What kind of files can I use in Movie Maker?

You can add the following types of video, photo, and audio files to Movie Maker.

Project files

Project file types (format)		File name extensions
Windows Movie Maker project files		.mswmm
Movie Maker project files		.wlmp

Video files

Video file types (format)		File name extensions
Windows Media Video (WMV) files		.wmv
Windows Media files		.asf and .wm
AVCHD files		.m2ts, .mts, and .m2t
Apple QuickTime files		.mov and .qt
DV‑AVI files		.avi
Microsoft Recorded TV Show files		.dvr-ms and .wtv
MPEG‑4 movie files		.mp4, .mov,.m4v, .3gp, .3g2, and .k3g
MPEG‑2 movie files		.mpeg, .mpg, .mpe, .m1v, .mp2, .mpv2, .mod, .vob, and .m2t
MPEG‑1 movie files		.m1v
Motion JPEG files		.avi and .mov

Notes

Video files that use digital rights management (DRM) can't be used in Movie Maker.
Support for using MPEG‑2 and Microsoft Recorded TV Show video files in your movie is available only if your computer is running one of the following editions of Windows: Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows Vista Home Premium, or Windows Vista Ultimate.
AVCHD video files that contain Dolby Digital audio can be used in Movie Maker if your computer is running one of the following editions of Windows: Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Ultimate.
MPEG‑4 video files that contain AAC audio can be used if you're using Movie Maker on a computer running Windows 7.
3GPP and 3GPP2 video files that are often recorded on a mobile phone can be used in Movie Maker if the file contains MPEG‑4 video, AAC audio, and if Movie Maker is installed on a computer running Windows 7.

3GPP video files might contain AMR audio and 3GPP2 files might contain AMR or QCELP audio instead. In these cases, the video will often play, but the audio won't. Files that contain H.263 video might not play in Movie Maker without installing additional codecs.
Some MPEG‑4 video files can be used when you're using Movie Maker on a computer running Windows Vista if the necessary audio and video codecs are installed.
For more information about video and audio codecs, as well as determining which codecs are installed on your computer and used in a particular video file, see Codecs: frequently asked questions on the Windows website.

Photo files

Photo file types (format)		File name extensions
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) files		.jpg, .jpeg, .jfif, and .jpe
Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) files		.tif and .tiff
Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) files		.gif
Windows Bitmap files		.bmp, .dib, and .rle
Icon files		.ico and .icon
Portable Network Graphics (PNG) files		.png
HD Photo files		.wdp

Audio files

Audio file types (format)		File name extensions
Windows Media Audio (WMA) files		.asf, .wm, and .wma
Pulse‑code Modulation (PCM) files		.aif, .aiff, and .wav
Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) files		.m4a
MP3 files		.mp3
All video files supported in Movie Maker

Notes

Audio files that use digital rights management (DRM) can't be used in Movie Maker.
You can use video files that are supported in Movie Maker as audio files.
For more information about video and audio codecs, as well as determining which codecs are installed on your computer and used in a particular audio file, see Codecs: frequently asked questions on the Windows website.