WMA to MP3
Windows Media Audio files, converted in your tab. Drop a folder of them and get MP3s back. Nothing uploads, which matters when the files are a music library you ripped yourself.
drop your .wma files here
or click to pick. Drop the whole folder — batch conversion returns a zip.
Why nothing will play these
WMA is Microsoft's format, and for about a decade it was what Windows Media Player produced by default when you ripped a CD. That default is the reason so many people have a music library in a format their current devices refuse: macOS will not play WMA, iOS will not play WMA, Android generally will not, and neither will most car stereos built after the format faded.
The files themselves are usually fine. They are simply in a container and codec that stopped being supported outside Windows, and converting them to MP3 makes the library portable again without touching the originals.
The DRM problem, and how to tell in advance
Some WMA files cannot be converted by anything, including this tool, because they were sold with Windows Media DRM — the PlaysForSure and Zune Marketplace era. Those files carry an encrypted stream and a licence that lived on the machine that bought them, and Microsoft shut the licence servers down years ago.
You can spot them before wasting time: right-click the file in Windows and look at Properties, or check whether the extension is .wma against a file size that seems reasonable for the length. A protected file will fail here with a decode error rather than converting badly. Music you ripped from your own CDs is never protected; music you bought from a defunct store usually is. There is no legitimate way around that, and this tool does not attempt one.
What the conversion costs you
WMA is lossy and MP3 is lossy, so this is a second generation of compression and some detail is discarded again. In practice it is inaudible on the material most WMA libraries contain — CD rips at 128 or 192 kbps of ordinary pop and rock, listened to on ordinary speakers.
Pick a bitrate at or slightly above the source rather than jumping to 320. If the WMA is 128 kbps, a 320 kbps MP3 is two and a half times the size holding exactly the same information. Windows shows the source bitrate in Explorer's Details pane, and if you cannot be bothered to check, 192 is a safe answer for everything.
There is a lossless variant, WMA Lossless, which some careful rippers used. If that is what you have, you are converting from a true master and 320 kbps is genuinely worth choosing.
Converting a whole library
Drop as many files as you like and you get a zip back with the original filenames, extensions swapped. Everything is converted at the same bitrate, so if the library is mixed you may want two passes.
The one thing that does not survive is the tags. A WMA carries its artist, album and track number in Microsoft's own metadata format, and the MP3 that comes out has no ID3 frames at all — your music player will fall back to the filename. For a handful of files the tag editor fixes that. For a library of several hundred, a desktop tool such as MusicBrainz Picard is the sane choice, and it can re-tag from the filenames afterwards.
ASF, WMV and the other Windows Media names
WMA is really an ASF container with WMA audio inside, which is why .asf files are accepted here too. WMV is the same container with video, and if you drop one the audio track is extracted and converted like any other video. Windows Media Player also produced .wax and .asx files, but those are playlists — text files pointing at other files — and there is no audio in them to convert.
Doing it without a Windows machine
This runs entirely in the browser, so it works on a Mac, a Chromebook, a Linux desktop or a phone, none of which can otherwise open a WMA at all. That is the usual reason people arrive here: the files came off an old Windows PC or an external drive, and the machine that could read them is gone.
FAQ
Why will my Mac not play WMA files?
Because WMA is a Microsoft format and macOS ships no decoder for it. QuickTime and the Music app both refuse it. Converting to MP3 is the simplest fix, and it runs here without installing anything.
Can you convert a DRM-protected WMA?
No, and nor can anything else. Files bought in the PlaysForSure or Zune era are encrypted and their licence servers were shut down years ago. Music you ripped from your own CDs is not protected and converts normally.
Do my files get uploaded?
No. The conversion runs in your browser tab. Load the page, switch to airplane mode, then drop a file — it still works.
Can I convert my whole library at once?
Yes. Drop as many files as you like and you get a zip of MP3s back with the original filenames. They all use the same bitrate, so convert a mixed library in two passes if that matters.
Will my artist and album names carry over?
No. WMA stores tags in Microsoft’s own format and the MP3 comes out with no ID3 data, so players show the filename. Use the tag editor for a few files, or MusicBrainz Picard for a whole library.
Which bitrate should I pick?
At or slightly above the source. A 128 kbps WMA converted to 320 kbps MP3 is a much larger file with no more detail in it. Windows Explorer shows the source bitrate in the Details pane.
Does it handle .asf and .wmv?
Yes. WMA is an ASF container underneath, so .asf works directly, and a .wmv video has its audio track extracted and converted.
What about .wax or .asx files?
Those are playlists, not audio — small text files pointing at other files. There is nothing in them to convert.