two limits. On Android and Windows, Folders’ player has no decoder for Apple ProRes (including ProRes clips from iPhone Pro models) or for the Sorenson Video codec in old QuickTime movies; use VLC for those. And Folders doesn’t edit, trim or convert MOV files.

Other ways to open .MOV files

• VLC: free on Windows, Linux and Android, and plays nearly every MOV.
• Windows’ Media Player and Photos: fine with H.264 MOVs; HEVC ones need Microsoft’s HEVC Video Extensions.
• Your phone’s gallery app, which on most recent Android phones plays H.264 and often HEVC.

Avoid QuickTime for Windows. Apple stopped updating it in 2016, and security warnings followed recommending that people uninstall it.

Problems opening a .MOV file?

• Sound but no picture, or “codec missing”, on Windows. The video is most likely HEVC. Install Microsoft’s HEVC Video Extensions (a small paid add-on in the Store) for Windows’ own apps, or use a player that brings its own decoder, such as Folders or VLC.
• Washed-out or overly bright colours. Recent iPhones record HDR video. On screens or players without HDR support, it can look dull or harsh. That’s colour handling, not damage. On the iPhone, turning off HDR video in the camera settings avoids it for future clips.
• A huge file that won’t play. ProRes MOVs are made for editing and can use a gigabyte or more per minute. Open them in VLC or in editing software on a computer. If they came from an iPhone, turning off ProRes in the camera settings gives ordinary HEVC or H.264 clips next time.
• The video is only three seconds long. That’s probably the motion part of a Live Photo, not a broken file.

Questions people ask

How do I open MOV files on Windows 11? Media Player handles H.264 MOVs. For iPhone HEVC videos, buy Microsoft’s HEVC extension or use Folders or VLC, which decode HEVC themselves.

Can I play MOV files on Android? Yes. Folders plays MOV files, including HEVC ones from iPhones, on Android.

How do I convert MOV to MP4? HandBrake (free) converts MOV to MP4. Folders doesn’t convert video. To avoid the issue on an iPhone, set Camera → Formats to Most Compatible.

MOV vs MP4: what’s the difference? MP4 is the international standard that grew out of MOV. They’re nearly the same inside, but MOV is more common for Apple devices and professional codecs like ProRes, while MP4 plays on more devices. See how to open MP4 files.

Got iPhone photos too? See how to open HEIC photos, or browse all 382 file types Folders opens.