Manatee

Photos or iMovie will not import a video on a Mac

· 6 min read

Photos and iMovie accept a narrower range of video than most people expect. Both rely on the same system video frameworks as QuickTime Player, so a useful rule is: if QuickTime Player cannot open a file, neither app will import it. Most refused videos are in a container or codec those frameworks do not read, such as MKV, WebM, older AVI, WMV or FLV, and converting them to MP4 or MOV fixes the problem.

A smaller number are damaged, already in the library, or not fully on the Mac yet. The test below tells you which.

What the refusal looks like

In Photos, dragging the file in or choosing File > Import ends with a message that the item could not be imported, sometimes stating that the file format is unsupported. In iMovie, an unsupported file typically appears dimmed in the import window so it cannot be selected, or dragging it into the project simply does nothing.

Neither app tells you which part of the file it objects to. That is the job of the next step.

The first test: open it in QuickTime Player

Right-click the video in Finder and choose Open With > QuickTime Player. What happens sorts the problem into one of three groups:

  • It plays normally. The format is fine. Skip ahead to the section on imports that fail for other reasons.
  • It refuses to open, usually with a message that the file is not compatible with QuickTime Player. Either the format is unsupported or the file is damaged. QuickTime says the file isn’t compatible covers that message in detail.
  • It opens with picture but no sound, or sound but no picture. One of the streams inside uses a codec Apple does not decode. Photos or iMovie will either refuse it or import a clip that plays the same broken way, so convert it first.

Quick Look (select the file, press Space) gives a faster version of the same answer.

Formats Photos and iMovie turn away

These are the usual suspects, and all of them are formats rather than faults:

  • MKV. Common for downloads and for some screen and game recorders. Apple’s apps do not read the container at all. MKV file won’t open on Mac goes further.
  • WebM. What many browser-based recorders and meeting tools save. What is a WEBM file explains it.
  • AVI, especially older files made with the compact codecs that were popular in the 2000s.
  • WMV and ASF, the formats of older PC recordings and exports.
  • FLV, from old web video.
  • MXF, from professional and broadcast cameras.
  • An MP4 with the wrong insides. The extension looks right but the video is VP9 or AV1, or the audio is Opus or DTS. Container vs codec explains why an MP4 can still be refused.

Converting so both apps accept it

The target is MP4 or MOV with H.264 or HEVC video and AAC audio. Photos and iMovie accept that combination on every Mac that runs a current version of either app. H.264 is the safer choice if the clip will also be shared with other devices.

There is no built-in way to convert these formats, because the Mac cannot decode them in the first place. QuickTime Player’s Export As only works on files QuickTime can already open.

Manatee does the conversion in its Convert mode. Open the window, switch to Convert, drop in the video, and choose MP4 or MOV. A new file appears next to the original, which is left exactly as it was. You can drop several files at once; the window lists each job with its progress. It reads MKV, WebM, AVI, WMV, ASF, FLV, MXF and many other video formats, and the work happens on your Mac with nothing uploaded, which matters for family footage.

Then import the converted file into Photos or iMovie as usual. Photos copies imported videos into its library by default, so once you have checked the import you can decide whether to keep the converted file in Finder too.

Some of these formats have to be re-encoded rather than rewrapped, because their codecs have no equivalent Apple’s apps read. That takes longer and is lossy, so convert once, from the original, rather than converting a file that was already converted.

Fix the date after importing

Photos sorts videos by the capture date stored inside the file. A converted copy may carry the original’s date across, or it may not, in which case the clip lands at the end of the library under the day you converted it. To put it back where it belongs, select it in Photos, choose Image > Adjust Date and Time, and enter the original date. Finder’s Get Info on the original file often shows a creation date that helps.

When the format is fine and the import still fails

If QuickTime Player plays the file but Photos or iMovie will not take it, look at these:

  1. It is already in the library. Photos notices duplicates and asks whether to import them. If you chose not to, nothing appears to happen. Search the library for the clip.
  2. It is not really on your Mac. A video in iCloud Drive may be a placeholder that has not downloaded. Open it once in QuickTime, or right-click and choose Download Now, then import. A file that will not open because iCloud kept a placeholder covers this.
  3. The file is partly damaged. A video can play for a while in QuickTime and still fail to import, because the app reads the whole file during import. If QuickTime shows the wrong duration or stops partway, the file has a structural problem. How to check whether a video file is corrupted goes through the tests. Manatee’s Repair mode rebuilds damaged video from the frames that are present and reports the result as Fixed, Partial or Not fixable, again as a new copy.
  4. Every import fails, not just this one. Then the video is not the problem. A Photos library on an external drive needs that drive formatted as APFS or Mac OS Extended, and a drive that is nearly full can stop both apps from importing anything.

Questions

Why does Photos import videos from my iPhone but not this one? iPhone videos are MOV files with HEVC or H.264 video and AAC audio, which is exactly what Photos is built around. A video from a download, a camera or another phone may use a format Apple’s apps do not read.

Should I convert to MP4 or MOV? Either works for Photos and iMovie. MP4 travels better if you will also share the file with other devices; MOV vs MP4 compares them.

Does converting lower the quality? When the codec has to change, yes, slightly, which is why it is worth doing once from the original. When only the container changes, the picture is copied across untouched.