What is a .wav file?
Waveform Audio File Format · Audio · Microsoft / IBM · 1991
WAV stores audio uncompressed, so it is bit-perfect and lossless, which makes it the standard for recording, editing and production. The catch is size: a few minutes of WAV can be tens of megabytes.
What is a .wav file used for?
A WAV is essentially raw audio samples in a simple container. Nothing is thrown away, so it is the working format of choice in studios and audio editors.
That fidelity means large files, so WAV is rarely used for distribution. You mix and edit in WAV, then export MP3 or AAC for sharing.
It plays natively almost everywhere, but its size makes it impractical for streaming or phones full of music.
What opens a .wav file?
The .wav format opens in the following apps, grouped by operating system. If one app does not work, try another from the same list.
Windows
- Media Player
- Audacity
- VLC
macOS
- Music
- QuickTime
- Audacity
Linux
- Audacity
- VLC
Web
- Every browser
Open a .wav file step by step
- Confirm the file really is a .wav. Drop it into the WhatFileType identifier, which reads its signature in your browser without uploading anything.
- On Windows, open it with Media Player or Audacity.
- On Mac, use Music or QuickTime.
- On Linux, try Audacity or VLC.
- Still stuck? Convert the .wav to MP3, which opens more widely.
Why can't I open my .wav file?
Almost always because no installed app understands WAV. 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 .wav 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 .wav file
You can convert a .wav file to MP3, FLAC, AAC, OGG using a conversion tool or the export menu of an app that opens it.
What is the .wav file signature (magic bytes)?
A .wav file starts with the hex bytes 52 49 46 46 ?? ?? ?? ?? 57 41 56 45, which read as RIFF....WAVE in ASCII. Programs identify WAV by those bytes, not by the filename, so a renamed file still gives itself away.
These are the documented signatures for WAV. For a full breakdown, see the WAV file signature page.
| Hex signature | Offset | ASCII | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 52 49 46 46 ?? ?? ?? ?? 57 41 56 45 | 0 | RIFF....WAVE | RIFF....WAVE |
See the full magic-numbers reference for every format.
Frequently asked questions
What is a .wav file?
WAV stores audio uncompressed, so it is bit-perfect and lossless, which makes it the standard for recording, editing and production. The catch is size: a few minutes of WAV can be tens of megabytes.
Why is my WAV file so large?
WAV is uncompressed, so it stores every sample in full. Convert to FLAC for lossless-but-smaller, or MP3 for much smaller lossy files.
Comparisons
Related formats
Sources
Details on this page were checked against authoritative references. How sources are ranked and what is deliberately left out is set out in the methodology.