--- title: "How to See Video Metadata on a Mac | metadata.video" description: "See video metadata on a Mac with Finder Get Info, QuickTime Player’s Movie Inspector and mdls in Terminal, plus what they miss. Free browser option, no upload." url: https://metadata.video/view-video-metadata-mac --- Free · runs in your browser # How to see video metadata on a Mac Three built-in ways to read a video’s details on macOS, what each one shows, and where to look for the fields Apple keeps out of sight. To see a video’s metadata on a Mac, open it in QuickTime Player and choose **Window > Show Movie Inspector** (Command-I) for the format, resolution, frame rate, HDR format and data rates. For a quick look without opening it, select the file in Finder and choose **File > Get Info**; for the full list Spotlight has indexed, run `mdls` on the file in Terminal. If the video is in your Photos library, select it and press Command-I in Photos to see the device, date and location. Between them these cover most everyday questions. What macOS does not show anywhere is the deeper layer: the codec profile and Dolby Vision details, the time zone, every tag, Content Credentials, and MKV files, which QuickTime Player does not open. For that, open the video in Safari or another browser at [metadata.video](https://metadata.video/). It reads the file on your Mac, uploads nothing and explains every field. This guide covers the three built-in routes first. ## See a video’s details with macOS tools 1. ### Get Info in Finder Select the video in a Finder window or on the desktop and choose **File > Get Info**, or press Command-I. The window shows the size, the created and modified dates and, for indexed files, details such as dimensions, codecs and duration. 2. ### Movie Inspector in QuickTime Player Open the video in QuickTime Player and choose **Window > Show Movie Inspector**, or press Command-I. It lists the compression format, size, frame rate, bit depth, HDR format and aspect ratio, plus the audio format and data rate. 3. ### mdls in Terminal Open Terminal, type `mdls ` (with a space), drag the video into the window to paste its path, and press Return. It prints every attribute Spotlight has stored for the file. 4. ### Info in Photos For videos in your Photos library, select one and click the Info button or press Command-I. You see the capturing device, date and time, and the location, which links to Maps. ## What each Mac tool shows __Built-in Mac tools as documented by Apple on 7 November 2026\. Which attributes appear depends on the file and on Spotlight indexing.__ | Detail | Finder Get Info | QuickTime Movie Inspector | mdls | Photos Info | | ---------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------- | | Duration | Yes, when indexed | Yes | kMDItemDurationSeconds | Usually | | Resolution | Yes, when indexed | Yes, with aspect ratio | kMDItemPixelWidth / Height | Usually | | Codec | Codec names | Compression format | kMDItemCodecs | Not documented | | Frame rate | No | Yes | No | Not documented | | Bit depth and HDR format | No | Yes | No | No | | Bitrate | No | Data rate | kMDItemVideoBitRate, kMDItemTotalBitRate | No | | Recording date | Created date is the file’s, not the recording | No | kMDItemContentCreationDate | Yes | | Location | No | No | kMDItemLatitude, kMDItemLongitude when indexed | Yes, on a map | | Device | No | No | kMDItemAcquisitionMake, kMDItemAcquisitionModel when indexed | Yes | | Where it was downloaded from | Sometimes | No | kMDItemWhereFroms | No | Finder’s created and modified dates belong to the copy on your disk. AirDrop, downloads and copies between drives can all give a file a new created date, so for the recording date use Photos, `mdls` or a full inspector. ## Using mdls in Terminal `mdls` prints the metadata attributes Spotlight has stored for a file. With no options it lists all of them; `-name` picks particular ones, and `-raw` prints values without the attribute names, which is useful in scripts. `mdls clip.mov` `mdls -name kMDItemCodecs -name kMDItemDurationSeconds -name kMDItemPixelWidth -name kMDItemPixelHeight clip.mov` `mdls -raw -name kMDItemContentCreationDate clip.mov` __Common Spotlight attributes for video files.__ | Attribute | What it holds | | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | kMDItemCodecs | The codecs in the file, such as HEVC and AAC | | kMDItemDurationSeconds | Length in seconds | | kMDItemPixelWidth, kMDItemPixelHeight | Picture size | | kMDItemVideoBitRate, kMDItemAudioBitRate, kMDItemTotalBitRate | Bitrates for the video, the audio and both together | | kMDItemContentCreationDate | When the content was created, as Spotlight understands it | | kMDItemLatitude, kMDItemLongitude | Where it was recorded, when the file has a location Spotlight could read | | kMDItemAcquisitionMake, kMDItemAcquisitionModel | The recording device, when known | | kMDItemWhereFroms | The web address or sender a downloaded file came from | `mdls` reads Spotlight’s index, not the file itself. On a drive excluded from Spotlight, or when indexing is turned off or still running, you may see few attributes or `(null)` values even though the video holds plenty of metadata. `kMDItemWhereFroms` is worth knowing about for privacy. It is stored by macOS alongside the file, not inside the video stream, and it can record the site or conversation a file was downloaded from. Other tools that read only the file will not show it. ## What macOS keeps out of sight The layers of a video file. macOS tools show the stream basics and some tags; the full tag set, device keys, time zone and provenance sit in layers they do not display. * **The codec profile and tag.** The Movie Inspector says HEVC but not whether it is Main or Main 10, or whether the tag is `hvc1` or `hev1`, which decides whether it plays on Apple devices. The [codec checker](https://metadata.video/video-codec-checker) shows both. * **Dolby Vision details.** The Movie Inspector names the HDR format; the profile and level that tell you how other devices will play it are in the [HDR checker](https://metadata.video/hdr-video-checker). * **The time zone.** iPhone videos store the local recording time with its offset in Apple’s creationdate key; most Mac tools show only a converted time. * **Every tag.** Titles, comments and Apple’s `com.apple.quicktime` keys (make, model, software, location) are only partly surfaced. * **Content Credentials.** No built-in Mac tool shows them; the [Content Credentials viewer](https://metadata.video/content-credentials-viewer) does. * **MKV and WebM.** QuickTime Player does not open MKV files, and Get Info shows little for them. Open them on this site, or edit their titles and track names with the [MKV metadata editor](https://metadata.video/mkv-metadata-editor). An iPhone MOV opened up: the moov box holds the headers and the meta box with Apple’s keys for make, model, software, creation date and location; mdat holds the video and audio. ## Changing or removing metadata on a Mac Photos can adjust the date and location of items in its library, but that changes the library record; an exported original may still carry the camera’s own values. The [iPhone date guide](https://metadata.video/change-video-date-iphone) explains the same split on iOS. To change what is inside the file, the options are: * **In the browser:** open the video at metadata.video, use the **Edit & clean** panel to change **Recorded**, **Location**, **Title** and other fields, or press **Remove all metadata**, then **Download new file** (Cmd+S). MOV and MP4 are rewritten without re-encoding. * **With FFmpeg:** install it with Homebrew (`brew install ffmpeg`) and use `-map_metadata -1 -c copy` to strip tags; the [ffprobe guide](https://metadata.video/how-to-use-ffprobe) explains the options and their limits. ### Removing location before sharing from a Mac Location is the field people most often want gone. [Remove location only](https://metadata.video/remove-location-from-video) clears it and any telemetry while keeping the date and camera. If the video came from an iPhone, [the iPhone location guide](https://metadata.video/remove-location-from-video-iphone) shows how to stop new videos recording it and how to share without it from the phone. For a side-by-side with the other platforms, see video metadata [on Windows](https://metadata.video/view-video-metadata-windows), [on iPhone](https://metadata.video/view-video-metadata-iphone) and [on Android](https://metadata.video/view-video-metadata-android). For a tour of every field a video can hold, read [what video metadata is](https://metadata.video/what-is-video-metadata). ## Video metadata on a Mac: questions ### How do I see a video’s frame rate on a Mac? Open it in QuickTime Player and choose **Window > Show Movie Inspector** (Command-I). The frame rate is listed with the format and size. It does not say whether the rate is variable; the [frame rate checker](https://metadata.video/video-frame-rate-checker) does. ### Why does Get Info show no codec or dimensions for my video? Those come from Spotlight. If the file is on a drive Spotlight does not index, or indexing has not reached it yet, Get Info shows only the basic file details. ### Why does mdls show (null) for most attributes? mdls reads Spotlight’s index, so an unindexed file has little to show. The metadata is still in the file; use the Movie Inspector, ffprobe or a browser inspector to read it directly. ### Can I see the metadata of an MKV file on a Mac? Not with QuickTime Player, which does not open MKV. Use ffprobe in Terminal, MediaInfo, VLC’s media information window, or open the file on this site. ### How do I find out where a video was filmed on a Mac? If it is in Photos, select it and press Command-I; the location shows on a map. For a file outside Photos, try `mdls -name kMDItemLatitude -name kMDItemLongitude` or open it in [the location viewer](https://metadata.video/where-was-this-video-taken). ### Is the date in Finder when the video was recorded? No. Finder’s created and modified dates belong to that copy of the file on your disk. The recording date is inside the video and shows in Photos and in full inspectors. ### Does opening a video at metadata.video upload it? No. Safari or any modern browser reads the file on your Mac. The only optional network requests are street map tiles when you press **Show street map** and the speech model if you use **Transcribe speech**. ## Related metadata guides * [ Video metadata viewer See, explain, edit and remove everything a video or photo says about itself. ](https://metadata.video/) * [ See video and photo metadata on iPhone Use the Photos Info panel, then see the codec, HDR, bitrate and tags it leaves out. ](https://metadata.video/view-video-metadata-iphone) * [ How to see video metadata on Windows Properties → Details, the limits of Remove Properties for MP4, and the full view. ](https://metadata.video/view-video-metadata-windows) * [ How to use ffprobe Real ffprobe commands for streams, tags, HDR and frame counts, and ffmpeg for stripping. ](https://metadata.video/how-to-use-ffprobe) * [ MKV metadata editor Rename tracks, set languages and Default/Forced flags, and change the MKV title losslessly. ](https://metadata.video/mkv-metadata-editor) * [ Check if a video is HDR SDR, HDR10, HDR10+, HLG or Dolby Vision, with profile, bit depth, primaries and MaxCLL explained. ](https://metadata.video/hdr-video-checker) * [ Full video file info report A MediaInfo-style text report, JSON and box tree for any video, with hashes on request. ](https://metadata.video/video-file-info)