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MIME Type
video/quicktime
VideoMIME type for QuickTime MOV video files, commonly produced by Apple devices and cameras.
MIME type reference, HTTP example, browser usage, common mistakes, and related content.
What is the video/quicktime MIME type?
The MIME type video/quicktime is used to tell browsers, APIs, and servers how a file or response body should be interpreted.
MIME stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, and MIME types are now a standard part of HTTP responses and web content delivery.
When a browser or client receives a response with video/quicktime, it uses that information to decide how the content should be processed, rendered, downloaded, or executed.
Example
Content-Type: video/quicktime
HTTP example
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Content-Type: video/quicktime Content-Length: 1256
Common file extensions
.mov
Common use cases
- Videos recorded on iPhone or Mac
- High-quality camera footage
- Video uploads from Apple devices
Common mistakes
- Using the wrong MIME type for the file being served
- Returning text/plain instead of video/quicktime
- Forgetting required parameters like charset when relevant
- Using a deprecated MIME type in older server configurations
- Serving assets with a mismatched Content-Type header, causing browser parsing issues
How browsers use it
Browsers use the Content-Type response header to decide how a response should be handled. For example, HTML is rendered as a page, CSS is parsed as styles, JavaScript is executed as script, and images are displayed visually. If the MIME type is incorrect, the browser may refuse to load the file correctly or may treat it as plain text or a download instead.
Browser support
Limited inline browser playback support. Serving as a download or converting to MP4 is usually the safer approach for web use.
Practical developer insight
MOV files are extremely common in user-generated content from Apple devices. Browsers have inconsistent inline playback support for MOV — converting to MP4 is often recommended for web delivery.