This article describes what an F4V file is, how you can open one on your computer or phone, and how to convert one to a format compatible with your device or software, like MP4, AVI, MP3, MOV, and others.

What to Know

  • Adobe no longer supports Flash. This article discusses legacy information about F4V files.
  • An F4V file is a Flash MP4 video file that can be opened with VLC or F4V Player.
  • You need to convert F4V files to use them. Save to MP4, MP3, etc. with a free video converter like AVC.

What Is an F4V File?

A file with the F4V file extension is a Flash MP4 video file, sometimes called an MPEG-4 video file, that’s based on the Apple QuickTime container format. It’s similar to the MP4 format.

This format is also similar to FLV, but since the FLV format has certain limits with H.264/AAC content, Adobe developed F4V as an upgrade. However, F4V doesn’t support some of the video and audio codecs in the FLV format, like Nellymoser, Sorenson Spark, and Screen.

F4P is another Adobe Flash format, but it’s used to hold DRM protected MPEG-4 video data. The same is true for Adobe Flash Protected Audio files that use the .F4A file extension.

How to Open an F4V File

Many programs open F4V files since it’s a popular video/audio compression format. VLC and Animate open F4V files, as does the free F4V Player. Another program that might work is Windows Media Player, which is built into some versions of Windows.

Many other standalone programs from other developers play F4V files, too. The Adobe Premiere video editing program can author F4V files, as can other popular video editing and authoring suites.

Use ALLPlayer Video Player or MX Player to watch F4V videos on Android. iPad and iPhone users should have luck with Fast Player.

How to Convert an F4V File

Look through this list of free video converter programs to find one that supports the F4V file format, like Any Video Converter. You can use one of those tools to convert F4V to MP4, AVI, WMV, MOV, and other formats, even audio ones like MP3.

If you find that an application on your PC does try to open the F4V file, but it’s the wrong application or if you would rather have another installed program open these files, see our How to Change File Associations in Windows guide for help making that change.

You can also convert F4V files online with websites like Zamzar and FileZigZag. The downside to converting the file this way is that you not only have to upload the video to the website before you can convert it, but you also have to then download it back to your computer to use the new file—both the upload and the download process might take quite a while if the video is large.

Still Can’t Open It?

It’s possible that you’re misreading the file extension. Some file types use a file extension that’s spelled a bit like “F4V” but that doesn’t mean that they have anything in common or can open with the same software programs.

File Viewer Plus Batch Presets files use the FVP file extension and even though the letters are similar to F4V, the two file formats are unique. FVP files are used with File Viewer Plus.

FEV files might be FMOD Audio Events files used with FMOD software, or FLAMES Environment Variable files related to the FLAMES Simulation Framework, neither of which are related to an Adobe Flash video file format.

Like what’s mentioned above, F4A and F4P files are Adobe Flash files as well, but those file extensions might also be used with programs unrelated to Flash. It’s important, then, to make sure that the file you have is related to Flash in some way.

Otherwise, you’re dealing with something entirely different, and the programs mentioned on this page are probably not the ones you want to use to open or convert your file.

More Information on the F4V File Format

Some of the supported files that can be contained in the F4V format include MP3 and AAC audio files; GIF, PNG, JPEG, H.264 and VP6 video types; and AMF0, AMF3 and text data types.

Supported metadata information for the F4V format include text track metadata like a style box, hypertext box, scroll delay box, karaoke box, and drop shadow offset box.

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