What is a .wmv file?
Windows Media Video · Video · Microsoft · 1999
WMV is Microsoft's older video format, built for Windows Media Player and small downloads in the early streaming era. It is now largely legacy, and files are usually converted to MP4 for use outside Windows.
What is a .wmv file used for?
WMV wraps Windows Media video and audio in Microsoft's ASF container. In its day it was prized for compressing video small enough to stream over slow connections.
Support outside the Windows world has always been patchy, and modern codecs beat it on quality per megabyte.
You mostly meet WMV in old recordings and archives. Converting to MP4 makes them play everywhere.
What opens a .wmv file?
The .wmv 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
- VLC
macOS
- VLC
Linux
- VLC
- mpv
Web
- Not natively, convert first
Open a .wmv file step by step
- Confirm the file really is a .wmv. Drop it into the WhatFileType identifier, which reads its signature in your browser without uploading anything.
- On Windows, open it with Media Player or VLC.
- On Mac, use VLC.
- On Linux, try VLC or mpv.
- Still stuck? Convert the .wmv to MP4, which opens more widely.
Why can't I open my .wmv file?
Almost always because no installed app understands WMV. 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 .wmv 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 .wmv file
You can convert a .wmv file to MP4, MKV, WebM.
HandBrake and VLC both convert WMV to MP4. WMV files with DRM from an old Windows Media store cannot be converted at all, which is the usual reason a conversion silently fails.
What is the .wmv file signature (magic bytes)?
A .wmv file starts with the hex bytes 30 26 B2 75 8E 66 CF 11, which read as 0&.u.f.. in ASCII. Programs identify WMV by those bytes, not by the filename, so a renamed file still gives itself away.
These are the documented signatures for WMV. For a full breakdown, see the ASF (WMV / WMA) file signature page.
| Hex signature | Offset | ASCII | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 26 B2 75 8E 66 CF 11 | 0 | 0&.u.f.. | ASF header (WMV/WMA) |
See the full magic-numbers reference for every format.
Frequently asked questions
What is a .wmv file?
WMV is Microsoft's older video format, built for Windows Media Player and small downloads in the early streaming era. It is now largely legacy, and files are usually converted to MP4 for use outside Windows.
How do I play a WMV on a Mac?
Use VLC. Apple's own players do not support WMV, so converting to MP4 is the easiest long-term fix.