When a WAV File Won't Play
Why some WAVs fail, and how to make any of them play.
The Short Answer
A .wav file is a container. Inside it is audio in one of several encodings, and the file says which. Almost every WAV holds plain PCM, which everything plays. The ones that fail usually hold a compressed telephone format your player has no decoder for.
That is why the classic case is a voicemail or call recording: the file is perfectly valid, it just is not the kind of WAV your player expects.
Check Which Encoding You Have
You do not need special software to get a strong clue. Look at the file's bit rate in its properties, or in MediaInfo if you have it:
| Bit rate | Likely encoding | Typical source |
|---|---|---|
| ~13 kbps | GSM 6.10 | Voicemail, phone systems |
| ~32 kbps | IMA or MS ADPCM | Dictation devices, older recorders |
| 64 kbps | mu-law or A-law | Telephony, call recording |
| 705–1,411 kbps | PCM | Almost everything else |
| 2,000+ kbps | 24-bit PCM or 32-bit float | Studio and field recorders |
Figures assume 8 kHz mono for the telephone formats and 44.1 or 48 kHz for the others.
The Fixes, in Order
1. Try VLC. It carries its own decoders for essentially every encoding a WAV can hold, ADPCM and GSM included. If you just need to hear the file, this is the answer.
2. Convert it once, then share the MP3. If the recording has to play for other people on whatever they use, an MP3 removes the problem for good. The WAV to MP3 converter does this in your browser without uploading the file — worth something when the recording is a private voicemail or a client call.
3. Rule out the boring causes. A muted app, the wrong output device, or a file association pointing at a program that has since been uninstalled all look exactly like a broken file.
What the Converter Here Can and Cannot Decode
It decodes using your browser's own audio engine, so it can only read what the browser can. We tested that directly rather than guess. In Chrome:
| Encoding inside the WAV | Decodes? |
|---|---|
| PCM 8, 16, 24 and 32-bit | Yes |
| 32-bit float | Yes |
| mu-law and A-law | Yes |
| IMA ADPCM and Microsoft ADPCM | No |
| GSM 6.10 | No |
So telephony recordings in mu-law or A-law convert fine, but an ADPCM or GSM voicemail will fail with a message that it could not be decoded. That message does not mean your file is broken — it means the browser lacks that decoder. Use VLC for those.
Convert a WAV to MP3 →When the File Is Actually Damaged
If a WAV plays in nothing, VLC included, the file itself is the problem. The most common cause is a recording that stopped abruptly — a battery died, an app crashed — before the header was written, leaving its length fields wrong or zero.
The audio data is often still there. Audio editors that can import raw data, Audacity among them, can usually recover it if you tell them the sample rate and format. And if a file has a .wav extension but behaves like nothing you know, check it is genuinely a WAV and not another format that was renamed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why won't my WAV file play when other WAV files do?
Because WAV is a container rather than a single audio format. The file declares which encoding is inside it, and a player without a decoder for that encoding either refuses the file or plays silence. Most WAVs hold plain PCM audio that everything supports; the ones that fail usually hold a compressed telephony format such as ADPCM or GSM.
Why do voicemail and phone recordings fail so often?
Phone systems, dictation devices and call recorders compress audio to keep files small, and they use formats designed for telephone lines: GSM 6.10, IMA or Microsoft ADPCM, mu-law or A-law. They are perfectly valid WAV files, but many media players ship without decoders for some of them.
How can I tell which encoding my WAV uses?
The bit rate is a strong clue. Open the file properties, or use a tool such as MediaInfo. About 13 kbps at 8 kHz mono means GSM 6.10, about 32 kbps means ADPCM, 64 kbps means mu-law or A-law, and 1,411 kbps is ordinary CD-quality PCM.
What is the quickest way to play a WAV that won't open?
Try VLC, which includes decoders for almost every encoding a WAV can contain, including ADPCM and GSM. If you need the file to play everywhere, convert it to MP3 once and share that instead.
Can the converter on this site handle every WAV?
Not every one. It decodes using your browser, and in our testing in Chrome that covers PCM at 8, 16, 24 and 32 bits, 32-bit float, mu-law and A-law. ADPCM and GSM WAVs fail to decode in the browser. If the converter reports that it could not decode your file, that is almost certainly the reason, and VLC is the tool to use.
What if the WAV plays nowhere at all?
Then the file is probably damaged, commonly because a recording was interrupted before the header was finalised, which leaves the length fields wrong. VLC will often still play such a file. If it has a .wav extension but plays in nothing, check that it is really a WAV and not a different format that was renamed.