What Is a WEBM File?

This article explains what a WEBM file is, how to play one on your devices, and how to convert one to a different file format like an MP4 video file or MP3 audio file.

What Is a WEBM File?

A file with the .WEBM file extension is a WebM video file. It's based on the same video format that utilizes the MKV file extension.

Since this format is sometimes used on HTML5 websites for video streaming, it's supported by most web browsers. For example, in most browsers, YouTube uses the WebM Video file format for all of its videos, from 360p up to high resolutions. So do Wikimedia and Skype.

How to Play WEBM Files

You can open a WEBM video with most modern web browsers, including Chrome, Opera, Firefox, and Edge. If you want to play one in the Safari browser on a Mac, you can do so through VLC with the VLC for Mac OS X plug-in.

This video format is also supported by Windows Media Player (if DirectShow Filters are installed too), MPlayer, KMPlayer, and Miro.

If you're on a Mac, you can use most of the same programs supported by Windows, as well as the free Elmedia Player.

Devices running Android 2.3 Gingerbread and newer can open WebM videos natively without any special apps. If you need to open WEBM files on iOS, use PlayerXtreme Video Player or VLC media player. You can also convert it to a supported format (see below).

See The WebM Project for other compatible media players.

How to Convert a WEBM File

If you need to use your file with a specific program or device that doesn't support the format, you can convert the video to a file format that is supported by using a free video file converter program. Some of them are offline programs that you have to download, but there are also some online WEBM converters.

Software like Miro Video Converter and MiniTool Video Converter can convert one to MP4, AVI, and a number of other video file formats. Zamzar is an easy way to convert from WEBM to MP4 online (it even lets you save the video as a GIF file). Other tools from that list can convert the video to MP3 and other audio file formats, so the video is stripped, and you're left with just the sound content.

More Information on the WEBM Format

WebM is a compressed file format. It was initially built to use VP8 video compression and Ogg Vorbis for audio, but it now supports VP9 and Opus as well.

WebM has been developed by a number of companies, including On2, Xiph, Matroska, and Google. The format is available for free under a BSD license.

Still Can't Open It?

Some file formats use file extensions that look like they're spelled the same, which can imply that they're in the same format and can be opened with the same software. However, this isn't necessarily true and can be confusing when you can't get your file to open.

For example, WEM files are spelled almost exactly like WEBM files but are instead WWise Encoded Media files that open with Audiokinetic's WWise. Neither the programs nor the file formats are similar and are therefore incompatible with the other format's file viewers/openers/converters.

WEB files are similar, but they are Xara Web Document files used by the Xara Designer Pro. Similar ones include WEBP files (WebP Image files used by Google Chrome and other programs) and EBM files (they're either EXTRA! Basic Macro files for Extra! or Embla Recording files used with Embla RemLogic).

Double-check the file extension if your file isn't opening with the programs mentioned above. It might be in an entirely different format that none of these programs can open.