A video corrupted after the battery died is missing its index
Samsung, Pixel, Xiaomi and other Android phones save a video in two parts. While you record, the phone keeps adding video and sound data to the file. After you press stop, it writes the index, called the moov atom: a table that tells a player where each frame sits and which codec the camera used.
If the phone turns off first, the data stays on the storage and the index never arrives. A battery that runs out does this, and so does a crash that restarts the phone. Players and your gallery read the index before anything else, so they refuse the file even though the footage is inside.
The tool on this page builds a new index around that footage. It re-encodes nothing: the repaired file holds the camera's own video and sound, byte for byte. It reads MP4 and MOV files (M4V and 3GP too) with H.264 or H.265 (HEVC) video and AAC sound, the usual output of Android camera apps.
This page covers Android phones and other cameras that save MP4 or MOV files.
Find the file on your phone
Open your file manager (My Files on Samsung, Files by Google on Pixel) and go to Internal storage > DCIM > Camera. If your phone records to a memory card, check DCIM > Camera on the card. Sort by date and look at the size of the newest video.
| You see | It means |
|---|---|
| A size in megabytes | Footage reached the storage. The file is worth checking. |
| 0 bytes | The phone saved no footage. There is nothing to rebuild. |
| No file | Look for a hidden .pending- file. |
Your gallery may leave the video out or show an error when you tap it. The gallery needs the same index a player does, so neither can open the file.
Some phones, including Huawei and some Samsung models, keep a recording in progress under a hidden name that starts with .pending-. Turn on hidden files in your file manager's settings to see it. Android deletes abandoned .pending- files by itself (stock Android does it after about a week), so copy the file out today and give the copy a normal name such as broken-video.mp4.
If the power cut came before any footage reached the storage, the file shows 0 bytes or doesn't exist at all. That recording is gone, and no repair can bring back data the phone never saved.
Copy the file off the phone first
The broken file is the only copy of that footage. Copy it before you try anything, so you still have it if an attempt fails or Android cleans up the folder.
- Charge the phone for a few minutes so it doesn't die again during the copy.
- Connect it to a computer with a USB cable and choose file transfer in the phone's USB options.
- Open the phone's storage on the computer, go to DCIM > Camera and copy the video to your desktop.
- Leave the original on the phone until you have a repaired file that plays.
Repair it on the phone or on a computer
On the phone, install Video Repair from Google Play, open it and pick the video. The app runs the same repair engine as this page, on the phone itself.
On a computer, use the checker on this page:
- Open the copy in the checker. Your browser reads the file from your disk and never uploads it.
- Read the result. The checker looks for the footage and tells you whether it can rebuild the index. This step is free.
- If it asks for a reference clip, give it a normal video from the same phone and camera, recorded at the same resolution and frame rate. Some phones keep the encoder settings only in the index, so the tool borrows them from a healthy clip, and that clip brings the sound back when needed. If you don't have one, record ten seconds now with the same settings.
- Watch the free 5-second preview. It plays at reduced quality with a watermark, enough to see that your footage is back.
- Download the full video with a paid plan: one video, 3 months or 1 year, and you can cancel anytime. If the repaired video doesn't play, you get a refund.
What it can't bring back
- A 0-byte file, or one filled with zeros. The footage never reached the storage.
- A deleted video. The tool repairs files you still have; it doesn't undelete.
- Footage that newer recordings overwrote.
- A video hidden by a vault or "hide video" app. The tool can't decrypt those files.
- AVI, MKV, TS and WebM files. The tool doesn't open those formats yet.
If the checker says it can't rebuild your file, you haven't paid anything.