Fix it now
- Drop the file
- Repair runs locally
- Download the result
iPhones record video as .MOV files — Apple's QuickTime container, the format MP4 was actually derived from, so it uses the same moov-atom index principle. Since iOS 11 the default codec inside is HEVC/H.265 ("High Efficiency"); switch to "Most Compatible" and you get H.264 instead, and newer models add Dolby Vision HDR and even ProRes. Whichever codec you shot, the .MOV only becomes playable once the index is written at the end of the clip. Interrupt that and Photos, QuickTime and everything else refuse to open it. Drop the file above and the tool checks for exactly that, in your browser, and rebuilds the container when the footage is recoverable.
What's actually inside an iPhone video
The .MOV extension is the QuickTime container, not the codec — and the two are easy to confuse. In Settings › Camera › Formats you choose "High Efficiency" (HEVC/H.265) or "Most Compatible" (H.264). HEVC has been the default since iOS 11 because it halves file size, and it's required for the highest modes such as 4K 60p and 1080p 240fps slo-mo, as well as Dolby Vision HDR on recent models; iPhone 13 Pro and later can also record ProRes. H.264 is the fallback for maximum compatibility with Windows and older apps.
All of these still write a QuickTime container, and every QuickTime file carries a moov atom: the table that indexes every frame — its offset, size, timing and the codec parameters needed to decode it. The picture data (the mdat) is streamed to storage as you record, but the moov is finalized only when the clip ends cleanly. Lose that step and you're left with a full mdat of HEVC or H.264 and no index — a file Photos shows as a grey or broken thumbnail and QuickTime opens to a spinning error.
The moments that break the index
iPhone clips almost always corrupt at the two points where the moov should be written — the end of recording, and the end of a transfer:
The Camera app or phone crashed mid-capture. A hard crash, a forced restart, or the app being killed while recording ends the take without finalizing it. The frames captured up to that instant are on the device; the index that would have closed the file is not.
Storage filled up while filming. HEVC 4K eats space fast, and when the phone hits zero free bytes during a long take, recording stops abruptly and the container is left open-ended.
A transfer was interrupted. This is the most common one. A .MOV that stops partway through an AirDrop, a USB copy to a Mac or PC, or an iCloud/Photos sync arrives on the other side with its mdat present but its moov truncated or missing — so it plays fine on the phone but won't open once moved. Copying it again from the original, when the original still exists, is always worth trying first.
Each of these leaves valid frames behind an incomplete index — the repairable case. What can't be recovered is footage from after the interruption: it was never written.
Why a clip from the same iPhone helps
When the index is gone, it's rebuilt by scanning the surviving stream and reconstructing the sample tables QuickTime would have written. A healthy clip from the same iPhone, shot in the same format, makes that far more reliable: it carries the exact codec configuration the broken file is missing — the HEVC parameter sets for a High Efficiency clip, or the H.264 ones for a Most Compatible clip — so the rebuild reproduces the original rather than approximating it.
Practically: record a quick throwaway clip on the same phone with the same Camera settings, or grab an existing one, and keep it handy. Match the codec to the broken file — an HEVC reference for an HEVC clip, H.264 for H.264 — and you'll only be prompted for it if the repair actually needs it.
What this can and can't fix
Can fix
- A clip left unfinalized when the Camera app or phone crashed mid-record (missing moov)
- Recordings cut off because storage filled up during capture
- .MOV files truncated by an interrupted AirDrop, USB copy, or iCloud/Photos transfer
- HEVC (H.265) and H.264 .MOV files that won't open in Photos, QuickTime or an editor despite holding real data
Can't fix
- Footage from after the interruption — those frames were never written to storage
- A file that arrived as 0 bytes or mostly zeros from a failed transfer (re-copy from the original first)
- iPhone-encrypted or DRM-protected content
- A broken HEVC clip with no matching HEVC reference available from the same phone
If a repair fails, we tell you why (missing data versus broken structure), and you are never charged for a failed repair.