Import iPhone HEVC MOV videos to Premiere Pro

Can’t import iPhone MOV videos to Premiere Pro? If you are using a recent iPhone model which is running on iOS 11 or later, your camera captures MOV videos that are encoded with the new HEVC codec (also known as H.265). HEVC codec can record HD videos and save them in a smaller size than H.264 codec. This is good as it can save us a lot of precious storage space but it also causes some troubles at the same time. For example, it becomes tricky to import the HEVC footage to Premiere Pro for editing. If you run into the Missing Codec error when importing a .mov file to Adobe Premiere Pro, you can try the solutions below.

Method 1. Install the HEVC codec

Run Premiere on your PC or Mac. Go to import an HEVC file. Click OK when you get the message saying that the HEVC codec needed to be installed. By doing so, you will install and enable the codec for immediate use. 

Method 2. Change file extension from MOV to MP4

If you shot h.265 videos in MOV file format, you can go to change the extension from a .MOV file to a .MP4 extension by renaming it and then drag and drop the H.265 videos in MP4 wrapper or file extension into Premiere see if any luck.

Method 3. Transfer HEVC as H.264

You can also tweak the settings on your iPhone so the HEVC or H.265 videos will be exported as H.264 videos to your PC or Mac. To do that you can jump into the iPhone Settings >> Camera >> Formats >> Most Compatible. Once this option is activated, your photos will be saved as JPEG files, video will be recorded as H.264 videos on iPhone. Go to iPhone Settings >> Photos >> Transfer to Mac or PC >> Automatic. So the next time you export videos from iPhone to computer, they will be converted from HEVC/H.265 videos to H.264 when copying them to your computer via USB.

Method 4. Convert HEVC videos on Mac

If you are on Mac, you have more free solutions to transcode HEVC H.265 to other codecs. You can find more details from this adding iPhone HEVC to Premiere Pro on Mac troubleshooting.