# Reading m4a files on Windows

**URL:** <https://forum.juce.com/t/reading-m4a-files-on-windows/16763>\
**Category:** Windows\
**Created:** [February 23, 2016, 10:57am UTC](https://forum.juce.com/t/reading-m4a-files-on-windows/16763 "2016-02-23T10:57:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![IvanC](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.juce.com/ivanc/32/685_2.png) [@IvanC](https://forum.juce.com/u/IvanC)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 10:57am UTC](https://forum.juce.com/t/reading-m4a-files-on-windows/16763/1 "2016-02-23T10:57:07Z")

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Hello guys !

I want to read m4a files on Windows. From the information I got on the forum, for previous versions of JUCE, I have seen that to do it I need to use the WindowsMediaAudioFormat. I have modified the code in formatManager-\>createReaderFor() to ignore the default registered formats to do so, but even this way, I'm not able to get a valid result.

I have just tried to read a m4a file with my Windows Media Player on Windows 8.1, and it works there, so I don't know what to do otherwise.

Someone has an idea ?

Thanks in advance !

Ivan

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**Author:** ![stefhen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@stefhen](https://forum.juce.com/u/stefhen)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 9:45pm UTC](https://forum.juce.com/t/reading-m4a-files-on-windows/16763/2 "2017-10-16T21:45:09Z")

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Hi Ivan. Curious if you managed to make any headway with m4a on Windows?

Stephen

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**Author:** ![IvanC](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.juce.com/ivanc/32/685_2.png) [@IvanC](https://forum.juce.com/u/IvanC)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 12:09pm UTC](https://forum.juce.com/t/reading-m4a-files-on-windows/16763/3 "2017-10-19T12:09:38Z")

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Hello !

If I remember well, I think I wasn’t able to read m4a files in Windows unfortunately ☹

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**Author:** ![stefhen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@stefhen](https://forum.juce.com/u/stefhen)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://forum.juce.com/t/reading-m4a-files-on-windows/16763/4 "2017-10-26T02:20:26Z")

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OK thanks Ivan!

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**Author:** ![aguy-PG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ec8ea/32.png) [@aguy-PG](https://forum.juce.com/u/aguy-PG)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2025, 5:59pm UTC](https://forum.juce.com/t/reading-m4a-files-on-windows/16763/5 "2025-11-01T17:59:44Z")

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Hi,

Has there been any development on this? I’m trying to load an `.m4a` or `.mp4` file using `WindowsMediaAudioFormat` but `createReaderFor()` fails.

I have:

- Enabled `WindowsMediaAudioFormat` in the Projucer.

- Verified that it is a registered format in `AudioFormatManager`.

- Confirmed that the file is an AAC .m4a.

Looking at the JUCE source, it seems that .m4a and .mp4 are not included in the extension list:

```auto
static const char* const extensions[] = { ".mp3", ".wmv", ".asf", ".wm", ".wma", nullptr };
// juce_WindowsMediaAudioFormat.cpp (line 136)

```

Does this mean there is still no way to load `.m4a` or `.mp4` audio files in JUCE on Windows?

Thanks!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![aguy-PG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ec8ea/32.png) [@aguy-PG](https://forum.juce.com/u/aguy-PG)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2025, 11:13pm UTC](https://forum.juce.com/t/reading-m4a-files-on-windows/16763/6 "2025-11-05T23:13:41Z")

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Bump!! Can anyone from juce confirm whether this is possible to load an .m4a or mp4 audio file in on Windows?