WMA Converter

How to Convert WMA to Any Format

1. Upload Your WMA File: Drag and drop your .wma audio or click "Add Files". Standard WMA, WMA Pro, and WMA Lossless files are all accepted. Batch is supported — drop in several WMA files and each one converts in parallel, then download them together as a ZIP.
2. Pick an Output Format and Quality Preset: Open the Audio File Extension dropdown and choose the target — MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, M4A, OGG, Opus, and more. The default Quality Preset is "Very High (Recommended)". Switch to Constant Bitrate for a predictable kbps (128 / 192 / 256 / 320), Variable Bitrate for smaller files at equal quality, Custom Bitrate to type an exact value, or Specific file size to cap the output at an exact MB target.
3. Adjust Sample Rate, Channels, or Trim (Optional): Under Audio Sample Rate keep the original or pick a value from 8 kHz to 48 kHz; under Audio Channel choose Original, Mono, or Stereo; under Trim enter a start time and duration to keep only a section. Advanced users can override the Audio Codec directly.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared.

Popular WMA Conversions

• WMA to MP3 — the universal target; plays on every phone, car stereo, and media player
• WMA to M4A — AAC audio for Apple devices, iTunes, and the Music app
• WMA to WAV — uncompressed PCM for editing in a DAW
• WMA to FLAC — lossless archival (best when the source is WMA Lossless)
• WMA to AAC — efficient lossy audio for streaming and mobile
• WMA to OGG — royalty-free Vorbis for games and open-source players
• WMA to Opus — the most efficient modern codec for voice and low-bitrate music

Why Convert a WMA File?

WMA (Windows Media Audio) is a family of audio codecs Microsoft first released in August 1999 with Windows Media Technologies 4.0, built to compete with MP3 and, later, AAC. The audio is stored inside Microsoft's ASF (Advanced Systems Format) container and carries the .wma extension. The family has four members: standard WMA (lossy, the one most files use), WMA Pro (multichannel and high-resolution), WMA Lossless (bit-perfect compression), and WMA Voice (low-bitrate speech).

The reason almost everyone converts away from WMA is compatibility. WMA was designed around the Windows ecosystem — Windows Media Player and the now-discontinued Zune — and native playback drops off sharply outside it. macOS QuickTime, the iPhone Music app, most Android players, car infotainment systems, and the HTML5 <audio> element do not decode WMA out of the box. MP3, by contrast, plays essentially everywhere, which is why "WMA to MP3" is by far the most common conversion people do.

There are a few other reasons to convert. If you're feeding audio into a video editor or DAW, an uncompressed WAV avoids a second lossy generation during editing. If your source is WMA Lossless and you want a portable lossless archive that more tools recognize, FLAC is the standard target. And if you're moving into the Apple ecosystem, M4A (AAC) is the format iTunes and the Music app expect natively.

One thing worth knowing before you convert: standard WMA is lossy, so converting it to MP3, AAC, or OGG is a lossy-to-lossy re-encode — the encoder decodes the WMA back to audio and compresses it again, which can shed a little more detail. Choosing a high bitrate (256-320 kbps) keeps that loss inaudible in normal listening. Converting lossy WMA to FLAC or WAV does not recover quality — it only stops further loss while making the file larger.

WMA vs. Common Conversion Targets

Frequently Asked Questions

What program opens a WMA file?

On Windows, WMA plays natively in Windows Media Player and the modern Media Player app. Outside Windows it gets harder: macOS QuickTime, the iPhone Music app, and most car stereos don't decode WMA out of the box, though the free VLC media player handles WMA on every platform. If you want a file that plays without installing anything, converting WMA to MP3 is the simplest fix — MP3 is supported essentially everywhere.

Is WMA lossy or lossless?

It depends which WMA codec was used. The standard WMA codec — the one most .wma files contain — is lossy, using psychoacoustic compression similar in spirit to MP3. But the family also includes WMA Lossless, which compresses without discarding any audio data, and WMA Pro for high-resolution multichannel audio. If you're not sure which you have, it's almost certainly standard lossy WMA; WMA Lossless was rare in practice.

Will I lose quality converting WMA to MP3?

A little, because standard WMA is already lossy and MP3 is lossy too, so you're re-encoding rather than copying. In practice the loss is small and usually inaudible if you keep the output bitrate high. In our testing, a 192 kbps WMA re-encoded to 256 kbps or 320 kbps MP3 is transparent to normal listening on consumer headphones and speakers. Pick a Constant Bitrate of 256 or 320 kbps if you want the safest result. Converting to a lossless target like FLAC or WAV won't recover the detail WMA already discarded — it just prevents any further loss.

What's the best format to convert WMA to for an iPhone or iTunes?

M4A. Apple's Music app and iTunes use AAC audio in an M4A container natively, so WMA to M4A drops your files straight into an Apple library without a "cannot import" prompt. MP3 also works fine on every Apple device and is the more universal choice if you want the same files to play in a car or on Android too. Either way, pick a 256 kbps bitrate or higher to keep the re-encode clean.

Should I convert WMA Lossless to FLAC or MP3?

If your source is genuinely WMA Lossless and you want to keep every bit of quality, convert to WMA to FLAC — FLAC is the widely-supported lossless standard and preserves the audio exactly. If you just want portable files for a phone or car and don't need archival quality, MP3 or AAC at 256-320 kbps is far smaller and plays more widely. Converting lossless WMA to a lossy format is a one-way trip, so keep the FLAC or original if you might want to re-encode differently later.

How do I make a WMA file smaller without changing the format?

Re-encode it at a lower bitrate or switch to a more efficient codec. Dropping a 192 kbps file to 128 kbps roughly cuts the size by a third; converting to Opus or AAC at the same perceived quality is smaller still. If you specifically want a smaller .wma rather than a new format, the Compress WMA tool keeps the WMA codec and lets you target a Specific file size or lower bitrate directly.

Is converting my WMA files private?

Yes. Files are uploaded over an encrypted (TLS) connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours. There's no sign-up, no watermark, and files are never shared or made public. If you'd rather not upload at all, desktop tools like VLC and foobar2000 can convert WMA locally — but for a few files, the online route is faster and leaves nothing installed.