OGV to WMA Converter

Extract WMA Audio from OGV Online

OGV is Xiph.Org's open Ogg video container — the royalty-free format of the pre-H.264 web, still served by Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons — and its soundtrack is almost always Vorbis. This tool discards the video and re-encodes just that audio track as WMA (Windows Media Audio), Microsoft's proprietary ASF-based codec. There's a genuine irony to it: you're pulling audio out of the open-source ecosystem's video format and into Microsoft's legacy format. That's worth doing in exactly one situation — a legacy Windows program, an old in-car head unit, or a Windows Media Player library that specifically wants a .wma file. For anything modern, extract to MP3 or extract to AAC plays far more widely.

OGV vs WMA — Why You'd Convert (and When Not To)

Convert OGV to WMA when something on the Windows side specifically demands the .wma extension. Windows Media Player plays WMA natively but does not play Ogg Vorbis without an extra codec extension, so handing it a WMA file sidesteps a system-wide codec install. If you don't have that specific constraint, there's little reason to pick a proprietary legacy format over MP3 or AAC.

Will This Lose Quality? Yes — It's Lossy to Lossy

Extracting audio means decoding whatever codec the Ogg holds and re-encoding it to WMA. Because the usual source is Vorbis — already a lossy codec — and WMA is also lossy, this is a second-generation lossy transcode: detail the first encode discarded stays gone, and the re-encode can shed a little more.

The takeaway: with a Vorbis, Opus, or Speex source you cannot regain quality — you can only avoid adding much by keeping the bitrate at or above the source. Keep the original OGV if you might need full fidelity later; lossy re-encoding is not reversible.

How to Convert OGV to WMA

1. Upload Your OGV File: Drag and drop your .ogv onto the page, or click "Add Files" to browse. Wikimedia Commons downloads, Linux screen recordings, and old HTML5 video files all work, and you can queue several to extract with the same settings.
2. Pick a Quality Preset: Leave Quality Preset on the recommended setting for high-quality output, or open it (Highest down to Lowest) to trade size against fidelity. Standard WMA tops out near 192 kbps, so the upper presets are already CD-grade.
3. Set the Bitrate or Codec Version (Optional): Under File Compression, switch to Constant Bitrate for a predictable file size or Custom Bitrate to type an exact rate. The Audio Codec selector defaults to WMA v2; choose WMA v1 only for a very old device that predates v2.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert and save your .wma file individually or as a ZIP. The video is gone; you keep only the audio. No sign-up, no watermark.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why pull audio out of an open format into proprietary WMA?

Almost always for legacy Windows compatibility, not for quality. The standard WMA codec holds detail slightly better than MP3 below about 64 kbps, but at 128 kbps and up the two are broadly comparable, and Microsoft's old "half the size of MP3" marketing was disputed by independent listening tests. WMA's real disadvantage is reach: Apple's Music app, most phones, and many web players don't decode it. The one solid reason to convert is that an old Windows program, a Windows Media Player library, or a car head unit specifically expects .wma — and handing it that file avoids installing a codec pack. If you don't have that constraint, extract to MP3 instead; it plays on virtually everything.

My OGV won't play in Windows Media Player — will a WMA fix that?

Yes, and it's the main reason to do this. Windows Media Player plays WMA, MP3, AAC, FLAC, and WAV natively, but it does not play Ogg Vorbis or Theora without Microsoft's optional Web Media Extension or a third-party codec pack. Converting the OGV's audio to a .wma file gives WMP something it understands out of the box, with no system-wide codec install. The conversion is a one-time step; a codec pack is a permanent change that can affect other apps.

Should I pick WMA v1 or WMA v2?

This converter defaults to WMA v2 (the more efficient standard encoder Microsoft shipped alongside the original), and that's right for almost everyone — it delivers CD-quality audio across the 64-192 kbps range and is decoded by any reasonably modern Windows Media stack. WMA v1 is the original 1999 codec; choose it only if you're feeding a very old device or program that predates v2 support. Neither is the high-resolution WMA Pro or the lossless variant — those aren't the standard .wma most legacy tools expect.

My OGV won't even open in Chrome anymore — does extracting still work?

Yes. Google removed Theora — the video codec most OGV files use — from Chromium in Chrome 123 (announced October 2023, disabled by default in Chrome 120 that December), and Firefox followed, so an .ogv may no longer play directly in a browser. That removal only affects the Theora video; standalone decoders in VLC and FFmpeg still read the file, which is how xconvert decodes your source and extracts the Vorbis audio into a WMA that doesn't depend on any Ogg or Theora support to play.

What bitrate should I choose for the WMA?

For music, 128-192 kbps standard WMA is the practical sweet spot — the codec caps near 192 kbps, so there's no benefit to going higher. For voice-only OGV (lectures, conference talks, screencasts) 64-96 kbps is plenty and keeps the file small. Set this under File Compression by choosing Constant or Custom Bitrate; the default Quality Preset already aims high. In our testing, a 3-minute Vorbis OGV re-encoded to 192 kbps WMA v2 produced a file in the low single-digit megabytes that imported straight into a Windows Media Player library.

How are my files handled, and how long are they kept?

Your OGV is uploaded over an encrypted connection, the audio is extracted to WMA on our servers, and the files are deleted automatically a few hours after conversion. There is no sign-up, no watermark, and your files are never shared or made public. On a big batch the practical limit is upload time, not a per-file size cap.

What if I want a more universal format, or to keep the video?

For the widest audio reach, extract to MP3 — it plays on virtually any device made since the late 1990s — or extract to AAC for modern phones and cars. If you'd rather keep a playable video instead of just the soundtrack, convert OGV to MP4 for the most universally compatible result. Reserve .wma for the one Windows program or device that specifically demands it.