Convert WMV to MP3
Rescue the narration or music from a Windows Media Video file and save it as an MP3 that opens on any device.
Rescue the narration or music from a Windows Media Video file and save it as an MP3 that opens on any device.
Windows Media Video was Microsoft's standard for a long stretch of the 2000s and early 2010s. Windows Movie Maker exported it, Windows Media Encoder saved screen captures in it, and plenty of training videos, webinar archives and corporate presentations were distributed that way. Today, Macs, phones and many media apps can't play WMV without extra software.
Converting to MP3 frees the soundtrack from that dated container. Only the audio is kept, and it is encoded with LAME at a fixed 192 kbps. Its sample rate is unchanged up to 48 kHz, and the channels stay mono or stereo, with any surround track folded to two channels. Everything else, from the video to embedded markers, is left out, and there are no settings to worry about.
In each case the goal is the same: hold on to the spoken words or music while letting go of video that is often low resolution by current standards and hard to open on newer hardware.
The sound in a WMV is almost always Windows Media Audio. Standard WMA is lossy, so turning it into MP3 means decoding one lossy format and encoding another. You get one more layer of compression; at 192 kbps it typically goes unnoticed, especially for speech.
| Original WMA bitrate | What to expect from the 192 kbps MP3 |
|---|---|
| Low (for example 32–64 kbps, common for web or voice) | Bigger file, same sound; artifacts in the source remain |
| Medium (around 128 kbps) | Bigger file, very close to the original |
| High (192 kbps or more) | Similar size, minor re-encoding loss |
Older WMV files meant for streaming over slow connections often used very low audio bitrates. A higher-bitrate MP3 won't clean up the swishy or metallic sound those produce; it just preserves it faithfully. For sizing, count on about 1.44 MB per minute of MP3, so a 25-minute training module ends up near 36 MB.
Some WMV files sold or rented through online stores, or distributed by companies, were locked with Windows Media DRM. Those can't be converted. If a file asks for a license or refuses to play on a new computer, that's a strong sign it is protected.
Shorten the video in an editor, or split a long presentation into chapters and convert each one. Re-exporting at a lower video resolution also reduces size while leaving the soundtrack alone.
Most WMV soundtracks use the standard WMA codec, which converts without trouble. Files made with rarer variants intended for speech at extremely low bitrates occasionally fail to decode or produce poor results. If a conversion fails, playing the file in VLC can help confirm whether the audio is readable at all.
If what you have is a .wma audio file rather than a video, use WMA to MP3. To keep the result in Microsoft's format instead, the WMA converter writes WMA v2.
| Full name | MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer III |
|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy |
| Developed by | Fraunhofer IIS / MPEG |
| Introduced | 1993 |
| File extension | .mp3 |
| Typically used for | Music libraries, podcasts, everyday listening |
| Plays on | Virtually every phone, computer, browser, car stereo and media player |
| Our output | LAME MP3, 192 kbps CBR, stereo |
Apple devices don't play WMV files without extra software, but they handle MP3 natively. Convert the WMV here and download the MP3; it will open in the Music app, QuickTime Player, Files and nearly any other audio app on Mac, iPhone or iPad.
WMV files store audio as Windows Media Audio, which is lossy, so the MP3 is a second round of compression at 192 kbps. That is usually not noticeable. If the WMV used a very low audio bitrate, its artifacts stay in the MP3, since conversion can't restore lost detail.
The most common causes are DRM protection, a file larger than 50 MB, or a damaged file. WMV videos bought or rented from online stores were often locked with Windows Media DRM and can't be converted. Try playing the file in VLC to confirm it isn't damaged.
You can convert the exported video, not the project file. Movie Maker projects were saved separately from the finished movie, so look for the exported WMV, often in your Videos folder. If it's 50 MB or smaller, upload it and you'll get its soundtrack as an MP3.
Uploaded WMV files are deleted as soon as conversion succeeds, and converted MP3s plus any leftovers are removed automatically within about an hour. We don't listen to or keep your audio. Follow your organization's rules about uploading internal material to online services.
Need detailed information or want to set a different default format? Visit our specific converter pages: