How to Merge Two Video Files Together

Often when you download a film online it'll come split into two parts. This is convenient if you're going to burn each part to a separate disc, but as we move into an age of digital distribution the need for that physical media is dissipating. Instead of having a bunch of folders with several files for each film, you can combine these two halves of the film together into one video file.

Step 1 All you need to do this is Quicktime. If you're on a Mac, you already have it. If you're on a PC you may need to download it from apple.com/quicktime. Open both video files in Quicktime. Move the timeline playhead to the end of the first video. The simplest way to do this is to click the right arrow.

Step 2 Click on the second video window. Press command+A to select the entire timeline. You'll notice the timeline darken to show it's been selected. Go to Edit in the menubar and click Copy.

Step 3 Click the first video window again. When it's in the foreground, go to Edit in the menubar and click Paste.

Step 4 Notice that the timeline now represents the original portion as well as the newly pasted portion.

Step 5 Go to the File option in the menu bar and select "Export..." Change the export type to that of the original files. If you're unsure of (or don't see) the original files' codec you can do one of two things - export it as different file type (which requires the file to re-encode and may take a significant amount of time) or hit cancel and continue to Step 7 instead.

Step 6 Assuming you found the codec of the original files, select it and click options. Change the video format to Passthrough. Click the Audio tab and change the Audio format to passthrough as well. Click the OK button and hit save to start exporting. When the progress bar vanishes you're done. If this step didn't work for you, cancel out of the Save As dialogue and proceed to the next step.

Step 7 If you don't mind using a .mov file type, you can simply save the file in one step instead of exporting it. Go to File and select Save As. Make sure you select the option "Save as a self-contained movie", choose a file name, and click Save. Your two files are now one. You can delete the other two files.