Convert your audio files to the high-fidelity, uncompressed WAV format using our free online converter. You can convert from lossy formats like MP3, AAC, OGG, WMA, or lossless formats like FLAC to standard PCM WAV. This tool is also useful for extracting audio from video files into WAV for editing. Our service is free, secure (files deleted within about an hour), requires no registration, and accepts files up to 50 MB. It writes 16-bit PCM WAV, keeping the source sample rate and channels, so a 24-bit source is reduced to 16-bit.
Create high-quality WAV files from your existing audio or video with these easy steps:
WAV from the 'Convert to:' dropdown menu.WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) is an audio file format standard, developed by Microsoft and IBM, for storing an audio bitstream on PCs. It is the main format used on Windows systems for raw and typically uncompressed audio.
Standard WAV files contain uncompressed audio data using Pulse-Code Modulation (PCM), which is a direct digital representation of the analog audio signal. This results in high fidelity (identical to the source if converted from a digital master) but also very large file sizes compared to compressed formats like MP3 or AAC. Because of its quality and simplicity, WAV is a popular format for professional audio recording, editing, and mastering.
WAV files are broadly compatible with most operating systems and audio software:
Most computers can play WAV files without needing additional software.
| Full name | Waveform Audio File Format |
|---|---|
| Compression | Uncompressed (PCM) |
| Developed by | Microsoft and IBM |
| Introduced | 1991 |
| File extension | .wav |
| Typically used for | Recording, editing, mastering, broadcast |
| Plays on | All desktop systems and audio editors; most phones and browsers |
| Our output | 16-bit PCM, original sample rate and channels |
You get standard PCM WAV: uncompressed 16-bit little-endian samples. The sample rate and number of channels are kept from your source, so a 44.1 kHz stereo file stays 44.1 kHz stereo at about 1,411 kbps. This is the most widely accepted WAV flavor and opens in practically every audio editor, DAW and media player.
No. Detail removed when the MP3 was made can't be recovered, so the WAV sounds the same as the MP3 while taking up roughly seven times the space. Converting to WAV is still useful when an editor, sampler, CD burning tool or broadcast system only accepts uncompressed audio.
No. Our WAV output is always 16-bit, so a 24-bit source is reduced to 16-bit. That is still CD quality and fine for listening and most editing. If you need to keep the full 24-bit resolution, convert to FLAC instead, which keeps the source bit depth while staying lossless.
Uncompressed 16-bit stereo at 44.1 kHz uses about 10.1 MB per minute, so a 3-minute song is around 30 MB. At 48 kHz it is about 11 MB per minute, and mono needs half as much. Size depends only on length, sample rate and channels, not on how complex the music is.
The 50 MB limit applies to the file you upload, not the WAV you download. A 50 MB WAV input is only about 5 minutes of 44.1 kHz stereo, but a compressed source goes much further: a 192 kbps MP3 of about 35 minutes fits under the limit and becomes a WAV of roughly 350 MB.
Editing software works with uncompressed samples anyway, and WAV loads instantly without decoding. If you edit a WAV and export again, you don't add another round of lossy compression. Compress to MP3 or another lossy format only once, at the very end, when the edit is finished.
Need detailed information or want to set a different default format? Visit our specific converter pages: