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Need help?WMV to M4R: From Windows Media Video to iPhone Ringtone
WMV is Microsoft's Windows Media Video, stored in the Advanced Systems Format (ASF) container with a Windows Media Audio (WMA) soundtrack. It was the house format of Windows Movie Maker and of many Windows-era webcams, screen recorders and e-learning tools, and plenty of personal videos from the 2000s still exist only as .wmv. The iPhone has never played WMV natively, so this page bridges the gap: it decodes the WMA audio, encodes it as AAC and writes an .m4r, AAC-LC in an MPEG-4 container that iPhone recognises as a ringtone. The video is discarded.
Keep the clip to 30 seconds or less. Apple's ringtone article says ringtones can be up to 30 seconds long, and the Trim control on this page lets you choose exactly which half-minute you get.
How to Convert WMV to an iPhone Ringtone
- Upload the WMV File: Drag the
.wmvfile onto the page or click "Add Files". Batch upload works if you want tones from several videos. - Trim to 30 Seconds: Switch Trim from Unchanged to Trim and enter the Start time and a Duration of 30 seconds or less, in seconds or HH:MM:SS.sss.
- Set Bitrate and Channels: AAC is the only codec for M4R. Constant Bitrate (8-384 kbps) gives a predictable size; Variable Bitrate, Quality Preset, Custom Bitrate and a target file size are also there. Choose Mono for a voice or Stereo for music.
- Convert and Copy to the iPhone: Click Convert and download the
.m4r. Windows users can add it to the iPhone with iTunes; then choose it in Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone.
Which WMA Is Inside Your WMV?
| WMA variant | Where you find it | Ringtone note |
|---|---|---|
| WMA (Standard, versions 1 and 2) | Most WMV files, including Movie Maker exports | Lossy; encode at or slightly above the source bitrate |
| WMA Pro | Higher-quality and multichannel WMV files | Set Audio Channel to Stereo for 5.1 sources |
| WMA Lossless | Rare in video files | The AAC encode is the only lossy step |
| WMA Voice | Low-bitrate speech recordings | Mono at 64 kbps is plenty |
You can see which one you have in VLC under Tools > Codec Information. Whichever it is, the converter decodes the WMA track and encodes AAC, because an M4R cannot hold Windows Media Audio.
WMV vs M4R
| Property | WMV | M4R |
|---|---|---|
| Container | Advanced Systems Format (ASF) | MPEG-4, .m4r extension |
| Video | Windows Media Video 7/8/9 or VC-1 | None |
| Audio | WMA Standard, Pro, Lossless or Voice | AAC-LC only |
| iPhone support | Not supported natively | Native, as a ringtone or text tone |
| Rights protection | Possible (Windows Media DRM) | None |
| Typical origin | Windows Movie Maker, Windows Media Encoder, webcams, screen recorders | Converters, GarageBand, Finder or iTunes workflows |
| Size of 30 seconds | A few megabytes at typical WMV bitrates | About 480 KB at 128 kbps, 960 KB at 256 kbps |
DRM-Protected WMV Files
Some WMV files bought or rented from old online video stores, or recorded from protected services, use Windows Media DRM. Protected streams are encrypted and cannot be decoded here, so the conversion fails. Files you made yourself with Movie Maker, a webcam or a screen recorder are not protected and convert normally. Apple's GarageBand route has the same rule: the audio file you import must not be DRM-protected.
Choosing the Bitrate
Because the WMA soundtrack is already lossy, the aim is to avoid adding audible loss, not to "improve" it. For music, 128-192 kbps Constant Bitrate keeps a 30-second clip clean. For a spoken line or a laugh, 64-96 kbps in Mono is enough. Going far above the source rate only makes the file bigger: AAC cannot restore detail WMA already discarded. The size rule is kbps x seconds / 8 = kilobytes, so every sensible setting gives a ringtone under a megabyte.
Putting It on the iPhone
On Windows, connect the iPhone and add the .m4r with iTunes. On a Mac with macOS Catalina or later, select the iPhone in the Finder sidebar and drag the file onto it. With only the phone, save the file to Files, import it into GarageBand and use Share > Ringtone. Then pick the tone in Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone, or assign it to one person in Contacts > Edit > Ringtone. Android phones use MP3 or OGG ringtones; WMV to MP3 makes the MP3.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my iPhone play the WMV file directly?
No. iOS has no built-in support for Windows Media Video or Windows Media Audio, which is why the audio has to be converted to AAC before the iPhone can use it as a ringtone.
Why did my WMV fail to convert?
The two usual reasons are rights protection and missing audio. A DRM-protected WMV is encrypted and cannot be decoded, and some screen recordings and webcam clips were saved without a soundtrack. Check in VLC under Audio > Audio Track; if no track is listed, there is nothing to make a ringtone from.
How long can the ringtone be?
Apple says up to 30 seconds, and its GarageBand for iPhone guide gives 30 seconds as the maximum for exported ringtones. A 40-second figure from the iTunes era is still quoted online, but it is not in Apple's current documentation.
What is the difference between M4R and M4A?
Only the extension. Both are AAC-LC in an MPEG-4 container, written here by the same muxer, and the .m4r name tells iOS, Finder and iTunes that the file is a tone. For the full soundtrack as a music file, use WMV to M4A.
I have a .wma file rather than a .wmv. Where do I go?
A .wma is an audio-only file in the same ASF container. Use WMA to M4R, which offers the same trim and bitrate settings.
Can the same tone be used for text messages?
Yes. Apple's GarageBand guide says an exported ringtone can be used as a Standard Ringtone or Standard Text Tone, and an added tone can be picked under Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Text Tone. A short clip of a few seconds usually works best.
What happens to my WMV after conversion?
It is sent over an encrypted (TLS) connection, processed on our servers and deleted automatically after a few hours, together with the ringtone. The service is free, with no sign-up and no watermark.