Convert 3GP to WMA — Free Online Tool
Convert 3GP mobile video files to WMA audio by extracting and transcoding the audio stream using the wmav2 codec. This is ideal for pulling audio content from 3G-era mobile video clips and delivering it in a Windows Media Audio format compatible with Windows Media Player, Xbox, and Microsoft ecosystem devices.
to
FFmpeg Command
Copy this command to run the same conversion locally with FFmpeg on your desktop. Download FFmpeg
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Note: Browser-based encoding uses approximate quality targets. For precise CRF compression, copy the FFmpeg command above and run it on your desktop.
Estimated output:
Conversion Complete!
DownloadHow It Works
3GP files store video and audio together in a container designed for 3G mobile networks, typically encoding audio as AAC or MP3 at low bitrates. During this conversion, FFmpeg discards the video stream entirely and re-encodes only the audio stream from its original 3GP-embedded codec (usually AAC at 64k) into WMA using the wmav2 encoder at 128k bitrate. Because the source and destination audio codecs are different (AAC to WMA), a full transcode occurs — the audio is decoded from AAC and re-encoded as WMA. This means there is a generational quality loss, though the higher output bitrate of 128k compared to typical 3GP audio bitrates can partially offset the perceptual impact.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg binary. In this browser-based tool, FFmpeg runs entirely via WebAssembly (ffmpeg.wasm) in your browser with no server upload. The same binary command runs identically on your local desktop for files over 1GB. |
-i input.3gp
|
Specifies the input file — a 3GP container typically containing an H.264 or MPEG-4 video stream and an AAC or MP3 audio stream encoded for 3G mobile delivery. FFmpeg reads both streams but will only process the audio for this WMA output. |
-c:a wmav2
|
Sets the audio codec to wmav2 (Windows Media Audio version 2), Microsoft's standard lossy audio codec. This triggers a full transcode from the source 3GP audio (typically AAC) into the WMA format, as the two codecs are incompatible and cannot be stream-copied. |
-b:a 128k
|
Sets the WMA audio output bitrate to 128 kilobits per second, which is the standard quality tier for WMA music files. This is notably higher than typical 3GP audio bitrates (32k–64k), so the output will have more headroom even though re-encoding from AAC introduces some generational loss. |
output.wma
|
Defines the output file as a WMA container. The .wma extension signals FFmpeg to use the ASF (Advanced Systems Format) container that WMA files are built on, and implicitly confirms this is an audio-only output, causing the 3GP video stream to be silently dropped. |
Common Use Cases
- Recovering audio from old 3GP video clips recorded on early Nokia, Sony Ericsson, or Samsung mobile phones to use in Windows Media Player playlists
- Extracting voice memos or recorded calls saved in 3GP format on legacy devices and converting them to WMA for archiving in Windows-based media libraries
- Converting mobile-captured 3GP concert or event footage to WMA audio for playback on Windows Media Center or Xbox consoles
- Preparing 3GP audio content for use in Microsoft-ecosystem software such as Windows Movie Maker, which natively handles WMA audio tracks
- Stripping audio from 3GP video files received via MMS or messaging apps to create lightweight WMA audio files for low-storage Windows devices
- Batch-converting a collection of 3GP clips from an old phone backup into WMA files for integration into a Windows Media Player library with metadata tagging
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, some quality loss is unavoidable. The audio in a 3GP file is typically encoded as AAC at a low bitrate (often 32k–64k), and converting it to WMA with wmav2 at 128k involves decoding the compressed AAC audio and re-encoding it in a different lossy format. This two-step lossy process is sometimes called 'generation loss.' However, because the output bitrate of 128k is generally higher than the original 3GP audio bitrate, the resulting WMA file should sound cleaner than the source, even accounting for re-encoding artifacts.
WMA supports a rich set of metadata tags including title, artist, album, year, and track number. However, 3GP files typically carry minimal metadata — often just a creation date or device identifier — so there is little tag data to preserve. FFmpeg will attempt to map any compatible metadata from the 3GP container to WMA tags, but do not expect rich tag information to carry over from typical mobile-recorded 3GP files.
Because the output format is .wma, FFmpeg automatically understands it is an audio-only container and will not attempt to include a video stream. WMA has no video codec support whatsoever, so FFmpeg implicitly drops the video stream from the 3GP file without requiring an explicit -vn flag. The result is a pure audio file containing only the transcoded wmav2 stream.
Replace the -b:a 128k value with a higher or lower bitrate from the WMA options: 64k, 96k, 128k, 160k, 192k, 256k, or 320k. For example, use -b:a 192k for higher fidelity output suitable for music, or -b:a 64k to produce a smaller file if the source 3GP audio is voice-only content like a recorded call. Given that 3GP audio is typically already low-bitrate, going above 192k offers diminishing returns since you cannot recover detail that was not in the source.
Yes, you can replace -c:a wmav2 with -c:a wmav1 in the command. WMA v1 is an older codec with slightly lower efficiency, meaning it requires a higher bitrate to achieve similar perceived quality compared to wmav2. Unless you specifically need compatibility with very old Windows CE devices or embedded systems that only support WMA v1, wmav2 is the better choice and is the default used by this tool.
The single-file command shown cannot batch process natively, but you can wrap it in a shell loop. On Linux or macOS, run: for f in *.3gp; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:a wmav2 -b:a 128k "${f%.3gp}.wma"; done. On Windows Command Prompt, use: for %f in (*.3gp) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:a wmav2 -b:a 128k "%~nf.wma". This is especially useful if you have a folder of old mobile phone backups containing dozens of 3GP clips you want to convert to WMA in one pass.
Technical Notes
3GP audio streams are most commonly encoded as AAC-LC at bitrates between 32k and 64k, which is the baseline audio quality typical of 3G mobile network constraints. When transcoding to WMA using the wmav2 encoder, FFmpeg fully decodes the AAC bitstream before re-encoding to WMA, so this is not a remux operation. The wmav2 codec is a mature lossy audio codec well-supported across Windows platforms and outperforms wmav1 in coding efficiency. WMA files do not support multiple audio tracks, embedded subtitles, or chapters — none of which are relevant here since 3GP also lacks these features in most mobile implementations. One limitation to be aware of: if the 3GP file contains only a video stream with no audio track (some screencast or silent video 3GP files exist), FFmpeg will error out with 'Output file does not contain any stream.' WMA also supports DRM wrapping, but FFmpeg does not apply DRM by default — the output file will be a standard unprotected WMA file. File sizes will typically be larger than the original 3GP audio portion due to the higher output bitrate, but significantly smaller than the original 3GP file since the video stream is removed.