Video and Audio Formats for Windows-Based Computer and Software

There is no doubt that Windows is the most popular operating system and device platform today. Whether it is for a desktop computer, a laptop, a tablet, or a mobile phone, Windows reign supreme. It is therefore important to know what files and formats Windows computers and Windows-based devices can process for users to be guided accordingly.

1. 1 Windows video and audio format

The video formats that Windows can handle are the following:

Windows Media Formats - asf, wmv, wma, wm
Windows Media Metafiles - wax, wmx, asx, wx, wpl
Microsoft Digital Video Recording - dvr-ms
Audio Visual Interleave - avi
Moving Pictures Experts Group - mpeg, mpg, mp2, mp3, m1v, mpe, mpa, m3u, mpv2, vob, mod
Indeo Video Technology - ivf
Windows Media Player Skins - wms, wmz
MP4 Video Files - mp4, mp4v, m4v, 3g2, 3gp, 3gp2, 3gpp
AVCHD files - m2t, mts, m2ts
Apple QuickTime Files - qt, mov
Windows Recorded TV Show Files - dvr-ms, wtv

The audio formats that Windows can play are the following:

Musical Instrument Digital Interface - midi, mid, rmi
Audio Interchange File Format - aiff, aif, aifc
Sun Microsystems and NeXT - snd, au
Audio for Windows - wav
CD Audio Track - cda
Windows Audio File - aac, adts, adt
MP3 Audio files - mp3, m3u

Convert video/audio format to compatible with Windows (Windows 10)

If the file format you get in hand is not supported by Windows operating system, you can convert them with format converting tools. Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate is one among them that can convert video to 250+ format with a simple click, for example, converting MOV to AVI. You don't need to download any codec or extra plug-in to make it work. All you need is to load the files you want into the main window of the program, choose the output format you need and then click the Convert button to change the video or audio format to Windows compatible format. Besides converting file format, this Windows video converter can also edit video effects, download online videos, remove DRM protection, rip DVD to any devices, or burn any videos to DVD and even play any multimedia files. In a word, it is the best and easiest all-in-one video and DVD solution.

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Video tutorial on how to convert any video and audio format on Windows (Windows 10)

The Windows Programs that play, process, and make use of audio-video files are as follows:

1.2 Windows Media Player Formats

The file formats that are capably handled by Windows Media Player depend entirely on the version installed on the computer. However, the file formats that can be played across all versions of Windows Media Player are as follows:

Windows Media Formats - asf, wmv, wma, wm
Windows Media Metafiles - asx, wvs, wax, wmx
Windows Media Download Package - wmd
Audio Visual Interleave - avi
Moving Pictures Expert Group - mpg, m1v, mpeg, mp3, mp2, mpe, mpa, m3u
Windows Media Player Skins - wmz, wmz

However, there are some difference between different version of Windows Media Player. According to Micosoft's official support center, the supported format of each version of Windows Media Player are as below:

File extension	Windows Media Player 11	Windows Media Player 10	Windows Media Player 9 Series	Windows Media Player for Windows XP	Windows Media Player 7
Windows Media formats (.asf, .wma, .wmv, .wm)
Windows Media Metafiles (.asx, .wax, .wvx, .wmx)
Windows Media Metafiles (.wpl)				-	-
Microsoft Digital Video Recording (.dvr-ms)	-	-	-
Windows Media Download Package (.wmd)
Audio Visual Interleave (.avi)
Moving Pictures Experts Group (.mpg, .mpeg, .m1v, .mp2, .mp3, .mpa, .mpe, .m3u)
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (.mid, .midi, .rmi)
Audio Interchange File Format (.aif, .aifc, .aiff)
Sun Microsystems and NeXT (.au, .snd)
Audio for Windows (.wav)
CD Audio Track (.cda)
Indeo Video Technology (.ivf)
Windows Media Player Skins (.wmz, .wms)
QuickTime Movie file (.mov)	-	-	-	-	-
MP4 Audio file (.m4a)	-	-	-	-	-
MP4 Video file (.mp4, .m4v, .mp4v, .3g2, .3gp2, .3gp, .3gpp)	-	-	-	-	-
Windows audio file (.aac, .adt, .adts)	-	-	-	-	-
MPEG-2 TS Video file (.m2ts)	-	-	-	-	-

From the table above, you may find that only Windows Media Player 12 supports playing MOV, M4V, M2TS and some other formats. If you want to play MOV on Windows Media Player 11 or lower, you need to convert them to Windows Media Player compatible format first. Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate is an outstanding tool that can handle this task.

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For more detailed guidance on how to convert video and audio to Windows Media Player, you can have a look at the articles below:

1.3 Windows Media Center

For Video:

Windows Media Files - wm, asf, wmv
AVCHD files - m2t, m2ts
Apple QuickTime Files - qt, mov
Audio Visual Interleave - avi
Windows Recorded TV Show Files - dvr-ms, wtv
Moving Pictures Experts Group - mpeg, mpg, mp2, mp3, m1v, mpe, mpa, m3u, mpv2, vob, mod
MP4 Video Files - mp4, m4v

For Audio:

Windows Media Audio Files - wma, wmx, asx, wm
Windows Audio File - aac
MP3 Audio files - mp3, m3u
Audio for Windows - wav

Windows Media Center supported video format

Windows Media Center is the default media player of the Windows 7 operating system and higher. If in any case there are audio-video files on your computer, laptop, or mobile device that can’t be read or played by Windows Media Center, simply convert that file using the Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate. This easy-to-use software can handle all types of files and make them compatible with Windows Media Center and similar programs. If you want to watch DVD movies with Windows Media Center, just convert DVD to Windows Media Center first.

1.4 Windows Movie Maker

The video file formats compatible with Windows Movie Maker are as follows:

Windows Media Files - wm, asf, wmv
AVCHD files - m2t, mts, m2ts
Apple QuickTime Files - qt, mov
Windows Recorded TV Show Files - dvr-ms, wtv
Audio Visual Interleave - avi
Moving Pictures Experts Group - mpeg, mpg, mp2, mp3, m1v, mpe, mpa, m3u, mpv2, vob, mod
MP4 Video Files - mp4, m4v

1.5 Windows Live Movie Maker Formats

Windows Media Files - wm, asf, wmv
AVCHD files - m2t, mts, m2ts
Apple QuickTime Files - qt, mov
Windows Recorded TV Show Files - dvr-ms, wtv
Audio Visual Interleave - avi
Moving Pictures Experts Group - mpeg, mpg, mp2, mp3, m1v, mpe, mpv2, vob
MP4 Video Files - mp4, m4v, 3gp, k3g, 3g2

There are many times when a certain video format is not accepted or played by Windows Movie Maker and Windows Live Movie Maker. For cases like this, it is best to use Aimersoft Video Editor to create personal videos or home movies using a Windows computer. This software is the best alternative to Windows Movie Maker, as it clearly has limited file support. Aimersoft Video Editor will work with all known audio and video files so there’s no need to convert the files and lose its quality in the process. Using the software will save you time as well.

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Windows Live Movie Maker supported video format

1.6 Windows DVD Maker Formats

The video formats the Windows DVD Maker can work with are:

Windows Media Files - wm, wma, asf, wmv
Moving Pictures Experts Group - mpeg, mpg, mpeg1, m1v, mp2
Audio files - wav, au, snd, aif, aiff, aifc, mp3

For any other video file formats that you want to burn on a DVD but can’t be recognized by the Windows DVD Maker, please use Aimersof DVD Creator. Using this DVD burning software is a very straightforward process. It will work with almost all video and audio file formats known. No file conversion is necessary prior to burning.

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Windows DVD Maker supported format