Open WMA files

Full name

Windows Media Audio
Developer

Microsoft
Popularity

Have you encountered a problem with a WMA file? Don’t you know which program opens a file with this extension? You will find all the information you need about working with a WMA file here. In the further part of this page we have added a list of programs that should open your WMA file. It is enough you choose a proper application for your operating system, download and install it.

What is WMA file?

The extension WMA denotes a file in Windows Media Audio format. These files contain compressed audio. This proprietary audio compression method was developed by Microsoft Corporation and is part of the Windows Media Platform.

More info

There are four variants that have been developed for specific applications.
Most commonly you will find Windows Media Audio files. This lossy compression is similar to MP3 and supports sampling rates (sampling rate) up to 48kHz, up to 2 channels and different bitrates.
For multi-channel audio and higher quality, Windows Media Audio Professional is intended. It supports sampling rates up to 96kHz, 24bit resolution and up to 8 channels. Currently, WMA Pro does not enjoy much support yet.
WMA Lossless provides lossless compression for audio with up to 6 channels and 96kHz and 24-bit audio. Especially for speech content WMA Voice is intended. It is not very common yet. In addition to the Windows Media Player and numerous software players, many hardware players are able to play WMA.
WMA files can also be protected by Digital Rights Management. In this case, you need the appropriate, possibly paid licenses to play the files.
WMA encoded audio may also be present in other container formats. For example, in asf or mkv.WMA is not available as a retrofittable codec, but must be directly supported by the player or operating system.

Programs which can open a WMA file

Windows

Linux

Mac OS

Android

iOS

OverDrive Media Console for iPhone

Windows Phone

OverDrive Media Console Phone

How to open file with WMA extension?

In order to open a file with WMA extension one of the following programs must be installed on user’s system. If a problem with opening WMA file occurred, it is highly possible that none of the listed programs is present on user’s system. Even if one or more said programs are installed, there may be issues related with given programs. In order to solve a problem with WMA files, follow the instructions below.

Install Smart Converter or other program from the list

Most often resolving problems with opening WMA files is very simple. Just install an appropriate program that supports such files. All of the listed programs support WMA files, but may vary in offered function and purpose. Some programs may be capable only of viewing contents of WMA files or offer file conversion options, but may not be capable of editing such files.

Set Smart Converter as the default program for opening WMA files

It is possible that although a compatible program has been installed on user’s system, it is not used by the system to open it. This may happen because no default application was associated with this type of files. To associate WMA files with given application, select "Open with" from drop-down menu (accessed by right-clicking on the file). Then select from the list the program or application you want to be used to open this type of file. If the Smart Converter applications is not on the list, select "Browse" option in order to manually locate the directory where Smart Converter has been installed.

Check the section that lists most common problems with WMA files

Sometimes problems with opening WMA files may not lie with the application itself, but can arise due to other causes, such as:

File data is corrupted
WMA files has been not been completely download from the internet (only a part of the data has been downloaded)
Currently used user account hasn’t been granted necessary privileges to open WMA files (should that be the case, please contact your system administrator or IT specialist)
WMA file was being copied from a corrupted storage device and is incomplete or data is corrupted. (Copying files from unknown or untrusted sources should be conducted with great care as such files may contain malicious software, which can damage your system)