What is the MIME type of .mov files?
The MIME type (media type) for QuickTime video files with the .mov extension is video/quicktime. Apple’s video container. Chrome and Firefox play only some MOV files (H.264); convert to MP4 for the web.
Content-Type header
Content-Type: video/quicktimeServer configuration
| Server | Configuration |
|---|---|
Nginx (mime.types or types {}) | video/quicktime mov; |
Apache (.htaccess) | AddType video/quicktime .mov |
IIS (web.config) | <mimeMap fileExtension=".mov" mimeType="video/quicktime" /> |
| Node.js / Express | res.type('mov') or res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'video/quicktime') |
| Amazon S3 | Set Content-Type: video/quicktime on the object (metadata), or pass --content-type video/quicktime to aws s3 cp |
Should .mov files be compressed?
No. QuickTime video files are already compressed internally, so gzip or Brotli would waste CPU and barely reduce — sometimes even increase — the size. Leave video/quicktime out of your compression configuration.
Why the MIME type matters
Browsers decide what to do with a response — render, run, play or download — from the Content-Type header, not the file extension. With X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff, a wrong type causes stylesheets and scripts to be blocked outright. For uploads, never trust the type sent by the client; check the file’s content (its magic bytes) on the server.
Frequently asked questions
What is the MIME type for .mov?
video/quicktime.How do I set the Content-Type for .mov in Nginx?
video/quicktime mov; is listed in the types block (usually in /etc/nginx/mime.types) and reload Nginx.