Convert WMV to WMA Online Free
Extract the WMA audio track from your WMV Windows Media Video file and save it as a standalone WMA audio file. The native Windows-to-Windows audio extraction — perfect for Windows Media Player libraries.
ChangeThisFile extracts the WMA audio track from your WMV Windows Media Video and saves it as a standalone WMA file using FFmpeg on our secure servers. WMV and WMA are both Microsoft formats — this is the native Windows audio extraction path. Files are auto-deleted, free with no signup required.
Convert WMV to WMA
Drop your WMV file here to convert it instantly
Drag & drop your .wmv file here, or click to browse
Convert to WMA instantly
WMV vs WMA: Format Comparison
Key differences between the two formats
| Feature | WMV | WMA |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Microsoft video container (audio + video) | Microsoft audio-only format |
| Developer | Microsoft | Microsoft |
| Audio codec | WMA (Windows Media Audio) | WMA — same codec, audio-only container |
| Video stream | Included (Windows Media Video codec) | None — pure audio |
| File size | Moderate (video included) | Small — audio track only |
| Windows Media Player | Full video playback | Native audio library entry with metadata |
| Re-encoding | N/A | Often stream-copy — no quality loss |
| Use case | Windows video playback | Windows Media Player music library, Xbox audio |
When to Convert
Common scenarios where this conversion is useful
Extract audio from WMV recordings for Windows Media Player library
WMV files in Windows Media Player are managed as video. Extracting the audio as WMA creates a proper music library entry with full metadata support — title, artist, album, and cover art — organized alongside your other audio files.
Create standalone WMA audio from corporate WMV presentations
Corporate training videos and meeting recordings in WMV format often only need their audio preserved. Extract as WMA to create compact, audio-only files for Windows Media Player distribution without the video overhead.
Play WMV audio on Xbox from USB drive
Xbox consoles play WMA from USB drives and network shares, but WMV files may require additional setup. Extracting the audio as WMA ensures clean playback through your Xbox home theater system.
Reduce file size of WMV recordings to audio only
WMV video files are much larger than WMA audio files. If you only need the audio from a WMV recording — such as a speech, lecture, or music performance — extracting to WMA dramatically reduces file size.
Archive Windows video audio in native Windows format
Both WMV and WMA are Microsoft formats. Extracting WMV audio to WMA keeps the content within the native Windows media ecosystem for seamless compatibility with Windows software and devices.
How to Convert WMV to WMA
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1
Upload your WMV file
Drag and drop your .wmv file onto the converter or click to browse and select it. Files up to 500MB are supported.
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2
Server-side WMA extraction
Your WMV is uploaded over HTTPS and FFmpeg extracts the WMA audio track. Since WMV and WMA share the same Windows Media Audio codec, FFmpeg often stream-copies the audio directly with zero re-encoding and zero quality loss.
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3
Download your WMA file
Click Download to save the .wma file. Both the original WMV and the WMA output are automatically deleted from our servers after you download.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, in many cases. WMV and WMA share the same Windows Media Audio codec. FFmpeg can often stream-copy the WMA audio stream directly from the WMV container into a standalone WMA file with zero re-encoding and zero quality loss.
WMV (Windows Media Video) is a video container holding both video and audio streams. WMA (Windows Media Audio) is the audio-only format using the same Microsoft codec. WMV to WMA essentially extracts the audio track and discards the video.
Yes. Windows Media Player treats WMA files as music library entries. They appear alongside MP3 and other audio files in your library, with support for artist, album, genre, and cover art metadata.
When stream-copied (no re-encoding), the WMA is a bit-perfect copy of the audio in the WMV. The quality is identical to the original audio track.
Yes. Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S support WMA playback from USB drives formatted as FAT32 or NTFS, and from network shares via SMB. Copy the WMA file to a USB drive and insert it into your Xbox.
Yes. WMA supports Windows Media metadata including title, artist, album, year, genre, track number, and embedded album art. Tags can be edited in Windows Media Player or tag editors like Mp3tag.
DRM-protected WMV files cannot be converted by our service. FFmpeg requires unprotected access to the audio stream. Only non-DRM WMV files can be extracted to WMA.
Yes. ChangeThisFile is completely free. No signup, no subscription, and no limits on conversions.
Very fast. When stream-copying (no re-encoding), conversion is nearly instantaneous regardless of file length. The video is simply discarded and the audio track is saved as WMA.
Yes. All uploads use HTTPS encryption and files are automatically deleted from our servers right after you download the WMA. We never store, access, or share your files.
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