Extract Audio from 3GPP to WMA — Free Online Tool
Extract audio from 3GPP mobile video files and convert it to WMA format using the wmav2 codec — ideal for bringing mobile-captured audio into Windows Media Player or other Microsoft ecosystem tools. The audio stream is decoded from AAC (the default 3GPP audio codec) and re-encoded as Windows Media Audio, running entirely in your browser with no file uploads.
to
FFmpeg Command
Copy this command to run the same conversion locally with FFmpeg on your desktop. Download FFmpeg
Drop your 3GPP file here
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Settings
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
3GPP files typically store audio as AAC and video as H.264. This tool strips the video stream entirely and re-encodes only the audio: the AAC audio is decoded from the 3GP container and then encoded fresh using the wmav2 (Windows Media Audio v2) codec, which is wrapped in a WMA container. Because the source codec (AAC) and target codec (wmav2) are completely different formats, a full audio transcode — not a lossless copy — takes place in your browser via FFmpeg.wasm. The default output bitrate is 128 kbps, which delivers reasonable audio clarity while keeping file sizes manageable for typical mobile-recorded speech and ambient audio.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg tool — in the browser this runs via FFmpeg.wasm (WebAssembly), and on the desktop it runs the locally installed FFmpeg binary. The rest of the command is identical in both environments. |
-i input.3gp
|
Specifies the input 3GPP file. FFmpeg reads the 3GP container, which typically contains an H.264 video stream and an AAC audio stream recorded from a mobile device. |
-vn
|
Disables video output entirely, stripping the H.264 (or other video) stream from the 3GP file. This is required because the WMA container cannot hold a video track — only an audio stream. |
-c:a wmav2
|
Sets the audio encoder to wmav2 (Windows Media Audio version 2), the standard and most compatible WMA codec. The AAC audio from the 3GP file is fully decoded and re-encoded using this Microsoft proprietary codec. |
-b:a 128k
|
Targets a constant audio bitrate of 128 kbps for the wmav2 output stream. This is a reasonable default that balances file size and audio clarity for typical 3GP content such as voice recordings and mobile video audio. |
output.wma
|
Defines the output filename and tells FFmpeg to write the result as a WMA file. The .wma extension signals FFmpeg to use the WMA container format, which wraps the wmav2-encoded audio stream. |
Common Use Cases
- Converting voice memos or phone call recordings saved as 3GPP files into WMA for playback and organization in Windows Media Player
- Preparing mobile-recorded audio from 3GP videos for use in Windows-based video editing software that natively supports WMA tracks
- Archiving old mobile video content as audio-only WMA files to save storage space on Windows PCs while retaining playback compatibility
- Extracting interview or field recording audio captured on an older 3G-era handset and delivering it as WMA for a client on a Microsoft-centric workflow
- Converting 3GPP audio to WMA for upload to services or devices that support Microsoft's DRM-enabled WMA format
- Stripping the video from a 3GP video clip and producing a WMA file for use as background audio in a Windows Movie Maker or legacy Microsoft editing project
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, some quality loss is expected because this is a lossy-to-lossy transcode: the original AAC audio (already lossy) is fully decoded and then re-encoded as wmav2. The degree of degradation depends on the original 3GPP file's bitrate — many mobile 3GP recordings are encoded at 32–64 kbps AAC, which is already fairly compressed. Setting the WMA output to 128 kbps won't recover detail that was lost in the original encoding, but it will ensure the output isn't further degraded by under-bitrating the wmav2 encoder.
The '-vn' flag tells FFmpeg to ignore the video stream in the 3GP file entirely, producing an audio-only output. Without it, FFmpeg would attempt to include the video, which would fail because the WMA container format does not support video streams at all. Since the goal is to produce a pure audio WMA file, '-vn' is both necessary and correct here.
Replace the '128k' value in '-b:a 128k' with your desired bitrate. WMA (wmav2) supports bitrates including 64k, 96k, 128k, 160k, 192k, 256k, and 320k. For voice recordings from 3GP files, 64k or 96k is usually sufficient; for music or higher-fidelity content, use 192k or higher. The command becomes, for example: ffmpeg -i input.3gp -vn -c:a wmav2 -b:a 192k output.wma
FFmpeg will attempt to map compatible metadata tags — such as title or artist — from the 3GP container to the WMA output, and WMA does support standard metadata tags. However, 3GPP files from mobile devices often carry minimal or no metadata, so the output WMA file may be similarly sparse. Any metadata that does exist should transfer correctly through the default FFmpeg behavior without requiring additional flags.
Yes. On Windows, you can loop through files with a batch script: 'for %f in (*.3gp) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -vn -c:a wmav2 -b:a 128k "%~nf.wma"'. On Linux or macOS, use: 'for f in *.3gp; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -vn -c:a wmav2 -b:a 128k "${f%.3gp}.wma"; done'. This is especially useful when dealing with a folder of old mobile recordings, since the browser-based tool processes files one at a time.
The wmav2 codec used by default is the modern, improved version of Windows Media Audio and is compatible with virtually all software and devices that support WMA. The older wmav1 codec is rarely needed and offers no quality advantage. To switch, replace '-c:a wmav2' with '-c:a wmav1' in the command, but this is not recommended unless you specifically need to target a very old device with limited WMA support.
Technical Notes
The 3GPP container was designed for mobile networks and typically carries AAC audio at low bitrates (often 32–64 kbps) with H.264 video. WMA, by contrast, is a Microsoft proprietary format built around the wmav2 codec, with no video track support and strong integration in Windows environments and the Xbox ecosystem. Because both source and target audio codecs are lossy, the transcode chain is AAC decode → PCM → wmav2 encode, introducing generational quality loss that cannot be avoided. The WMA container supports metadata tags and Microsoft's DRM scheme, though DRM is not applied by this tool or the FFmpeg command — the output is an unprotected WMA file. One notable limitation: FFmpeg's wmav2 encoder does not support multichannel audio above stereo, so if the 3GP file somehow contains surround audio (atypical for mobile-captured content), it will be downmixed. File size after conversion will typically be larger than the original 3GP audio at equivalent perceived quality, since 3GP files are often aggressively compressed for mobile network transmission.