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MP3 to WAV converter

Convert MP3 to WAV in your browser. No upload and no account: the file never leaves your device, so the only size limit is your device’s memory.

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Bytes of your files sent anywhere: 0 B

Related conversions

Need it the other way round? Convert WAV to MP3

Other ways to convert MP3

Convert other formats to WAV

Read more about the MP3 format and the WAV format, or see every audio tool and all audio conversions.

Should you convert MP3 to WAV?

Video editors, audio tools, phone systems and some online forms want WAV input. Converting unpacks the MP3 into editable PCM audio.

Only when software insists on WAV. It stores the decoded MP3 perfectly, but the detail the MP3 discarded is already gone, so the WAV is bigger without sounding better.

MP3 is the most compatible lossy audio format ever made; WAV is uncompressed, studio-quality audio. WAV won’t restore quality lost in the MP3 — it just makes the audio editor-friendly. Expect the file to be about 10× bigger.

MP3 and WAV compared
Property MP3 WAV
Compression Lossy Uncompressed
Typical quality 128–320 kbps 16-bit PCM, 44.1 or 48 kHz
Support Opens everywhere Opens everywhere
Best for Music and voice that has to play on anything Editing, mastering and software that insists on WAV
Introduced 1993 1991

How to convert MP3 to WAV

  1. 01

    Add your MP3

    Drop your MP3 file onto the box, or click to choose it. It is read from your disk and stays there.

  2. 02

    Check the settings

    The output is already set to WAV. Change the bitrate if you want to; the defaults suit most files.

  3. 03

    Save the WAV

    Press convert and save the WAV. Several files come back together as a ZIP.

What changes when MP3 becomes WAV

Bigger, not better

WAV can’t restore what MP3 compression removed. It does make editing easier and stops further loss, which is why editors and some broadcast systems ask for it.

Expect a much larger file

WAV is far bigger for the same content. Choose it because something needs WAV, not to send or store the file. MP3: About 1 MB a minute at 128 kbps, 2.4 MB at 320 kbps. WAV: About 10 MB a minute at CD quality.

This page is put together from our notes on each format, choosing only what is true of MP3 and WAV, so every pairing states the same facts the same way. How these pages are made.

Why it doesn’t upload

Recordings are often private: interviews, voice notes, unreleased music. Your browser can decode and encode audio itself, so there is no reason to send it anywhere.

How to check for yourself

Worth knowing

  • About the MP3. Converting a low-bitrate MP3 to 320 kbps makes it bigger without making it sound any better; what was thrown away is gone.
  • About the WAV. A WAV made from an MP3 is ten times bigger but sounds exactly like the MP3; the lost detail doesn’t come back.
  • MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, Opus and FLAC are converted by your browser directly. WMA, AMR, APE, AC3 and the other specialist formats use the FFmpeg engine, a one-time 31 MB download.

Questions

Does converting MP3 to WAV lose quality?

No quality is lost converting to WAV, though it can’t restore what the MP3 already discarded.

Will a WAV play in my car or on my phone?

WAV opens everywhere: every computer, audio editor and DAW, and most phones.

Read more about this

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