What Is a WMV File and How to Open and Convert WMV

Get a WMV file but can’t directly open it with QuickTime Player on your Mac? Want know more about the WMV file?

A file with a WMV file extension is a Windows Media Video file. It is compatible with Windows system and Windows Media Player. It's a common format used to store video in Windows. But WMV format can’t be opened by Mac. It is one kind of unsupported format for Mac and its QuickTime Player. If you want to play a WMV video on Mac, you have to rely on some third-party player or convert WMV to MOV or MP4 for the playback.

What is a WMV file? How to open a WMV video? Here in this post, we like to give you a detailed introduction of WMV format. You can learn more information about it and better use it on your computer or portable device.

Part 1. What Is a WMV File

WMV, short for Windows Media Video, is a video file based on the Microsoft Advanced Systems Format (ASF) container format. It is compressed with Windows Media compression. WMV format is mainly used in Windows Media framework. A WMV file is most suitable for internet streaming applications or selling contents through HD DVD and Blu-ray discs.

A WMV file can store image, audio, text, and video data. Because the additional feature of Digital rights management, WMV prevents copying data from this format. It is able to carry a large amount of video and audio information in a small amount of storage space. That makes WMV a good format for internet video streaming.

Microsoft once brought a Windows Media Player 9 for the WMV playing in Mac OS X/11/12. But it is the latest version of the Windows Media Player for Mac users to directly open a WMV file. If you are using a Mac running a higher version, you are not allowed to open it, either with Windows Media Player or QuickTime Player.

You may also see a file with the WMA extension. Windows Media Audio file is similar to WMV, but it only contains audio data.

WMV vs MP4 - Main differences between WMV and MP4

WMV (Windows Media Video) is a video compression format created by Microsoft. It is mainly used for Windows computer and its related products. You can easily open a WMV file through Microsoft’s Windows Media Player and other popular media players.

MP4 is one of the most popular video formats which can be supported by almost all devices, operating systems, editors and media players. When you want to deal with video editing, downloading or uploading, MP4 is no doubt the best format.

One big advantage of WMV is its file size. A WMV file is generally smaller than similar MP4 file and cost fewer resources on your device. Because that, WMV is one kind of ideal format for sharing on internet, sending through email or social media platforms.

Comparing with WMV, MP4 can be supported by more systems and devices. It supports both Windows, Android and all Apple products. Though its file size is bigger than WMV file.

Part 2. How to Open a WMV File

For Windows user, you can directly open a WMV file with the Windows Media Player. But WMV format is not supported on Mac, most Android phones and all iOS devices like iPhone and iPad. So how to play a WMV video on these devices?

If you want to open a WMV file on Mac, you have to rely on some third-party player. Here we strongly recommend the powerful WMV playing software, Mac Blu-ray Player for you. It has the capability to play various media files in any frequently-used video and audio format, such as WMV, MP4, MOV, AVI, FLV, MTS, M2TS, TS, MKV, MXF, AAC, MP3, M4A, FLAC, and many more. As a professional Blu-ray player, it also allows you to enjoy Blu-ray movies with great visual and sound experience.

This WMV player for Mac enables you to play 720p/1080p HD and 4K UHD videos with high quality. It also carries the surround sound 5.1 (Dolby Digital, DTS) to ensure you have a good sound experience. You can free download it and play all kinds of media files on your Mac with ease.

When you want to play a WMV file on iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet, you need to rely on a WMV player app. You can easily access a good WMV player from App Store and Google Play Store.

Part 3. How to Convert a WMV Video to MP4 or MOV

For different reasons, you need to convert WMV to MP4, MOV or another format. Do you know how to make the WMV converting?

When you want to convert a WMV file, you can use the professional WMV converting software, Video Converter Ultimate. It is specially designed to deal with various video and audio conversions. It is able to convert WMV to MP4 while keeping the original image and sound quality. It highly supports any popular video and audio formats including WMV, MOV, FLV, MP4, AVI, MKV, MTS, MP3, and more.

• 1. Video Converter Ultimate is a professional video and audio converter which can convert WMV to MOV, MP4 or other formats without any quality loss.
• 2. Support 4K, 1080p HD and SD videos in any popular format like MP4, AVI, FLV, MOV, etc.
• 3. Powerful editing features like trim, crop, rotate, watermark, 3D, adjust effects and more.
• 4. Rip DVD disc to DVD folder, ISO file or video/audio format and convert 2D to 3D.

Step 1: Free download, install and run this WMV converter on your computer. It allows you to convert WMV files on both Mac and Windows PC.

Step 2: Choose the Converter feature to make the WMV video conversion. Click Add Files to add the WMV video(s) you want to convert.

Step 3: Click the format icon on the right side of your video and then select MP4 or MOV as the target format.

Step 4: Click the Convert All button to start converting WMV file on your computer. Thanks to the adoption of the advanced accelerate technology, it ensure you can finish the WMV converting in a super-fast speed.

Part 4. FAQs of WMV File

Conclusion

After reading this post, hope you can learn more about the WMV format. You can get a clear understanding of WMV file and better use it. For more questions about the WMV playback or converting, you can leave us a message.