M4V and MP4 are both very similar video container formats. Without the special DRM protection, they could be played on many players, such as iTunes, QuickTime, Media Player Classic, RealPlayer, Zoom Player, etc. However, there are still some mobile devices and players that don't support DRM-free M4V. That is why we need to convert M4V videos to MP4.
The most direct way is to rename M4V file extension to MP4, but it may not work for some special codec M4V files. Fortunately, there are many free converters that can help you out. Here I will offer you 3 methods to convert M4V to MP4 Free with online video converter or downloaded freeware.
Note: Here we mainly talk about how to DRM-free M4V videos to MP4, which are not applicable for DRM-protected video files. If you want to convert DRM-ed M4V videos, you may take a look at the last tip in the post.
Nowadays there are many free online converters such as FileZigZag, Zamzar, etc. Generally speaking, most of them can convert many files including audio, video, documents to other formats of files from any computers. You don't need to download or install the tools. Just make sure you have Internet connection, and you can then go to the websites and be able to use them on the browser. The downside is that the converting and uploading speed is slow.
Take the FileZigZag as an example. It supports to convert only one file at a time and you are limited to convert only one file over 180MB(up to 2GB) one day for free. Now let's go to the FileZigZag website and start to convert a video with it.
Step 1. Drag & drop to import your M4V movie file to the importing area or click 'Select' to browse a file from your computer. It may take a few minutes to upload.
Step 2. Click the 'Convert to' droplist and select the output format as 'MP4'.
Step 3. On the 'Email address' box, please input your email address. Make sure to input your right email.
Step 4. Click 'Convert' button to start converting. The converting time is a little long, so please wait patiently. When it is done, you will get the video download link by email.
If you don't have a fast and stable internet connection, the online converter may not help you. So you can turn to a free M4V converter. Among various similar software, VLC Media Player is highly recommended. VLC is commonly known as a cross platform player, but you may not know it is also a great free converter to convert plenty of video files. Here I will show you how to convert M4V to MP4 VLC with ease.
Step 1. Launch VLC Player from your computer, you will see the main screen of it. Click 'Media' > 'Convert/Save' menu to open the video converting panel.
Step 2. VLC supports to convert files from local folders, DVDs, Nas and devices. Please click 'Add' menu and then select one or more M4V videos from your computer.
Step 3. Click 'Convert/Save' button under the converting window, it will pop up the options for you to select the output media format and output folder.
Step 4. After that, you can click 'Start' button to start transcoding your M4V to MP4 quickly.
Another free M4V to MP4 converter you can rely on is HandBrake. HandBrake is a free and open-source encoder for digital video files, and it support to convert any videos to new files with different codecs. With the program, you can easily convert M4V to MP4 as follows:
Step 1. Open HandBrake Video Converter on your computer after completed the installation. Choose the source M4V video/folder or drop them to the interface.
Step 2. Go to the 'Summary' panel and set the output format as MP4 by clicking the 'Format' button. You're also allowed to customize the video codec, filters, dimensions, etc. if needed.
Step 3. After all the settings are ready, you can now click the 'Start Encode' button and the software will start to convert all your M4V videos to MP4 immediately. Wait a while until the process ends.
Learn More: Can HandBrake Convert M4V to MP4 Videos?
Sometimes it is possible that all the online video converters and downloaded freeware don't work. You find it difficult to get a workable converter for your M4V files. Then it is most likely that your M4V files are DRM protected.
Note: To check whether a M4V video is DRM-free or DRM-ptoected, you can simply play it on non-iTunes media players. If it can't plays well, then there may have DRM in the M4V file, which can only be played with iTunes.
None of the common video converters can defeat or circumvent DRM copy protection. Hence, you need a specific DRM removal shareware. DRmare M4V Video Converter is one of the best iTunes DRM converters of 2019, because of its fastest converting speed, powerful features as well as lossless quality.
It will save your previous time when converting multiple videos with the batch converting feature. The output video quality won't be changed as it does a 1:1 Copy during converting. No matter what kinds of iTunes videos such as movies, TV shows, extras, purchases, rentals you have, DRmare will convert them with ease.
In addition, the free trial version of DRmare M4V Converter is readily available, you can download it to try it out without time limitation and then follow the guide below to learn how to remove DRM and convert M4V to MP4 easily.
