In the digital age, videos play a very important part in our lives. We prefer capturing precious moments and creating content for social media in multiple video file formats, MP4 being the popular choice. MP4 is mainly known because of its balance between quality and file size. However, sometimes you may encounter sudden corruption of MP4 files which makes your videos inaccessible or even causes blunder.
Luckily, there are ways to repair MP4 and salvage your valuable content. In this ultimate guide, we’ll explore the common causes of MP4 corruption and provide several methods to repair corrupt MP4 videos.
What Corrupts MP4 Video Files?
MPEG-4 Part 14 or MP4 video formats get corrupted due to multiple reasons and it is important to identify the exact cause to prevent such issues in future. Some prominent reasons for MP4 corruption are:
- Incomplete File Downloads: Interrupted or incomplete download of MP4 video can corrupt it, causing playback issues.
- File Transfer Errors: There may be problems while copying or transferring video files between devices or storage media, which can also corrupt them.
- Codec Issues: Incompatibility with the video or audio codec required to encode the MP4 file can corrupt or even delete your videos.
- Header Corruption: File header, which contains important file-related metadata, can make your MP4 file unreadable.
- Virus or Malware: Malicious software, like viruses or malware, can affect the integrity of the video files and can corrupt them.
Quick Methods for Repairing Corrupt MP4 Videos
When your precious video file gets corrupted, don’t get upset. This part of the blog will outline some commonly used video file repair methods that you can try to repair and restore your corrupted MP4 videos. So, let’s start!
Method 01: Repair Using Video Repair Software
Looking for the easiest way to repair your corrupted MP4 videos? We have something exciting for you, i.e., Stellar Repair for Video software. This all-in-one video repair tool offers a seamless and efficient way to repair MP4 video that is corrupted or inaccessible. The software is mainly known for its amazing video repairing features, which make it perfect for your video repair. These features include:
- The software can repair your corrupted videos of multiple types, including MP4, MOV, MKS, MTS, and many more.
- Supports repairing of corrupted videos from all internal and external storage devices, SSDs, Hard disks, etc.
- Can repair videos corrupted due to any reason, including damaged storage, virus attacks, video distortion, etc.
- The Stellar Repair for Video tool is 100% safe and secure to download and use.
- It allows you to preview the recoverable files, so you can select only the required files thus saving storage space.
Here’s how to repair corrupt MP4 videos using the Stellar Repair for Video tool:
Step 1: Launch the Stellar Repair for Video tool on your device. From the home page, click the Add Videos button to upload the corrupt MP4 videos.
Step 2: After uploading the corrupted video files, click the Repair button to start the repair process.
Step 3: Once the repair is completed, preview the recoverable files and select the videos you need to restore. Click the “Save Repaired Files” button to save selected files at your chosen location.
Method 02: Repair MP4 Videos Using VLC Media Player
Another best alternative to restoring damaged video files is by using the Windows built-in video repair software, which is VLC Media Player. VLC player not only allows you to play videos but also to repair minor issues with video files.
As mentioned above, videos sometimes get corrupted due to any issue in the file index or file header. In such cases, you can use VLC Media Player to repair your damaged video files. To repair corrupt video files using VLC, you need to:
- Firstly, convert the MP4 video file to AVI. For this, launch the VLC player, click on the Media tab and then select the “Convert/Save” option.
- Add the corrupted video file that you need to repair and click Convert to convert the video in .AVI file.
- Now, from the Settings window that appears on your screen, adjust the settings of the conversion. Select the desired codec and the export location of the converted video and then click the “Start” button.
- After successful conversion, go to Tools > Preferences > Inputs/Codecs. Select ‘Always fix‘ from the drop-down menu next to the ‘Damaged or incomplete AVI file’ option and click on Save.
Method 03: Change Video Output Settings in VLC
If you fail to repair the MP4 file using the above steps, you can try transcoding the corrupted video in VLC. For this:
- Launch the VLC Media player and click on Tools.
- Go to Preferences and click on Video.
- Now under the Video Settings section, change the Output settings from Automatic to DirectX (DirectDraw) video output.
- At last, click the Save button and restart the VLC player.
Tips to Prevent MP4 File Corruption
Prevention is always better than cure. To avoid the risk of MP4 file corruption on your device, you can consider the following best practices:
- Regular Backups: Make a habit of creating backups of your important video files on external storage locations or cloud storage, like Google Cloud, iCloud, Google Drive, etc.
- Safe File Transfers: Use reliable methods to transfer video files between devices and avoid interruptions as it may corrupt/damage your videos.
- Update Software Programs: Keep the video player, codecs, and video editing software up-to-date to ensure compatibility and optimal performance.
- Regular System Maintenance: Perform regular maintenance of your device storage, including checking for malicious software to prevent it from threat and data loss.
Conclusion
Hope, this ultimate guide to repair corrupt MP4 videos helps you to recover your valuable content. Dealing with corrupted MP4 videos can be challenging, but with the above MP4 repair methods, you can easily restore your videos. Whether you choose any manual method or professional video repair software, like Stellar Repair for Video, understanding the causes and proper tips to avoid such issues is very important.