How to Convert iMovie to MP4 Fast [Mac/Windows/iPhone]

Karen Nelson
April 9, 2023

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As a free video editing platform designed by Apple for macOS and iOS systems, iMovie always automatically save files in MOV format. Unfortunately, this format is not compatible with the majority of media players. It might cause inconvenience when you want to enjoy desired movies on other portable devices.

Therefore, it is necessary to convert and download them in mainstream formats. We will display different methods for converting iMovies to MP4 on Mac, Windows and iPhone.

How to Convert iMovie to MP4 on Mac

In this part, three methods are introduced for Mac users. You can get some basic steps for converting iMovie to MP4 with the help of the iMovie app, QuickTime and VLC Media Player.

Option 1. Export iMovie to MP4 with iMovie

The editing video clips can be directly saved as MP4 with iMovie. It is simple and all you need to do is make a change to the output setting.

Step1. After finishing editing your video, click on File in the upper left corner and choose Share > File.

Step2. Then, a pop-up window will appear for you to adjust output parameters. The most important step is to set the video quality to Low, Medium and High. Remember not to select the Best (ProRes), or your file will be exported in MOV format automatically.

Step3. After settings, simply tap the Next button to select a destination folder to save your exported iMovie MP4 file.

Option 2. Save iMovie as MP4 with QuickTime Pro

Mac users can also use QuickTime Pro to convert MOV to MP4. QuickTime Pro is the paid edition of QuickTime player, which boasts features such as editing and format conversion. It also allows you to edit QuickTime files directly and download movies from the web.

When it comes to conversion, you can follow these steps.

Step1. Install and launch QuickTime Pro on your MacBook. Tap the File option in the top toolbar and select the Open File option from the drop-down menu.

Step2. Select the MOV file you need to convert and add it to QuickTime Pro.

Step3. Tap the File option again and select Export from the drop-down menu.

Step4. Choose Movie to MPEG-4 to start exporting video to MP4 format.

Option 3. Convert MOV to MP4 with VLC

VLC is a free and open source multimedia player for playing most media files and a platform converting files to different formats. Hence, if you have VLC media player on your computer, you can also convert MOV to MP4 with its help.

Here are some simple steps to convert MOV files to MP4 with VLC.

Step1. Launch the VLC media player and click on the File option to choose Convert/Stream from the drop-down menu.

Step2. Tap the Open media button to add the MOV iMovie file. Then, you should set the format to Video – H.264 + MP3 (MP4).

Step3. Click on the Save as File button to set your file name, tags and destination folder. Then, click Save to start converting.

How to Convert MOV to MP4 on Windows with VideoSolo

If you are a Windows user, finding an easy-to-grasp way to convert MOV to MP4 must haunt you because you can not get access to iMovie and QuickTime. Even though you can still resort to VLC Media Player to finish your conversion, its conversion speed is far too slow to handle large video files. Also, the converted video quality is hard to be guaranteed.

To solve these problems, we highly recommend you to try a multifunctional and intuitive video converter, VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate. This tool boasts advanced features ranging from profile presets, and compression to editing. It also allows you to batch convert favorite videos 50X faster than ever and the high output quality can be perfectly guaranteed.

For Mac users, they can not export MP4 files of the highest quality (ProRes) using iMovie. If you try QuickTime Pro, it requires you to pay for an upgrade. If you use VLC Media Player, the converting operation can be relatively complex and no editing features are provided. Therefore, we also recommend Mac users to try VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate in order to gain a smooth and easy converting experience.

Here are Key Features of VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate.

High efficiency in converting is ensured

Because the cutting-edge Blu-Hyper technology which is applied in Ultrafast Conversion, VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate can enhance the converting speed to 50X faster than ever. The conversion process can only take one click and a few minutes. Also, batch conversion is supported to boost efficiency.

Multiple output formats are provided

VideoSolo tool can provide different file formats with specific output specifications. More than 200 preset options can be chosen for your mobile phones, laptops or game consoles. For converted videos, here are formats that you can choose: MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, 5K/8K Video, WMV, WEBM, MXF, M4V, XVID, MPEG, VOB, etc.

Essential editing tools are given to create better videos

There are editing tools for you to polish videos before conversion. You can rotate, crop, split, cut and merge videos. ID tags such as title, artist, album and genre can also be edited freely.

High video quality is guaranteed

To satisfy different users’ needs, the tool supports multiple outputs ranging from HD, 4K, 5K to 8K Ultra HD.

With a straightforward user interface, the operation process can be completed with ease. You can follow these three steps to get your iMovie MOV videos converted to MP4 via VideoSolo.

Step1: Download the VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate and Add Video Files

Please download and install VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate. Then, open the software. There are three options for you to add iMovie video files into this software:

Tap the “Add Files” button at the top to select files in your computer folders.
Click on the “+” button in the middle of the interface to select files on your computer.
Drag-and-drop the video files from your computer into the main interface.

Step2: Modify Output Settings

Then, you can customize the output format as MP4 for your iMovie video files. By clicking on the “Convert All to” button, there are over 200 formats and preset devices in the drop-down menu for your choice. Video quality can also be modified as you desire.

Remember to click on the “Save to” button at the bottom of the main interface, you can decide where to save your converted videos.

Step3: Start Converting Video Files

To start conversion, you just need to tap the “Convert All” button. After the conversion, you can navigate your mouse to the “Converted” section and click the “Open Folder” to check converted video files.

How to Export iMovie to MP4 on iPhone with iMovie

If you are working on your video project on your iPhone, you can convert it to MP4 with iMovie directly.

Here are some simple steps to export iMovie to MP4 on iPhone with iMovie.

Step1. Launch the iMovie on your iPhone and add the video file that you desire to convert.

Step2. Click on “Done” at the top left and press the “Share” button. Then, you can select “Options” to adjust the output format.

Step3. Choose MP4 format and tap “Done”. The video will be automatically saved to Photos library.

What About Converting iMovie to MP4 Online

If you don’t want to download extra software to conduct conversion, you can also try some online converters. It won’t cost much time and computer storage. With a few quick clicks, you can finish the conversion on your browser easily. But there are also some drawbacks despite convenience. For example, the size of video that you can convert is limited; Network stability may lead to conversion failure; There are only basic converting features. In that sense, we may still recommend you to use a dedicated video converter to convert your favourite iMovie videos.

If you don’t mind the above limitations, you can follow these steps to convert iMovie to MP4 online. Here, we take the online converter Zamzar as an example.

Step 1. Navigate to your browser on the computer and open Zamzar.com.

Step 2. Drag and drop the video files you want to convert from iMovie.

Step 3. Choose MP4 as the output format.

Step 4. Click “Convert Now” to start the conversion process.

FAQs about Converting iMovie to MP4

Why Does iMovie Not Export to MP4?

While exporting MOV video files to MP4 with iMovie, you may find it not working sometimes. There are some reasons that lie behind.

Your MP4 video is encoded with the codec that are not supported by iMovie.
Your computer storage is full and there is not enough space available for movies.
There are some black frames or incompatible audio in your iMovie video.
There are some distorted images in your video disturbing the conversion.

Note:

If you set the output quality as best Quality (ProRes), it will also cause conversion to MP4 failure.

Why Isn't My iMovie Compatible with QuickTime?

If your iMovie is not compatible with QuickTime, reasons can be the corruption of your files or some video codec issues. If you can not solve these problems by reopening your files, you’d better try a professional converter like VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate.

Conclusion

In conclusion, in this post, we offer different methods for converting iMovie video files to MP4 on Mac/Window computers as well as mobile phones. You can choose any of them according to the reality. To avoid some limitations of iMovie, QuickTime and VLC Media Player, we also recommend a very practical software named VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate. With this converter, you can convert iMovie files fast from MOV to MP4 and gain high-quality videos. Detailed instruction of conversion is displayed for you.