Methods to Repair Inaccessible or Corrupted MP4 Video Files

Berry Mathew

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Methods to Repair Inaccessible or Corrupted MP4 Video Files

MP4 is a popular video format that you can use to store video and audio files. It is a widely used file format for downloading and streaming video content from the internet. Nowadays, almost all cameras and mobile devices capture videos in this format.

Sometimes these MP4 video files get corrupted or damaged suddenly and stop playing. It becomes painful when your important video files corrupted or damaged.

If your videos become fail to play and stuck after playing for some time, don’t get upset! Addressing the corruption issues on your video, here we have mentioned several methods to repair inaccessible or corrupted MP4 video files.

In this article, we are focusing on common reasons of MP4 videos damage and best methods to repair those videos with some tips to avoid such issues in the future.

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Why Do MP4 Video Files Get Corrupt?

Before going to find out the methods to repair MP4 video files, it is also important to know the reasons that responsible for this corruption.

There are some common reasons for MP4 video corruption as given below:

  • Virus or malware attack on your computer 
  • Sudden system shutdown or connection interruption while transferring videos
  • Bad sectors in the video storage device
  • Unstable internet connection while streaming or downloading video files online
  • Error while reading or writing data on an SD card or other removable media
  • Change in video file format from MP4 to any other format

How do I Repair Corrupted MP4 Video Files?

Once you know the exact reason for your video file corruption, it’s time to apply some methods to make the video playable again. If you are getting any error messages while playing your videos, try to apply some MP4 repair methods without any delay to get it resolved.

Here we are providing some best methods to repair corrupted MP4 video files. Just apply these methods to repair your video files:

Method 01: Repair Corrupted Video File Using VLC Media Player

Windows VLC media player is a popular application that not only allows playing video files but also fixes minor corruption issues. Its in-built index repair feature instantly repairs your video files by repairing the file indexes.

VLC player supports AVI format repair, so it is important to rename your MP4 file by changing its extension to AVI and then apply the following method to repair MP4:

  • Firstly, rename and change the extension of your MP4 video file to .avi.
  • Now, launch the VLC media player and open the .avi file in it.
  • Click on Tools from the menu bar located at the top and select “Preferences”.
  • Navigate to the “Input/Codecs” section and from the “Settings” window, select the “Always fix” option next to the “Damaged or incomplete AVI file” drop-down.
  • At last, click to the Save button. Then, check if you are able to play the video file on your computer.

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Method 02: Transcode MP4 Video File in VLC Player

Many users found that transcoding the video files in VLC Media Player helps them to play videos even on unsupported media players. Check the following steps to transcode MP4 files using the VLC player:

  •  Launch the VLC player and click “Convert/Save” from the Media menu bar.
  • Hit the Add button and select the video file that you need to be transcoded.
  • Next, click on ‘Convert/Save’ and select a file name and desired file location in the Convert window.
  • From the Profile list, that appears on the screen, select the desired input codecs as per your need. Press the Edit Selected Profile button to configure the profile settings.

The above steps will help you to fix corrupt MP4 files mainly arising because of incompatibility with the media player.

Once the transcoding process gets successfully executed, you can try playing your video files using VLC or any other video player.

Method 03: Change Video Output Settings in VLC

This is one of the useful methods to repair MP4 video files. Mainly the process of changing the video output setting best works when your video files display a white or back screen, or any other form of distortion. All you have to do is:

  • Open the VLC player app, go to “Tools” > “Preferences” and then click on Video.
  • From the dropdown menu next to the Output option in the Video Settings window, change from Automatic to DirectX (DirectDraw) video output.
  • Press the Save button located at the bottom and restart the VLC player.

 Method 04: Use a Professional Video Repair Tool

If the above MP4 repair methods get fail to fix the issue and the MP4 file is still not playable, you can use a professional video repair software. There are several such software programs available online that you can use to fix severe multimedia corruption issues.

To deal with such corruption issues, we recommend you to use Stellar Repair for Video software. This amazing tool allows you to repair severely corrupted movie files, music videos, and other video format files in a few simple clicks.

Using Stellar Repair for Video software, you can repair your inaccessible or corrupted MP4 video files stored on any storage media. This mainly includes your SD cards, USB flash drives, HDDs, SSDs, and others.

This MP4 video repair software can help you to repair video files corrupted because of any reason, like file header corruption, change in video format, improper system shutdown, virus attacks, file read and write errors, etc.

Check the detailed steps to repair inaccessible or corrupted MP4 video files using Stellar Repair for Video software below:

  • Download and install the software on your Windows or Mac device.
  • Launch it and click Add File button to upload the corrupted video file that you need to repair.
  • Click the “Repair” button to start the MP4 video repairing process.
  • Wait for a moment until the repair process gets completed. Then preview the repaired video and press the “Save Repaired Files” button to save them at the desired location.

Tips to Avoid MP4 File Corruption

Here are some important tips that you should keep in mind to avoid any corruption in your MP4 video files:

  • Make a habit to back up your video files before editing or making any changes to them.
  • Ensure that your PC or laptop has an adequate power supply under optimal conditions.
  • Ensure the version of the Operating system and anti-virus software installed on your device is up to date.
  • Save your important videos on the cloud. You can use any cloud storage service for this.
  • Always scan your video files after downloading them from any website.

 Wrapping Up

Just apply the above methods to repair inaccessible or corrupted MP4 video files. VLC media player, Windows in-built video player software can help you to fix corrupted video files in multiple ways.

If it fails to repair MP4 files, you can use a professional video repair software such as Stellar Repair for Video. This all-in-one software can help you to repair your corrupted or damaged video files quickly.