If you are unable to play a recorded video on your phone or if you have an MP4 video file that cannot play properly, you don’t need to despair. There are both applications and desktop software out there that can repair damaged mp4 videos and save events and memories that are very important to you.
MP4 is a very popular multimedia format, generally used to store a movie or video clip. It is a common file format for streaming and downloading videos from the Internet. Repairing corrupt or damaged MP4 file is possible but you have to use the right tool that can recompose the file and allow you to open MP4 files correctly and without interruptions or problems. Below here are the best solutions we suggest you try to repair mp4 video no matter the problem you encountered (black screen while playing, mp4 file with no sound , mp4 not complete, and so on.)
- Recoverit Video Repair
- MP4fix
- VLC Player
- Get My Video Back
Solution # 1: Recoverit Video Repair
Recoverit Video Repair is a powerful tool that can repair broken, damaged, corrupted and inaccessible video files in a few simple steps. It solves the problem of videos getting corrupted during the process of shooting, recording, editing, processing, transferring or converting videos . It can repair corrupt mp4 video files from camcorders, SD cards, Android phones, iPhones, laptops, drone camera, action cam, memory card, dashcam, hard drive, CCTV cameras, USB, etc …
To get started, download the free trial version of the program to your computer (Windows or Mac), thanks to which you can see if your MP4 file is still repairable!
This program supports repair of major video file formats like FLV, AVI, 3GP, MOV, MP4, M4V, M2TS, repairs MKV and MTS files and is compatible with both Windows and Mac.
Follow these simple steps to repair your damaged mp4 file right away. If your mp4 file is on your mobile you will need to transfer videos from your phone to your PC and then import that video into the repair program
Step 1: Import the corrupt MP4 file into the program
Open the app on your PC / Mac and click on the Video Repair function at the bottom
Then upload the damaged mp4 video file by clicking the Add or Add Video button and start the repair. You can also drag and drop files to the program screen to load them faster.
Step 2: Repair damaged mp4
Click the Repair button to start the repair process of damaged mp4 videos.
Step 3: Preview the repaired mp4 file
After waiting a few minutes you can see the repaired mp4 file and check its quality by previewing the video.
Step 4: If the video has not been repaired yet use the “Advanced Video Repair” function
The Advanced Repair feature will appear below the video preview and once clicked the program will ask you to upload a similar video file created with the same device.
Step 5: Export repaired mp4 file
Finally click the Save button to export the repaired mp4 video files to your desired destination folder.
Note: The video repair function is present ONLY in the ADVANCED package of Recoverit
Solution # 2: MP4Fix
Another possible solution to the problem is that offered by the application (compatible with Android devices) called MP4Fix . It is an app that manages to repair mp4 videos directly on the mobile phone, without using the computer. However, even reading the comments on the Play Store, it is evident that the repair percentage is not very high as it is for programs used on computers (see solution 1 above).
Therefore, before buying this app (it costs about 5.99 €), we recommend that you try it and see if the trial version actually allows you to repair (in full) your MP4 file. We haven’t had the opportunity to try it ourselves, but by reading the features of the app, it should be able to repair MP4 files in different scenarios like:
Camera Crash: When the camera app crashes during video recording and the message “ Unfortunately the camera has stopped “ is displayed . In this case the saved video cannot be played and with MP4Fix you can try to solve the problem.
Insufficient storage space: If a “ Storage space low ” system notification appears while you were recording video, the recorded file may no longer be playable.
Low Battery : If your MP4 video doesn’t work because your phone shut down while saving the recorded video or downloading from the Internet.
MP4Fix can be downloaded from this page of the Google Play Store. It is a really simple and intuitive app to use and is one of the few tools capable of repairing videos directly on the mobile. Unfortunately, it does not always succeed and may have compatibility problems with some Android devices. MP4Fix video repair tool is not working on operating systems other than Android. Here’s how it works in detail:
Sep 1: Install, launch the app and select the damaged mp4 file
Open the app and select one of the corrupt videos from the list that appears
Step 2: Select a working video
MP4Fix uses a working video to repair the corrupt video, as long as it was recorded on the same device using the same camera app.
Step 3: Start repair
Select the Repair option to start the process. Wait a minute.
Step 4: Preview or save mp4 file
You will be notified when the repair is complete. Preview the repaired file or save it by tapping one of the available options
Solution # 3: VLC Player
To play a damaged mp4 file you can try the VLC media player . Follow these steps to play damaged mp4 file with this media player.
- Select the .mp4 file that has been damaged
- Right click and select Open withoption , then select VLC media player
- The damaged video file will start playing
VLC is a free media player and is a perfect tool when it comes to repairing damaged and MP4, AVI, MOV or QTRM format files.
If you are unable to play your mp4 file with the above method, try to fix it with these steps:
Step 1 . Right-click on the damaged mp4 file and select the Rename option .
Step 2. Press send to change the extension from .mp4 to .avi
Step 3. Open the VLC player and click on the Tools menu . From the drop-down menu, select Preferences
Step 4 . Select the Input / Codec option and a window will open.
Step 5. In the file section under Damaged or incomplete , select Always fix . Then click on the Save option
Now try playing the video file again.
Solution 4. Get My Videos Back
This program (for Windows PC) can be downloaded from this page and is an “old” program which, however, in some cases can repair MP4 files. Besides MP4 it also supports AVI, 3GP, MPEG, and others. Here’s how it works.
- Download and install the program on your PC
- Click the Openoption
- Select the damaged mp4 file and start the repair.
