WMA to TAR Converter
Processing entirely on your device — large files may take a moment.
Windows Media Audio and TAR Archive exist for different jobs: WMA is Microsoft’s Windows Media audio format, still found in old music collections and voice recorders. TAR preserves the exact file tree and permissions that Linux tooling expects.
This converter runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly — your files never leave your device, nothing is uploaded, and there are no watermarks, sign-ups or queues. Drop in several files at once to convert them as a batch.
How WMA compares to TAR
| WMA | TAR | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy + Lossless variants | None (pair with gzip/zstd) |
| Best for | Legacy Windows libraries | Linux packaging and source trees |
How to convert WMA to TAR
- 1
Select your files
Select your WMA file — it never leaves your device.
- 2
Convert instantly
The engine packs the file, byte for byte, into a TAR container — no re-encoding, no quality change.
- 3
Download results
Download the finished TAR archive.
About the WMA format
WMA (Windows Media Audio) is Microsoft's MP3 competitor from 1999, best known for DRM-protected download stores in the 2000s. The family spans standard lossy WMA, WMA Pro (up to 24-bit/96 kHz) and WMA Lossless. On Windows it integrated seamlessly; everywhere else it required goodwill.
With Microsoft's own services having moved to AAC, WMA today is a conversion source: old music libraries and ripped CDs get converted to MP3/M4A/FLAC and the format is retired. WMA Lossless files should go to FLAC to preserve their losslessness.
+Strengths
- ✓Native Windows playback and tagging
- ✓WMA Lossless preserves bit-perfect audio
!Limitations
- −Non-Windows support is poor
- −Ecosystem abandoned by its creator
- −DRM-legacy files may be unplayable
About the TAR format
TAR (tape archive) is Unix's fifty-year-old answer to bundling: it concatenates files with headers into a single stream, preserving POSIX permissions, ownership and symlinks — but compressing nothing. It is the container half of the classic .tar.gz pairing and the native format of Linux source trees and backups.
Being pure bundling, TAR pairs with a compressor: gzip (the classic), bzip2, zstd. Alone, a TAR is the same size as its contents. Windows 10+ ships bsdtar, so even Windows can unpack it now — permissions aside, where NTFS has no room to be faithful.
+Strengths
- ✓Preserves Unix permissions and symlinks
- ✓Streamable: works over pipes and tapes
- ✓The standard of Linux distribution and backup
!Limitations
- −No compression by itself
- −No built-in encryption
- −Permissions meaningless on Windows filesystems
Why convert WMA to TAR?
Think of it as moving your file to the container that fits the job. Non-Windows support is poor TAR works differently: Preserves Unix permissions and symlinks If any of that sounds like your task, run the conversion — it takes seconds and nothing leaves your device.
Frequently asked questions
Is this WMA to TAR converter really free?
Yes — completely free, with no sign-up, no watermark and no daily conversion limits. The site is supported by advertising.
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. The conversion runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly, so your files never leave your device — that is what makes it instant and private.
Does it work on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android?
Yes. Anything with a modern browser works: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. No software installation is required.
Is there a file size limit for WMA to TAR?
The only limit is your device's memory, since nothing is uploaded. Files up to a few hundred megabytes work fine on a modern desktop browser; very large files simply take a little longer.
Are tags like title and artist preserved?
Tag handling varies between target formats and this conversion focuses on the audio itself. For archival copies where tags matter, keep the original file; the converted copy is for playback and sharing.
Will converting WMA to TAR reduce audio quality?
If TAR is lossless, the output contains everything the WMA file contains — no further loss is added. If TAR is lossy, one recompression pass is unavoidable; the quality slider controls how much. Loss that already happened in the source file can never be undone by converting.