iTunes: Can't transfer videos to iPod or iPhone
Symptoms
If you see the alert message below, iTunes has detected that one or more of the videos being synced from your iTunes Library are not in the correct format to be played on your device.
Products Affected
iTunes Store, iPod nano, iPhone, iTunes, iPod
Resolution
iTunes can play a wide variety of video formats. However, iPhones and video-capable iPods only play videos in specific formats. Any music video, TV show, or movie purchased from the iTunes Store is designed to play on the iPod or iPhone and can be easily synced with iTunes 8 or later.
Note: iPod and iPhone cannot play High Definition (HD) content. All HD purchases from the iTunes Store include an iPod/iPhone-compatible Standard Definition (SD) video and an HD video for your computer or Apple TV. When syncing an HD purchase from the iTunes Store, iTunes will automatically sync the SD video to your iPhone/iPod.
Video podcasts
Even if you download video podcasts from iTunes, individual video podcast authors usually provide video podcasts, and in some cases, these podcasts may not play on your device. If the podcast is correctly encoded however, it will sync to the device without issue.
Other video sources
If you did not purchase videos from the iTunes Store, they are may not be in a format that you can play on your iPhone/iPod. In many cases, you can convert them to the correct format using iTunes or QuickTime.
- Using iTunes: Select a video and choose Advanced > Create iPod or iPhone Version
- Using Mac OS X v10.6: Open the video in QuickTime Player and choose Share > iTunes and then select the iPhone & iPod option.
- Using previous versions of Mac OS X or Windows: See Creating Video for iPod tutorial using QuickTime 7 Pro.
If you're using a Mac with iLife installed, you can also use iMovie to export a movie in an iPhone/iPod-compatible format. For instructions refer to Downloading your movies to your iPod or iPhone.
Additional Information
For additional information on playing and syncing videos to an iPod or iPhone, refer to the following articles:
Important: Information about products not manufactured by Apple is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute Apple’s recommendation or endorsement. Please contact the vendor for additional information.