File extension M4A
| File type | MPEG-4 Compressed Audio Format |
| Developer | Apple |
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What is a M4A file?
M4A file format is used for storage of audio data created in MPEG-4 format and encoded with ACC (Advanced Audio Coding) or ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) codec. M4A container was introduced and popularized by Apple as a solution to the problem of discerning between MP4 audio-only and MP4 audio-video files. M4A format is similar to MP4, but it stores only audio data. Both types of files use the same audio-video MPEG-4 container format.
Windows Media Player supports codecs used by M4A format since version 12. Earlier versions of the software required user to install additional codec package such as K-Lite Codecs Pack in order to play .M4A files. iTunes Store offers songs in M4A format with ACC encoding, and songs that include copyright protection have an .M4P extension. ACC compression algorithm offers both high-quality audio and reduced file size.
Program(s) that can open the .M4A file
Windows
iTunes 
QuickTime Player 
Windows Media Player 
Winamp 
RealPlayer 
Media Player Classic 
VLC media player 
MediaMonkey 
Zune 
Adobe Premiere Pro 
Awave Studio 
Nero SoundTrax 
Helium Music Manager 
QuickTime 
Xilisoft iPod Rip 
Freemake Audio Converter 
Free Mp3 Wma Converter 
Freemake Video Converter 
Any Audio Converter 
Adobe Media Encoder 
ImTOO DPG Converter - Agree MP3 to Ringtone Converter
- SUPER
- DRM Media Converter
Nero Multimedia Suite
Mac OS
Linux
Android
How to open M4A files
If you cannot open the M4A file on your computer - there may be several reasons. The first and most important reason (the most common) is the lack of a suitable software that supports M4A among those that are installed on your device.
A very simple way to solve this problem is to find and download the appropriate application. The first part of the task has already been done – the software supporting the M4A file can be found in the table. Now just download and install the appropriate application.
Possible problems with the M4A format files
The inability to open and operate the M4A file does not necessarily mean that you do not have an appropriate software installed on your computer. There may be other problems that also block our ability to operate the MPEG-4 Compressed Audio Format file. Below is a list of possible problems.
- Corruption of a M4A file which is being opened
- Incorrect links to the M4A file in registry entries.
- Accidental deletion of the description of the M4A from the Windows registry
- Incomplete installation of an application that supports the M4A format
- The M4A file which is being opened is infected with an undesirable malware.
- The computer does not have enough hardware resources to cope with the opening of the M4A file.
- Drivers of equipment used by the computer to open a M4A file are out of date.
If you are sure that all of these reasons do not exist in your case (or have already been eliminated), the M4A file should operate with your programs without any problem. If the problem with the M4A file has not been solved, it may be due to the fact that in this case there is also another rare problem with the M4A file. In this case, the only you can do is to ask for assistance of a professional staff.
How to associate the file with an installed software?
If you want to associate a file with a new program (e.g. my-file.M4A) you have two ways to do it. The first and the easiest one is to right-click on the selected M4A file. From the drop-down menu select "Choose default program", then click "Browse" and find the desired program. The whole operation must be confirmed by clicking OK. The second and more difficult to do is associate the M4A file extension to the corresponding software in the Windows Registry.
Is there one way to open unknown files?
Many files contain only simple text data. It is possible that while opening unknown files (e.g. M4A) with a simple text editor like Windows Notepad will allow us to see some of the data encoded in the file. This method allows you to preview the contents of many files, but probably not in such a structure as a program dedicated to support them.