Mo 3+ /Mo 5+ equally codoped TiO 2 thin films (0.050−0.100 mol % individually) were fabricated by spin coating on polished fused silica glass substrates followed by annealing at 450 °C for 2 h. The highly transparent (>80%) films consisted of poorly crystallized single-crystal anatase, where interstitial solid solubility decreases the lattice parameters, with a reversed trend at the highest codoping level arising from supersaturation and V O •• formation. The crystallinities correlate with the alternating trends of peak intensities and shifts in both the glancing angle X-ray diffraction and Raman data. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data reveal the absence of any valence changes, indicating that intervalence charge transfer is not relevant. Although there are four potential midgap states that may alter the E g (Mo i, and V Ti ⁗), any effects from them on the performance would be mitigated by the annihilation of the charge-compensating V O
••. As the E g values correlate with the lattice parameters, the principal driver of the E g is the residual lattice compressive strain. However, the photocatalytic performance is principally a function of the crystallinity.