Convert WMA to MP3
Convert a Windows Media Audio file to MP3 so it plays somewhere other than Windows. WMA files are usually the remains of a music library ripped in Windows Media Player, which used the format by default for years — so people who ripped their CDs on a PC in the 2000s often have entire collections that a phone or a Mac will not read.
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Add to Chrome — freeDrop your WMA file here, or click to browse
Up to 50 MB. Deleted automatically after 30 minutes.
What it does
- Decodes Windows Media Audio
- Plays on iPhone, Mac, Android and car stereos
- Handles libraries ripped in Windows Media Player
- No watermark and no sign-up
How to use WMA to MP3
- 1
Add the WMA
Drop the file in or choose it from your computer, up to 50 MB, no account needed.
- 2
Convert
The Windows Media Audio is decoded and re-encoded to MP3 at a high variable-bitrate setting.
- 3
Load it anywhere
The MP3 syncs to an iPhone, plays on a Mac, and works in a car — none of which read WMA.
The default that built a lot of libraries
Windows Media Player ripped CDs to WMA by default for years. Not as a suggestion — as the setting it arrived with. Millions of people put a disc in a Windows PC in the early 2000s, clicked the obvious button, and ended up with a WMA library without ever considering the format.
Then they bought a phone. Apple never supported WMA, so iTunes would not import the files and the iPhone would not play them. Android's support has always been inconsistent. Car stereos of the era often did read WMA — Microsoft had pushed for that — but newer ones frequently dropped it.
The result is a large body of music sitting on old hard drives in a format that was fine at the time and is an obstacle now. Converting it is one of the more common reasons anyone opens an audio converter at all.
How it works
The Windows Media Audio is decoded and re-encoded to MP3 at a high variable-bitrate setting. WMA is lossy, so this produces a second generation of loss: the WMA encoder discarded what it judged inaudible, and the MP3 encoder now works from what remains and makes its own different judgments.
At the bitrates Windows Media Player used for ripping — typically 128 or 192 kbps — the result is perfectly listenable and slightly worse than a fresh rip would be.
If you still have the CDs
Re-ripping is genuinely better and worth the afternoon if the collection matters to you. A rip made today goes straight from the disc to MP3 or FLAC in one encoding step, from the original audio, with no WMA generation in between. You can also rip to FLAC and keep a lossless master this time, which is what most people would choose if they were starting again.
Convert when the discs are gone, which after twenty years is the common case.
The protected files are a different problem
Windows Media DRM was used for purchased downloads and for subscription services that expired when a subscription lapsed. Those files are encrypted and cannot be converted by anything without their license.
They are easy to identify: they play on the machine that bought them, and nowhere else, and often stop playing there too once a service shuts down. That has happened to several of the stores that sold them, which is its own argument for what a format lock-in costs.
Examples
A CD ripped in Windows Media Player
The classic case. Windows Media Player ripped to WMA by default, so a decade of home CD collections exist in a format Apple never supported.
Audio from an old Windows voice recorder
Windows recording software wrote WMA. The recordings are fine and open nowhere except on Windows.
Frequently asked questions
Why will my iPhone not play WMA files?
Because WMA is a Microsoft codec and Apple never licensed or implemented it. iTunes will not import the files and iOS will not play them, so an entire library ripped on a Windows PC is invisible to the phone. Nothing is wrong with the files; they were made for a platform the phone does not belong to.
Some of my WMA files ask for a license — can those be converted?
No. Those carry Windows Media DRM, which was used for purchased downloads and subscription services in the 2000s. The file is encrypted and the key lives with a license server, so no converter can read it. If a file plays on the original PC and nowhere else, protection is almost certainly why.
Is WMA lossy like MP3?
Usually, yes, and at similar quality for the bitrate — Microsoft's encoder was genuinely competitive when bandwidth was scarce. There was also a WMA Lossless variant, much rarer, used by people who wanted an exact archive within the Windows ecosystem. Both convert here, and the lossless one gives a first-generation MP3, so the result is slightly better.
Should I re-rip the CDs instead of converting?
If you still have the discs and the collection matters, yes, and it is worth the effort. Re-ripping gives a first-generation encode from the original audio, while converting gives a second generation built on what the WMA encoder already discarded. Convert when the CDs are gone, which after twenty years is the usual situation.