.caf files
.caf file
Core Audio Format
Apple's flexible audio container, used by Logic, iOS apps and system sounds.
What opens a .caf file
- Windows
- VLC, Audacity
- macOS
- QuickTime Player (built in), Music (built in), Logic Pro, VLC
- Linux
- VLC, Audacity
What a .caf file is
Apple created CAF to escape the 4 GB size limit of WAV and AIFF; it can hold almost any codec and files of essentially unlimited length. It appears in Logic Pro projects, iOS app bundles and macOS system sounds. macOS opens it natively, and on other platforms VLC or Audacity will play the common uncompressed variants, though a CAF wrapping an Apple-specific codec may not decode.
Converting it
A .caf file is commonly converted to .wav, .mp3, .m4a or .aiff. It is a binary format, so a text editor will show unreadable characters rather than its contents.
Details
- Extension
- .caf
- Full name
- Core Audio Format
- Category
- Audio
- MIME type
- audio/x-caf
- Created by
- Apple
- Format
- Binary
Common questions
- How do I open a .caf file?
- On Windows use VLC; on macOS use QuickTime Player (built in); on Linux use VLC. Apple's flexible audio container, used by Logic, iOS apps and system sounds.
- What is a .caf file?
- Core Audio Format. Apple created CAF to escape the 4 GB size limit of WAV and AIFF; it can hold almost any codec and files of essentially unlimited length. It appears in Logic Pro projects, iOS app bundles and macOS system sounds.
- Can I convert a .caf file?
- Yes. It is usually converted to .wav, .mp3, .m4a or .aiff, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.
Related pages
- .mp3 — MPEG-1 Audio Layer III The lossy audio format that made digital music portable, and still plays on ever
- .wav — Waveform Audio File Uncompressed audio — perfect quality, very large files, universal support.
- .m4a — MPEG-4 Audio Audio in an MP4 container — what iTunes, Voice Memos and most modern recorders p
- .flac — Free Lossless Audio Codec Compressed audio that throws nothing away — about half the size of WAV, bit-for-
- .aac — Advanced Audio Coding The successor to MP3 — better sound per byte, used by YouTube, Apple and broadca
- .ogg — Ogg Vorbis Audio The open, patent-free audio format used by Spotify, Wikipedia and countless game
- .opus — Opus Audio The modern low-latency codec behind WhatsApp voice notes, Discord and web calls.
- .mid — MIDI Sequence Not audio at all — a list of notes and instructions for a synthesiser to perform
- .m3u — Media Playlist A plain-text list of tracks or stream URLs — it holds no audio itself.
- .wma — Windows Media Audio Microsoft's music format from the Windows XP years, now legacy.
- .aiff — Audio Interchange File Format Apple's uncompressed audio format — the Mac equivalent of WAV.
- .m4b — MPEG-4 Audiobook An audiobook file that remembers your place and supports chapters.
Sources
- Media Types Registry — IANA
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place