What is a .ogg file?
Ogg Vorbis / Ogg container · Audio · Xiph.Org Foundation · 2000
OGG is an open, royalty-free audio container, usually holding Vorbis or Opus audio. It offers quality on par with or better than MP3 without licensing fees, which makes it popular in games, open-source software and the web.
What is a .ogg file used for?
The Ogg container most often carries Vorbis, and increasingly Opus, both free codecs designed to rival or beat MP3 and AAC on quality per kilobyte.
Because it costs nothing to use, OGG shows up widely in game audio, Wikipedia media and open-source projects.
Apple devices have historically lacked native OGG support, so converting to MP3 or AAC helps there.
What opens a .ogg file?
The .ogg format opens in the following apps, grouped by operating system. If one app does not work, try another from the same list.
Windows
- VLC
- foobar2000
macOS
- VLC
Linux
- VLC
- Rhythmbox
- mpv
Web
- Firefox, Chrome and most browsers
Open a .ogg file step by step
- Confirm the file really is a .ogg. Drop it into the WhatFileType identifier, which reads its signature in your browser without uploading anything.
- On Windows, open it with VLC or foobar2000.
- On Mac, use VLC.
- On Linux, try VLC or Rhythmbox.
- Still stuck? Convert the .ogg to MP3, which opens more widely.
Why can't I open my .ogg file?
Almost always because no installed app understands OGG. Install one of the apps above, or convert the file to a format your existing software already reads. If double-clicking opens the wrong program instead of nothing at all, the file association is set to the wrong app rather than the file being broken.
The other possibility is that the file is not really a .ogg at all. Drop it into the file identifier to check it by its bytes instead of its name. Nothing is uploaded.
How to convert a .ogg file
You can convert a .ogg file to MP3, WAV, AAC, FLAC using a conversion tool or the export menu of an app that opens it.
What is the .ogg file signature (magic bytes)?
A .ogg file starts with the hex bytes 4F 67 67 53, which read as OggS in ASCII. Programs identify OGG by those bytes, not by the filename, so a renamed file still gives itself away.
These are the documented signatures for OGG. For a full breakdown, see the OGG file signature page.
| Hex signature | Offset | ASCII | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4F 67 67 53 | 0 | OggS | 'OggS' |
See the full magic-numbers reference for every format.
Frequently asked questions
What is a .ogg file?
OGG is an open, royalty-free audio container, usually holding Vorbis or Opus audio. It offers quality on par with or better than MP3 without licensing fees, which makes it popular in games, open-source software and the web.
How do I play an OGG file?
Most browsers and VLC play OGG directly. On an iPhone, convert it to MP3 or AAC first.
Related formats
Sources
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