How to Change WAV to MP3 on Windows
WAV is raw, uncompressed audio: perfect quality, but around 10 MB for every minute of stereo. Drop your WAV below to save it as an MP3, trimming it on the waveform first if you want. It all happens on your Windows PC.
Drop an audio file here
MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, FLAC… · nothing is uploaded
Trimmed on your device. Your audio is never uploaded.
The steps: Change WAV to MP3 on Windows
- 1
Open this page in Edge, Chrome or Firefox on your PC.
- 2
Drag the file from File Explorer onto the box above, or click the box to browse to it.
- 3
The full track is selected to start with. Only drag the waveform handles if you want to shorten it.
- 4
Pick MP3 as the format (it's selected already), then download. Click Download. The file is saved in your Downloads folder (File Explorer › Downloads).
What changes going from WAV to MP3
- Your MP3 is encoded at 192 kbps – for most listening you can't tell it from the original, and it takes about 1.4 MB per minute.
- It will be several times smaller than the WAV.
WAV and MP3 in brief
- WAV is raw, uncompressed audio: perfect quality, but around 10 MB for every minute of stereo. Editors, DAWs and some upload forms want WAV.
- MP3 is the audio format that plays on every phone, car stereo, speaker, editor and website. It's lossy, which keeps files small.
Windows PC tips
- Because nothing gets installed, it works on office and school PCs where you aren't allowed to add software.
- Decoding uses your browser's own audio support. If one browser can't open the file, try Chrome or Firefox.
WAV vs MP3
| WAV | MP3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | None (PCM) | Lossy |
| Ideal for | Editing, mixing and sound effects | Music, ringtones and anything that has to play everywhere |
| Works on | Everywhere on computers | Everywhere |
Questions & answers
Will WAV to MP3 make it sound worse?
Very slightly, since MP3 is lossy, but at 192 kbps the difference is extremely hard to hear.
Can I trim the audio while I'm at it?
Yes. Drag the start and end handles on the waveform, play it back, and add a fade in or fade out if you like.
Do my recordings get sent anywhere?
No. Your browser does the conversion with your device's own processor, so your recordings stay with you. Once the page has loaded you could even switch off your internet connection.
Where do I find the converted file on my Windows PC?
Click Download. The file is saved in your Downloads folder (File Explorer › Downloads).
Need more options? Open the full Audio Trimmer tool →