MP4 video format is famous for delivering high-quality audio and video through files of relatively small sizes. It is used worldwide to download and stream video files from the internet and is supported by almost every media player. But just like any other video file format, MP4 files are also prone to corruption.
When playing MP4 videos, there might be times when you get error messages from your media player like “Unsupported media type”, “Windows player can’t play the file”, or “can’t play this video format”, due to the player’s inability to process the video. To fix corrupted MP4 video files in such a situation, there are many ways available. But before going to the solution, we should find out about the causes of the error. This will help in avoiding the same problem in the future.
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Reasons for the Corruption of MP4 Video Files
An MP4 file can be corrupted in many ways, some of the common ones are:
1. Interrupted file transfer
While transferring a video file to any other device, any interruption may cause incomplete information to reach the destination file, and it can’t be played by media players.
2. Virus or malware
A virus or malware is very much the possible reason to damage or corrupt your video file. Even after the MP4 files are resilient to direct virus attacks, many malware disguise themselves as video file extensions to corrupt them.
3. Corrupted storage device
Storage devices like SSD, HDD, pen drives, flash drives, etc. are often used to store video files. If these devices get damaged, they also corrupt data inside it along with MP4 video files.
4. Power loss during file creation
Sometimes there are power cuts or shutdowns due to low battery while recording or editing a video in MP4 format. This can make the Codec of the file unable to store all the data of the video resulting in the file being corrupted.
5. Files Converted into MP4
As MP4 format is very popular, users always try to convert other file formats into it. But sometimes the conversion doesn’t happen properly and the resultant MP4 file is unplayable.
Now that we’ve discussed the causes of MP4 file corruption, let’s move on to the solutions for fixing it.
Ways to fix corrupted MP4 video files
1. Use Video Repair Tool
One of the best ways to fix the corruption issues of an MP4 video file is by downloading a video repair tool. It doesn’t matter for which reason your video file has been corrupted, a good video repair tool like Stellar Repair for Video always fixes it without any issue. Your MP4 file can show a black screen, become inaudible, or may be completely unplayable; all these issues can be resolved by a video repair tool.
Here are the steps to repair an MP4 file with Stellar Repair for Video:
- Download, install, and launch Stellar Repair for Video on your system.
- Click on the option of “Add Files” to import corrupted video files from the device.
- Now click on the Repair option to start the repairing process. All your video files will be scanned and repaired one by one.
- After the repair process is completed, you can click on the “Preview” option to see if the repaired video is playable.
- Once you are satisfied with the results, you can save the video file to the desired location by clicking on the “Save Repaired Files” option.
2. Use VLC Media Player
The VLC media player is quite popular among PC video players. Even in mobile devices, some file formats that aren’t supported by other players work fine with VLC. What’s more, you can also play MP4 videos with minor corruption in this player. The unique feature of the VLC player (a vast codec library) helps it in playing slightly damaged video files without any fixation.
What’s more, even if your MP4 video is severely corrupted and isn’t playing, the VLC comes with the option of an in-built repair feature. Known as “Fix Damaged or incomplete AVI file“, with which you can fix corrupt MP4 video filesusing the following steps:
- On your computer, navigate to the location of your corrupted file and select the Rename option.
- Rename the MP4 file extension to AVI, and save the changes.
- Now open the VLC media player and click on the Tools ->Preferences ->Input/Codecs.
- After opening the Input/Codecs window, you will see Fix Damaged or incomplete AVI file Open its drop-down list, and select Always Fix.
- Click on Save to Proceed.
Now you can try to play your MP4 video file in VLC media player and it will run smoothly. But just in case this feature doesn’t work on your corrupted file, you can try one more feature of VLC.
3. Use VLC Convert Feature
The VLC media player also comes with a feature of transcoding, which can convert and save a non-playing video to a playable one. You can use this feature to save a corrupted MP4 file as a new video, and the best part is that the video file can also be played on other media players after the conversion.
Listed below are the steps to repair MP4 files with VLC media player:
- Launch the VLC media player and open the Menu ->Convert/Save option and a window will appear.
- Add the corrupted MP4 video file by clicking on the Add option, then click on Convert/Save.
- Create a new name for the file and choose its destination.
- Now select a preferred codec from the profile list to set up profile settings.
- Click on Save and at last click on Start to begin the conversion.
Now you can check the new video file on your computer device, and it should play without any issues. These steps will also resolve any compatibility problem of the video file.
Winding Up
Video file corruption can be the worst nightmare for a professional or home user, as videos contain your memories or even your important work. In this article, all the possible reasons and best ways to fix corrupt MP4 video fileshave been properly explained. You can ensure the recovery of your video files with the help above mentioned methods. Despite these, you should always have a backup copy of video files on any cloud service or any other storage device to prevent data loss.