Free online AIFF to AIF converter

A program, sampler, or upload form may support AIFF audio but accept only the .aif filename extension. Because .aif normally identifies the same AIFF container as .aiff, changing the extension is often enough and does not alter the sound.

What the AIFF format is

AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format) is an audio container developed by Apple and based on the Interchange File Format structure. Standard AIFF commonly stores uncompressed, big-endian PCM audio, including mono or stereo recordings at sample rates such as 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz with 16-bit or 24-bit samples.

Digital audio workstations, music-production applications, Apple software, samplers, and recording hardware use AIFF when preserving the original PCM data is more important than minimizing file size. Uncompressed AIFF files are larger than losslessly compressed or lossy formats; the format itself does not guarantee that every file is uncompressed because AIFF can also contain compressed audio variants such as AIFF-C.

What the AIF format is

AIF is normally an alternative filename extension for an AIFF file. It is not a separate audio encoding with better quality or smaller files. Its practical advantage is compatibility with older software, hardware, and upload forms that recognize .aif but reject .aiff.

A standard .aif file can contain the same AIFF structure, PCM encoding, sample rate, bit depth, channels, markers, and metadata as the original .aiff file. Renaming the extension alone does not change any of those properties.

How to convert AIFF to AIF

Rename the extension

1. Make a copy of the original file, such as recording.aiff.
2. Enable visible filename extensions in the operating system’s file manager.
3. Rename the copy to recording.aif. Make sure the result is not recording.aif.aiff.
4. Open the renamed file in the destination application and verify playback.

This is the appropriate method when the receiving program supports standard AIFF but requires the shorter suffix. On Windows, confirm the extension-change warning; on macOS, choose to use .aif when Finder asks whether to keep the old extension.

Use FFmpeg when a rewritten file is required

FFmpeg can create a new AIFF container while copying compatible PCM audio without re-encoding:

ffmpeg -i recording.aiff -map_metadata 0 -c:a copy recording.aif

If stream copying fails, encode standard big-endian PCM explicitly:

ffmpeg -i recording.aiff -map_metadata 0 -c:a pcm_s16be recording.aif

Use pcm_s24be only when the source and destination support 24-bit PCM. Explicit encoding can change bit depth and removes the guarantee that the audio samples remain identical, so keep the original file.

Export with Audacity

1. Open the AIFF file in Audacity.
2. Choose File → Export Audio.
3. Select AIFF (Apple/SGI) as the file type.
4. Save the output with an .aif filename if Audacity permits that extension; otherwise export as .aiff and rename the completed file.
5. Keep the original sample rate and bit depth unless the destination requires different settings.

Audacity decodes and re-exports the audio, so metadata, markers, channel assignments, or bit depth may not be preserved exactly. For a simple suffix change, renaming is safer.

Use the built-in 101convert.com converter

1. Open the AIFF-to-AIF converter on 101convert.com.
2. Upload the .aiff file and select AIF as the output format.
3. Start the conversion and download the resulting .aif file.
4. Check the downloaded file in the target application before deleting the original.

This option converts the file without installing desktop software. If the source contains compressed AIFF-C audio or unusual metadata, compare the output with the original because the conversion may decode, re-encode, or omit unsupported information.

Quality and compatibility limits

Renaming a standard PCM AIFF file is lossless because no file data changes. FFmpeg stream copying is also lossless when the audio stream is copied successfully. Re-exporting through Audacity or another converter can change sample format, metadata, markers, channel layout, or embedded resources.

The .aif suffix does not make an unsupported encoding compatible. A device may require uncompressed PCM, a specific sample rate, a particular bit depth, or a particular channel count. AIFF-C files, encrypted files, and files with unusual chunks may need actual decoding and re-encoding, and some older devices may accept only a limited AIFF subset.