How to Repair Corrupt MP4 Video Files

Videos of family get-togethers are like reliving old memories, especially during these stay-at-home days. But what if you find the MP4 videos in your archives are corrupted one day? They are not playing well or don’t open at all. Instead, the videos are jerky, flickering, missing sound, showing a black screen, or other playback problems.

Your MP4 videos shot with DSLR, GoPro, Android, or iPhone are precious possessions you want to keep forever. And losing them to corruption is painful.

But it is no more agonizing over the lost videos. Instead, we will share how you can repair and recover corrupted MP4 files in the playable and pristine form again.

Why do your MP4 videos turn corrupt?

There can be many reasons for MP4 file corruption. Foremost is the digital media in which you store video files. In addition, SD cards, pen drives, USB flash drives, or hard drives are prone to corruption. This is because they have a limited lifespan and can develop bad sectors damaging their stored files.

Apart from this, it can be the result of your mistakes too. You may not be following the best practices that could have prevented video corruption. Finally, there are technical hiccups that we can’t escape.

Some of the common causes of MP4 file corruption are:

• Sudden computer shutdown while watching/ editing video.
• Incomplete MP4 file transfer/ download due to a sudden power cut or disconnect, etc.
• OS crash
• Virus attack or malware in the computer
• MP4 video storage drive has developed bad sectors
• You use the same pen drive or SD card on multiple devices

Watch this video to learn “How to Repair Corrupt MP4 Video Files.“

How to Fix Corrupt MP4 Files

You can repair damaged or corrupted videos with the help of MP4 repair software.

But note if a video is not playing or showing an error, it may not necessarily be corrupt. The problem can be with the device or media player you use to play MP4 videos. So, before getting on to a video repair software, try these troubleshooting methods to fix damaged MP4 videos:

Fix Damaged or Unplayable MP4 Videos Without Software

1. Play the video in another Media Player

Media players are not compatible with every video format. Although media players mostly support MP4, technical issues can still occur. So change the media player. Then, play your MP4 files in VLC Media Player, Winamp, KMPlayer, or others.

2. Convert the video file format

If MP4 videos are not playing, convert the file format, such as MP4 to MOV, MP4 to AVI, and so on. You can choose any online MP4 converter program or desktop conversion software like Stellar Converter for Audio Video.

VLC Media Player can also convert MP4 videos to a different file format.

3. Download MP4 Codecs

A codec is used to compress or decompress a video file. Every video file format has an audio and video codec. For example, MP4 file types use MPEG-4 codec to compress video and AAC compression for audio. If your media player doesn’t have these codecs, it cannot play an MP4 file and may show errors, such as ‘A codec is required to play this file.’

The solution is to download the right codecs. You can also get a codec pack online, such as Media Player Codec pack, X codec pack, or K-Lite or Perian for your PC or Mac computer. A pack would contain codecs for most video file types, including MP4.

Warning:Always download video codecs from their official website. Downloading from an untrusted source can put your computer at virus or malware risk.

Fix corrupt or damaged MP4 files with a repair software

When the above troubleshooting doesn’t work, go for the efficient Stellar Repair for Video software. VLC Media Player also has a built-in video repair feature that can fix corruption in the file index.

Method 1: Repair MP4 videos with a Video Repair Software

Stellar Repair for Video is an advanced repair software that fixes all corruption issues in a video file. For example, you can use the software to repair damaged, quickly, and severely corrupt MP4 files.

It can repair choppy, flickering, jerky, black/ green screens, truncated, no sound, audio lag, and many other video problems arising from corruption in the file header, frames, movement, or sound section, etc.

Steps to repair corrupt MP4 videos with Stellar Repair for Video:

• Download & launch Stellar Repair for Video on PC or Mac.

• Click Add file to upload corrupt MP4 videos.

• Then, click Repair to begin the repair process.

• Preview the repaired video. Click Save Repaired Files to save the repaired MP4 videos at your chosen location.

Method 2: Repair MP4 videos by using VLC Media Player

The multi-functional VLC Media Player can specifically fix video file index corruption that can lead to jerky or stuttering videos.

Although the repair feature is for AVI format, you can rename the MP4 file to AVI to repair it in VLC Player.

Steps to repair corrupt MP4 video in VLC Media Player:

• Rename corrupt .MP4 file to .AVI extension.
• Open this .AVI file in the VLC Player.
• In the top menu bar, click Tools > Preferences > Input or Codecs.

• Across Damaged or incomplete AVI Files, select Always Fix.

• Click on Save.

Now try to play the repaired video file.

Conclusion

Although video repair software is the solution to fix corrupt MP4 files, we recommend first trying workarounds like file format conversion or playing in a different media player.

If these don’t work, go for Stellar Repair for Video, a professional video repair tool. It can fix unlimited videos in one go and is known to repair severe corruption issues in MP4 and other video file types.