Video conversion
Convert WMV to AAC
Updated Jul 2026
WMV is a Windows video format, and converting it to AAC pulls just the audio track out and re-encodes it as a standalone audio file. Open the WMV in a converter, choose AAC as the output, and convert. Doing this on your own computer means the video, including anything in the picture, never has to leave your machine.
- Extension
- .wmv
- Type
- Video
- Typically
- Windows video
- Compression
- Lossy
- Extension
- .aac
- Type
- Audio
- Typically
- Apple / streaming audio
- Compression
- Lossy
Convert WMV to AAC on your own computer. Nothing uploads.
How to convert WMV to AAC
- Open Morphjet and drag in the WMV file, or a whole folder of them, that you want to pull audio from.
- Choose AAC as the output format.
- Convert. Morphjet extracts and re-encodes the audio track, writes the AAC file next to your original, and the video never leaves your machine.
WMV vs AAC: what actually changes
| WMV | AAC | |
|---|---|---|
| Contains video | Yes | No, audio only |
| File size | Larger, video plus audio | Much smaller, audio alone |
| Compatibility | Mostly Windows Media Player, weak support on Mac and iPhone | Wide support, including iPhone, Mac, and most streaming apps |
| Audio quality | Lossy compression, quality set when the video was made | Lossy compression, capped by whatever quality the original audio had |
| Typical use | Older Windows video files, home movies, screen recordings | Music, podcasts, and audio on Apple devices and streaming services |
When to convert, and when not to
Convert WMV to AAC when you only care about the sound in a video, such as a lecture, an interview, a recorded meeting, or a home movie's audio, and you want that audio in a format your phone or streaming app can actually play.
Keep the original WMV if you still need the picture, since converting to AAC throws the video away permanently and there's no getting it back afterward.
Why not just use an online converter?
Pulling audio out of a WMV usually means uploading the whole video file to some website, including any personal footage in the picture, just to get a sound clip back. Converting on your own computer skips that. The video is read locally, the audio is extracted and encoded locally, and the file never has to touch anyone else's server.
Questions
Does converting WMV to AAC keep the video?
No. The output is audio only. The video track is read to pull out the sound, then discarded from the new file, so keep the original WMV if you might need the picture later.
Will the audio quality suffer?
A little, potentially. WMV audio is already compressed, and re-encoding it to AAC is another lossy step, so you can't get back detail the original video didn't have. In practice it sounds fine for speech and most everyday audio.
Can I play AAC files on Windows?
Yes. AAC plays fine on Windows, it's just not the format tied to Windows Media Player the way WMV is. It's the more broadly supported of the two, including on Apple devices.
Does the AAC keep any metadata from the WMV, like a title?
Some tags can carry over depending on what the WMV had, but WMV and AAC use different metadata systems, so don't count on everything transferring automatically.
Can I convert WMV to AAC without uploading the video?
Yes. A desktop app like Morphjet reads the WMV and writes the AAC on your own computer, with no upload step at all, so it works even with no internet connection.
Morphjet converts WMV, AAC, and 1,800+ other formats, all on your machine. Launching this July.