What is a 3GP file?

3GP — mobile video

What is it?

3GP is a video format designed for mobile phones from before the smartphone era: small frame size, minimal bitrate, heavily compressed audio.

Everything is sacrificed to keep the file size down, since video had to travel over slow, pay-by-the-megabyte third-generation mobile networks.

The format was defined in the early 2000s by the consortium that standardizes mobile telephony, as a stripped-down version of MP4.

It shipped on an entire generation of flip phones before disappearing with the arrival of smartphones and fast networks.

Extremely lightweight files, playable on very modest devices.

It retains archival value: old family videos sometimes exist only in this format.

Very low quality, both in image and sound.

It's poorly supported by today's players and editing software.

Convert your old 3GP files to MP4: this will make them playable on any modern device.

Don't expect miracles in terms of quality: what was never recorded can't be restored. Conversion preserves access, not resolution.

Convert your 3GP in seconds, on our secure servers in France.