How to convert WMV to MOV
- Click Choose files or drop your WMV video into the box above.
- Keep the default quality, or choose a target size, resolution or frame rate.
- Click Convert and download the MOV when it is ready.
WMV vs MOV
| WMV | MOV | |
|---|---|---|
| Usual codecs | Windows Media Video 7/8/9 with WMA audio | H.264 or H.265 (HEVC) from iPhones, ProRes from cameras, with AAC audio |
| Plays on | Windows Media Player; not supported on Mac, iPhone, Android or in browsers | Apple devices natively; on Windows, Android and many websites support is hit-and-miss (especially for HEVC) |
| Best for | Old Windows Movie Maker projects and archives | Recording and editing on iPhone and Mac |
| Introduced | 1999 by Microsoft | 1991 by Apple |
About WMV and MOV
What is WMV?
WMV was Microsoft’s main video format in the Windows XP era, produced by Windows Movie Maker and many old cameras and screen recorders. Macs, phones and browsers cannot play it, so old WMV videos are best converted to MP4.
- Plays on older Windows PCs
- No support on Mac, iPhone, Android or the web
- Obsolete
What is MOV?
MOV is Apple’s QuickTime format and what an iPhone records by default. MP4 was actually derived from it, so most MOV files contain the same kind of video and can often be converted to MP4 in seconds without re-encoding. Since iOS 11, iPhones record HEVC (H.265) video, which many Windows PCs, Android phones and websites cannot play — converting to MP4 with H.264 fixes that.
- Native on iPhone and Mac
- Supports pro codecs like ProRes
- HEVC MOV files often will not play on Windows or Android
- Some websites reject MOV uploads
Why GlideConvert?
- Private by design. Your files are converted on your own device by your browser — they are never uploaded to a server. That keeps them private, avoids upload waits and means there is no queue.
- Fast. Images convert in a fraction of a second; video uses your device’s hardware encoder and is often simply repackaged without re-encoding.
- Free. No sign-up, no watermark. 10 images, 5 audio files or one video at a time — Pro lifts the limits and removes ads.
Frequently asked questions
Will converting WMV to MOV lose quality?
Often not at all. If the WMV file already contains video and audio that MOV supports (H.264 video and AAC audio are the most common), they are copied as-is: no quality loss, and even a large file converts in seconds. Otherwise the video is re-encoded at high quality — choose a quality level or a target file size in the options.
How long does converting WMV to MOV take?
Usually much less than the length of the video: modern browsers encode video with your device’s hardware. WMV needs a universal decoder (FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly, a one-time ~32 MB download) which is slower — expect roughly real-time speed for HD video.
Is WMV still worth keeping?
WMV is obsolete — only Windows Media Player plays it reliably. Converting to MP4 keeps your videos watchable on any device for years to come.
Is there a file size limit?
On the free plan each video or audio file can be up to 500 MB and each image up to 100 MB. With Pro the limit is 4 GB per file. Because everything happens on your device, the practical limit for very large files is your device’s memory.
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. GlideConvert runs entirely in your browser: images are processed with the browser’s built-in codecs and WebAssembly, video and audio with hardware-accelerated WebCodecs (or a WebAssembly build of FFmpeg for older formats). Nothing is sent anywhere — you can even disconnect from the internet once the page has loaded.
Does it work on iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows?
Yes. It works in any up-to-date browser — Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox or Samsung Internet — on phones, tablets and computers, with nothing to install. Long or 4K videos convert faster on a computer than on a phone.