How to Get QuickTime MOV Files to Play on Plex Perfectly

You may wonder whether it's possible to get MOV support with Plex as you have a lot of the video stream that you would like to watch are in .mov format. Well, based on our experience, QuickTime MOV files cannot be played in Plex due to the limitation. In this article, we aim to give you a workaround to play MOV files on Plex with ease.

For direct video play with Plex, you should meet the following requirements:

H.264 (MPEG-4 Part 10) is a good default choice for video -- it's widely compatible, even on low-power devices. For audio AAC (stereo) or AC3 (surround) are probably your most-compatible choices. There are occasionally situations where those aren't the best choice, but unless you have some specific reason to choose another codec they're what we'd suggest -- they work well with Plex and can often be streamed to other devices without transcoding.

The container format (i.e. file type) you choose is less important. We'd suggest the MP4 container because of its wide compatibility (for reference the MOV container is basically the same as the MP4 container, just with a different file extension). But all of the popular container formats will work with the H.264 codec and Plex doesn't care much which one you choose -- MKV, MOV, MP4, AVI, MPEG-TS, etc.

If your MOV files are encoded with other codecs, you'd better convert them to a more compatible format like H.264 MP4 so that they will play perfectly. Along with some help from third party programs, it can be done effortlessly. Here we will take Brorsoft Video Converter (Mac Version) for instance to show you how to transcode QuickTime MOV files for Plex streaming without any problem.

It's a professional yet easy-to-use app which can help you convert MOV to Plex Media Server with H.264 MP4 format (the most compatible video format for Plex) without quality loss. In addition, it not only supports MOV videos, but also handles various common video formats, camcorder/camera recorded videos and downloaded video from website, like H.265 MP4, XAVC, XAVC-S/L/I, MXF, MTS, M2TS, MKV, MP4, AVI, WMV, FLV, etc.

P.S. There are many programs out there that allow us to transcode MOV files to Plex friendly formats. If you are seeking for the best video output quality, fastest video conversion speed, and the largest formats supported, Brorsoft Video Converter will be your best choice.

Download MOV to Plex Converter:

(Note: Click here for OS X 10.5)

Read More:

Guide | Convert QuickTime MOV to Plex for Playback

Step 1. Import MOV videos

After installation, run MOV to Plex converter and click "Add Files" to load the .mov video files from your local drive. Or you can directly drag the MOV videos to the program.

Step 2. Select output format

Click "Format" bar and choose H.264 MP4 from "Common Video" as output format, which can be recognized by Plex easily. If your source video is in 1080p and you want to keep 1080p resolution as source movie, you can choose HD Video > H.264 HD Video(*.mp4) for Plex Media Server.

Note: The output format is preferably in a common format, like MP3 for audio, MP4 for video. The more common format you use, the more devices you can stream to. For example, if you use FLAC instead of MP3 for your music, you can't stream to your Xbox 360. Just keep in mind that not all devices support all formats of media.

Step 3. Further Settings

With the right settings you can retain the quality of the original videos while also saving space. This is particularly helpful when streaming over your network, depending on your network quality. Simply click Settings bar and you can tweak the settings to your satisfaction and even save it as preset.

Step 4. Start MOV to Plex Conversion

Click the convert button under the preview window, and the MOV converter will start the conversion from MOV files to Plex Media Server.

Once the conversion finished, get the converted MOV files onto Plex easily. Now you can stream QuickTime movies through Plex to Google TV, iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, PS3, or other connected devices for great enjoyment.