.webm files
.webm file
WebM Video
A royalty-free video container built for the web, based on Matroska.
What opens a .webm file
- Windows
- Any web browser, VLC, Media Player (built in)
- macOS
- Any web browser, VLC, IINA
- Linux
- Any web browser, VLC, mpv, Videos / Totem (built in)
- In a browser
- Any web browser
What a .webm file is
Google introduced WebM in 2010 as an open, patent-free option for HTML5 video; it holds VP8, VP9 or AV1 video with Vorbis or Opus audio. Browsers play it everywhere, and it is what YouTube actually serves to most desktops. Outside the browser it is less universal — video editors and TVs often want MP4 instead — and VLC handles it where a built-in player will not.
Converting it
A .webm file is commonly converted to .mp4, .mkv, .gif, .mp3 or .mov. It is a binary format, so a text editor will show unreadable characters rather than its contents.
Details
- Extension
- .webm
- Full name
- WebM Video
- Category
- Video
- MIME type
- video/webm
- Created by
- Google / WebM Project
- Format
- Binary
Common questions
- How do I open a .webm file?
- On Windows use Any web browser; on macOS use Any web browser; on Linux use Any web browser. A royalty-free video container built for the web, based on Matroska.
- What is a .webm file?
- WebM Video. Google introduced WebM in 2010 as an open, patent-free option for HTML5 video; it holds VP8, VP9 or AV1 video with Vorbis or Opus audio. Browsers play it everywhere, and it is what YouTube actually serves to most desktops.
- Can I convert a .webm file?
- Yes. It is usually converted to .mp4, .mkv, .gif, .mp3 or .mov, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.
Related pages
- .mp4 — MPEG-4 Part 14 Video The default video container for phones, cameras, streaming and everything else.
- .mov — QuickTime Movie Apple's video container — what an iPhone records and what Final Cut works in.
- .mkv — Matroska Video An open container that holds any codec plus multiple audio tracks and subtitles.
- .avi — Audio Video Interleave Microsoft's 1992 video container, still common in old archives and camcorder foo
- .srt — SubRip Subtitle The plain-text subtitle format almost every player understands.
- .ts — MPEG Transport Stream The broadcast and streaming video segment format — also, confusingly, the TypeSc
- .wmv — Windows Media Video Microsoft's legacy video format from the Windows XP era.
- .mpg — MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 Video The original MPEG video file, from Video CDs, DVDs and old digital cameras.
- .m4v — iTunes Video Apple's MP4 variant, used for films and TV episodes bought from iTunes.
- .vtt — WebVTT Caption The W3C caption format HTML5 video uses, essentially SRT with a header and styli
- .swf — Shockwave Flash Movie A Flash animation or game — the plugin that ran these was killed off at the end
- .mts — AVCHD Video The clip format written by Sony, Panasonic and Canon camcorders.
Sources
- Media Types Registry — IANA
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place