Mac screen recording format and quality: MOV, MP4, H.264, HEVC, and what to send where.
A Mac screen recording is a .mov file, and the first place that rejects it is usually an upload form. The fix is rarely a converter app. This page explains what the file is, the two Apple-documented ways to get an MP4, what the SDR and HDR choice in macOS 26 does, and which settings fit YouTube, a help center, a pull request, and an email.
7-day trial · $49 once · no subscription · Apple Silicon · macOS 14+The short answer
Mac screen recordings are saved as .mov files. On macOS 26 Tahoe and later, supported Macs offer SDR (Most Compatible), which records H.264, or HDR, which records HEVC; choose SDR for anything you share. For an MP4, Apple’s own route is to rename an H.264 .mov to .mp4 or export through iMovie, because QuickTime Player does not export MP4. Apple does not document the resolution or frame rate of built-in recordings.
The recording workflow
Check what you recorded
Select the file in Finder and choose File > Get Info. Under More Info, the Codecs line shows H.264 or HEVC. For resolution and frame rate, open the file in QuickTime Player and press Command-I.
Record in SDR for sharing
On macOS 26 or later, press Shift-Command-5, click Options, and set Capture Format to SDR (Most Compatible) before anything you will upload or send. That records H.264.
Decide whether you need MP4 at all
YouTube and GitHub accept .mov. Convert only when a site or app refuses the file.
Rename an H.264 .mov to .mp4
Duplicate the file, Control-click the copy, choose Rename, replace mov with mp4 after the period, press Return, and choose “Use .mp4”. Apple documents this for files whose codec is H.264.
Use iMovie for everything else
For an HEVC file, or to change resolution or quality, import the file into iMovie, add it to a movie, click Share > Export File, and save the MP4.
Match the destination
Use the table further down for YouTube, a help center, a pull request, and email. Check the file size against the destination’s limit before you upload.
What format are Mac screen recordings?
QuickTime movie, extension .mov. The Mac User Guide says it in one line: screenshots are saved as .png files and screen recordings are saved as .mov files. Apple’s screen recording article gives the full name pattern, “Screen Recording [date] at [time].mov”, and notes that the file opens in QuickTime Player, iMovie, and other apps that can edit or view videos.
There is no setting in the Screenshot toolbar that makes it record MP4. The Options menu has Save to, Timer, Microphone, Show Floating Thumbnail, Remember Last Selection, the pointer and click options, and, on macOS 26 and later, Capture Format. On macOS 27 it adds Include System Audio. None of them changes the container.
MOV vs MP4: the difference, and how to get an MP4 on a Mac
MOV and MP4 are containers: wrappers around a video stream and an audio stream. The stream inside is what a player has to decode. A .mov holding H.264 video and an .mp4 holding H.264 video contain the same kind of picture, which is why Apple’s article “Convert a MOV file to MP4 on Mac” starts with a rename and not with a converter.
QuickTime Player is not one of the routes. Apple’s QuickTime guide is explicit: “QuickTime Player doesn’t export movies as MP4 videos.” Its File > Export As menu produces .mov files.
After a rename, Apple notes that the resolution and file size stay exactly the same, and that if the site still refuses the file you should convert the original through iMovie.
| Route | Works when | Changes size or quality? | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rename .mov to .mp4 | The codec is H.264 | No, same resolution and size | Free, Finder |
| iMovie > Share > Export File | Any codec, or you want a smaller file | Yes: Quality and Resolution menus | Free, Apple |
| HandBrake | Any codec; you want control | Yes: presets and a quality control | Free, open source |
| Final Cut Pro or Compressor | You already own them | Yes, full control | Paid, Apple |
| Record in an app that exports MP4 | You have not recorded yet | Set before recording | OBS Studio free; Qreata $49 once |
H.264 vs HEVC: the SDR and HDR choice in macOS 26 and later
From macOS 26 Tahoe, supported Macs have Capture Format in the Options menu. Apple’s screen recording article defines the two values: SDR (Most Compatible) captures in standard dynamic range using the H.264 video format, and HDR captures in high dynamic range using the HEVC video format.
The Mac User Guide explains what you gain and lose. HDR captures more brightness and color but requires an HDR display to see the difference; SDR captures less, and is standard for most computer displays and mobile devices. If you show an HDR screen recording on an SDR display, Apple says you will see slightly reduced quality.
On codecs, Apple’s article on HEIF and HEVC says HEVC offers better compression than H.264 while preserving the same visual quality. Compatibility points the other way: GitHub’s documentation recommends H.264 “for greatest compatibility” because video codec support is browser specific.
For macOS 14 and 15, Apple’s pages do not say which codec the built-in recorder uses. Check your own file with Get Info > More Info > Codecs.
- Choose SDR for tutorials, demos, bug reports, and anything a colleague or customer will open on an unknown device.
- Choose HDR only when the content itself is HDR and your viewers have HDR displays.
- If an HDR recording looks wrong on someone else’s screen, re-record it in SDR. Apple’s pages describe the choice as something you make before recording.
- Already have an HEVC file? In QuickTime Player choose File > Export As, pick 1080p or 4K, and set the format to Greater Compatibility (H.264).
Resolution and frame rate of Mac screen recordings
Apple does not document either one. Neither the screen recording article nor the Mac User Guide states a resolution, a frame rate, or a bitrate for built-in recordings, and the Options menu has no setting for them. Any figure you read elsewhere is someone’s measurement on their Mac.
You can read the real numbers for your own file. Open it in QuickTime Player and choose Window > Show Movie Inspector (Command-I): Apple’s guide says it shows the compression format, size, and frame rate.
To bring the resolution down afterwards, QuickTime Player’s File > Export As offers 4K (up to 3840 × 2160), 1080p (up to 1920 × 1080), 720p (up to 1280 × 720), and 480p (up to 640 × 480). Resolutions larger than your movie are dimmed, and the result is a .mov.
On frame rate, 30 frames per second is enough for interface walkthroughs, where the picture changes when you click. Fast motion such as games, scrolling demos, and animation work benefits from 60. YouTube’s upload guidance says to upload at the frame rate you recorded, not to convert up or down.
- Recording looks blurry in a small player: the capture is probably fine and the text is simply too small once a whole display is scaled down. Record one window or a portion, and enlarge the app’s interface before you start.
- Recording looks blurry after sending: messengers and some hosts re-compress video. Send a link to the original file, or upload it to a host that keeps the source quality.
What to pick for YouTube, a help center, a pull request, and email
The limits in this table come from each platform’s own help pages, read on October 2, 2026. The help center row is our recommendation, because hosts differ: check yours for a size limit.
The pattern is the same everywhere: H.264 inside MP4 opens on anything, and the constraint that bites first is file size, not format.
| Destination | Format | Resolution and frame rate | Limit to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube | MP4, H.264 video, AAC audio | The size you recorded; YouTube suggests 8 Mbps for 1080p and 5 Mbps for 720p at standard frame rates | Upload at the frame rate you recorded |
| Help center article | MP4, H.264 | 1080p, 30 fps | Set by your video host; keep one task per video |
| GitHub pull request or issue | .mp4, .mov, or .webm; H.264 recommended | 720p or a cropped window | 10 MB per video on a free plan, 100 MB on a paid plan |
| Email, Gmail | MP4, H.264 | 720p | 25 MB on personal accounts; larger files become a Google Drive link |
| Email, Apple Mail | MP4 or MOV | Whatever fits | Mail Drop sends attachments up to 5 GB; recipients have 30 days to download |
Built-in recorder, OBS Studio, and Qreata: format settings compared
How much control you want decides the tool. The built-in recorder asks you nothing and tells you nothing. OBS Studio exposes every encoder setting. Qreata sits between them: one decision, the resolution, made before you record.
| Recorder | File you get | Resolution and frame rate | What you can set |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built-in, macOS 14–15 | .mov; codec not documented by Apple | Not documented by Apple | Nothing |
| Built-in, macOS 26–27 | .mov; H.264 (SDR) or HEVC (HDR) | Not documented by Apple | Capture Format, on supported Macs |
| QuickTime Player Export As | .mov; H.264 or HEVC | 4K, 1080p, 720p, 480p | Resolution; HEVC or H.264 at 4K and 1080p |
| OBS Studio | MKV recommended; remux to MP4 in the app | Yours to configure | Encoder, bitrate, resolution, frame rate |
| Qreata | MP4, H.264 | 720p, 1080p, or 4K; always 30 fps | Resolution, before recording |
Qreata’s format: one MP4, H.264, 30 fps, no export dialog
Qreata removes the conversion step by not offering a choice. Export produces an MP4 with H.264 video at the resolution you recorded and 30 frames per second. There is nothing to rename, and the file is the format every row of the destination table asks for.
You choose quality before recording: 720p, 1080p (the default), or 4K. The screen track is recorded at 4, 8, and 16 Mbps respectively, with AAC audio at 128 kbps. The 1080p figure is the same 8 Mbps YouTube suggests for a 1080p upload at standard frame rates. The 4K figure is well under YouTube’s suggested 35–45 Mbps for 4K, so for a 4K YouTube master where fine detail matters, OBS Studio with a higher bitrate is the better tool. 4K recording in Qreata has passed short test runs; an hour-long run is still being verified.
Arithmetic, not a measurement: megabits per second × 60 ÷ 8 gives megabytes per minute, so the screen track comes to about 30 MB per minute at 720p, 60 MB at 1080p, and 120 MB at 4K, plus roughly 1 MB per minute for audio. A two-minute 1080p clip is therefore around 120 MB, which is over GitHub’s 100 MB limit for paid plans. For a pull request, record at 720p and keep the clip under three minutes on a paid plan; on a free plan the 10 MB limit is about 20 seconds at 720p, so share a link.
What Qreata does not do, stated once: no 60 fps, no HEVC, no MOV, no GIF, no bitrate or export settings, and no import, so it can’t convert a .mov you already have. If you need any of those, use the free routes above. It is a paid app for Apple Silicon Macs on macOS 14 or later: $49 once for three Macs, with a full 7-day trial and no watermark.
Before you share
- Get Info shows H.264 under Codecs for any file you are about to share.
- On macOS 26 or later, Capture Format is SDR (Most Compatible) unless your viewers have HDR displays.
- You converted to MP4 only because a site or app refused the .mov.
- The file is under the destination’s limit: 10 or 100 MB for GitHub, 25 MB for Gmail.
- Text in the video is readable at the size the viewer will watch it.
Questions about this workflow
Are Mac screen recordings MOV or MP4?
MOV. The Mac User Guide states that screen recordings are saved as .mov files, and the Screenshot toolbar has no MP4 option. If the video inside is H.264, Apple’s documented shortcut is to rename the extension to .mp4.
How do I screen record on a Mac in MP4?
The built-in recorder cannot; it saves .mov. Either rename an H.264 recording from .mov to .mp4, export through iMovie with Share > Export File, or record with an app that produces MP4: OBS Studio can remux to MP4, and Qreata exports MP4 only.
Is H.264 or HEVC better for screen recordings?
H.264 for sharing, HEVC for saving space. Apple says HEVC compresses better at the same visual quality, and GitHub recommends H.264 for the widest browser support. Apple labels its H.264 capture option “Most Compatible”.
What resolution and frame rate does Mac screen recording use?
Apple does not document it, and the Options menu has no setting for either. Open your recording in QuickTime Player and press Command-I: the Movie Inspector shows the size and frame rate of that file.
What is the best format for uploading a screen recording to YouTube?
MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio, at the frame rate you recorded. YouTube’s recommended upload bitrate is 8 Mbps for 1080p and 5 Mbps for 720p at standard frame rates. A .mov with H.264 also uploads.
Does Qreata record at 60 fps or export HEVC?
No to both. Qreata records and exports at 30 fps, as MP4 with H.264, at 720p, 1080p, or 4K. For 60 fps or HEVC, use OBS Studio, or the built-in recorder’s HDR capture format on macOS 26 or later.