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Category - File Repair

Free Guide to Repair Corrupt MP4 Video Files

Manisha Rawat

Manisha Rawat

Updated On - June 16, 2020

We all know how important videos are in our lives and the value they hold. A video can be anything to a person depending on their interests and priorities. A video can be a memory recorded, a source of entertainment, a special day you want to cherish your whole life, a very important business presentation, a source of livelihood, etc. Video files come in many different formats, and can be different for different devices. Among them, one of the most acceptable and popular file formats is MP4.

MP4 is widely known for its best video resolution, graphics and audio quality. This makes it a popular format. But, it doesn’t make it error free! Just like any other digital media file, a MP4 can anytime face corruption. This may make many of us sweat. If you are also struggling with some sort of corruption in your MP4 file, then don’t worry. This blog is going to be a complete guide on how to fix a corrupt file.

—A corruption warning may arise like—

“Windows Media Player cannot play the file. The player might not support the file type or might not support the codec that was used to compress the file”

You can always play smart and avoid corruption. Let’s know how!

Knowing the root cause of any problem can always help you to avoid that issue in future. So, let’s know what all can cause the corruption:

  • Power loss during the recording of the video
  • Low battery while recording the video
  • Bad internet connection
  • Incomplete media transfer
  • Interruption while downloading video
  • Physical or logical damage to the video storage device (Pen Drive, Hard disk etc.)
  • Virus attacks

By taking some precaution and measures in accordance with the above-mentioned causes of corruption, you can always protect your precious video files. It’s not just for MP4 file format, avoiding the above-mentioned factors will keep your video files in any format safe to an extent.

How to fix corruption in MP4 file?

So, now the most asked question comes, how to fix a corrupt MP4 file? Well, there is one sure shot method to do it, which is very convenient, pocket-friendly and easy to perform at the same time. But, who doesn’t want to save a dollar or two, and hence we provide a couple of free tricks and methods to repair a video file. Let’s keep going!

FOR MINOR CORRUPTION

  • Have you tried playing the corrupt video file with VLC media player?

If not already, do it now! Who doesn’t know VLC media player! It might be the favourite media player of most of our readers too. For those who are not aware of VLC media player, it is a free application to play videos. It is popular because of its unique features and functionalities, and not to forget a vast video codecs library. These codecs make it play healthy and as well as corrupt video files.

Not only this, it can also play a wide variety of video formats which are not supported by other media players, especially by Windows Media Player!

So, to play the corrupt video file with the VLC media player, all you need to do is have the application downloaded and installed on your system properly. Once done, go to the location of your corrupt video file, make a right click, and select to open with VLC media player. Hope this trick works for you.

FOR MODERATE CORRUPTION

  • Try fixing MP4 file with VLC Media Player

Now, we have just discussed how VLC media player can play video files with minor corruption. But, did you know that VLC can also fix moderate corruption? Well, it can! VLC is continuously modified and enhanced, due to which it keeps on getting better in fighting the corruption in video files. VLC has its own in-built index repair feature which plays the most important role in this whole method. So, we are jotting down the steps involved in this repair process, follow them religiously!

PART-1

  1. Go to the location where your corrupt resides on your system.
  2. Make a right click and select Rename from the given options.
  3. While renaming, change the .mp4 format to .avi format and save the change.

PART-2

  1. Run the VLC media player on your system, and click on Tools.
  2. From the Tool’s menu, select Preferences.
  3. Now, click on the Input/Codecs option.
  4. In the Input/Codecs window, look for the Files category. From the Damaged or incomplete AVI file drop-down box, select Always fix option.
  5. Click on Save to proceed.

Once you perform all of the above-mentioned steps successfully. Try to play the corrupt video file with VLC media player. Hope for the best! If unfortunately, it didn’t work, try the next and final solution.

FOR SEVERE CORRUPTION

  • Fix corruption in first shot with a professional tool

If you tried both of the above-mentioned methods and none of them worked for you, then it means your MP4 file is severely corrupt. In this case, we would not recommend you using manual methods anymore, as they may be risky and you may lose your file forever. So, to safely fix corruption in your video file, without making any changes to its original form and quality, we recommend you using a professional tool. Recoveryfix Video Repair is such an automated video repair utility that fixes severe to severest corruptions in a video file. Not just MP4 files, this tool is capable of fixing a lot more popular video formats available. Hard to believe? Go for the trial version of the tool and save up to 30 seconds of the video for free! Let’s know the step by step process of how this tool works:

Download Now

  1. Launch the tool on your system and in the home screen of the tool select Add Files option.

    2. Add Files option

  2. Now, locate the corrupt video file(s) on your system and select them. Click on Open once selected.

    3. Click on Open once selected

  3. Once all the files are selected, click on the Repair Files option.

    4. Repair Files option

  4. Now, provide a destination to the newly repaired video files and click on OK.

    5. click on OK

  5. Now, you will have the live updates of the repair progress. Wait for the repair process to finish and click on the Close button once done.

    6. Close button once done

    Once done, you can check the video files at your saved destination. You can also generate a CSV report, by clicking on the Save report to CSV option.

    Conclusion:
    Corruption in a video file can surely give nightmares to anyone. In this tool we tried to explain the reasons and fixes for the corruption in MP4 files. We suggested VLC media player and Recoveryfix video repair as the best resorts to fix the corruption. However, if you don’t want to waste your time and efforts trying other methods with the equal chances of success and failure. We highly recommend you to use Recoveryfix Video Repair as the first and the last option to try. Hope you find this blog helpful, write to us for further queries!

    13 thoughts on “Free Guide to Repair Corrupt MP4 Video Files”

    1. This article is very interesting & amazing. I am really impressed with your work. I hope you will soon share your next post about this discussion.

    2. The method you have shown to work in the VLC player. But after the repair process, can I run the videos in the different video players?

    3. Hi, Felix
      Yes, the software can repair the software suitable to run in any kind of video player apart from VLC player. you can choose any player to run the video

    4. Actually, VLC player has a convert option to convert the video file in any other video format. Can i also apply this method?

    5. Hi, Liam
      You can choose to convert the video format of a corrupt MP4 file. But it does not mean that the corruption is gone. So, you will have to try to repair the video.

    6. I tried to use the VLC Media Player method to fix the corruption error in my MP4 video, but it doesn’t work the way you have mentioned. What should I do now?

    7. Hi, Colton
      Before using the method, make sure you have renamed the video file with .AVI extension because this method only works for avi formats. However, if it still doesn’t work, it means your MP4 file is majorly corrupt. For that, you can use our effective utility Recoveryfix for Video Repair.

    8. My video has lost sound in some places also. Will the codecs be able to retrieve the sound also?

    9. Hi, Harry
      Codecs are used for video compression majory. they can handle the video smartly, but to recover a lost sound in video, you can use a repair tool that can retrieve the complete data of the respective video.

    10. While using Recoveryfix Video Repair, the tool is asking for a reference file corresponding to the videos that I have added. Can you please provide some information regarding this?

    11. Most of the times when you add a video to the tool’s interface, a reference file is required in order to interpret the structure of the format. Add a healthy file of the same format in order to proceed with your repair process.

    12. Is it necessary to convert the MP4 file format to AVI to repair the file with VLC Media Player?

    13. Hi Harrison, if you are using VLC media player, then it is crucial to convert the MP4 file to AVI because VLC support repairing of AVI file formats. Also, the method mentioned above clearly show that VLC is ideal for repairing AVI videos. In case, if you’re unable to repair the file with VLC media player, you can use our effective utility Recoveryfix Video Repair, which is specially designed for this purpose.

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