What are OGV, OGG, OGA files and How to Convert to other Formats

Download files with extensions like .ogv, .ogg, or .oga, and you have no clue about what they are and how to open them? We will explain what OGV files, OGG files, and OGA files are recommend you some software applications that you can use to open or convert these files.

Before we delve into OGV, OGG, and OGA, we have to get some acquaintance with the Xiph.Org Foundation. It is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free multimedia codecs and tools. The most important creation of it is Ogg family of media formats, and Ogg Vorbis project is the most successful one, which is an open-source and patent-free encoder for audio designed to compete with VP9 by Google and the patented HEVC (H.265) codec. If you never heard of Ogg you must have an impression of FLAC (a lossless audio codec) which was bought by Xiph.Org and became open-source and no-royalty fee needed project. AND Ogv, Ogg, and Oga all belong to Xiph.Org.

What are .ogv, .ogg, and .oga files?

OGG file: Ogg is an open and standardized bitstream container format designed for streaming and manipulation. Ogg extension can refer to both an audio and a container file, it is capable of encoding audio, video, and other codes within a file. It usually applies the Theora CODEC for video (OGV) and the Vorbis CODEC for audio (OGG).

OGV file: a video file saved in Xiph.Org open-source Ogg container format. Ogv file can multiplex numerous separate independent video codecs, mainly in Theora. In the vast majority of cases, you will see this file used to play videos on website with HTML5 video tag surrounded. Generally, people referenced OGV files as OGG files in HTML sources.

OGA file: Audio container that takes advantage of various encoders, including Ogg FLAC, Ghost, and OggPCM uses OGA file extension. Audio container that takes advantage of Ogg Vorbis or Speex compression audio encoder uses the Ogg file extension.It is a little confusing to distinguish these three extensions. Actually you don’t have to put too much effort into figuring out it, since it is not necessary for you to do that.

No clue about how to view OGV, OGG, or OGA files on your computer and no programs on your computer can open these files? That is not true. Fortunately, these file types are not that narrowly heard. Generally, these files will be recognized as video or audio files. So if you have one or more multimedia players installed on your computer, you can definitely try if they can open these files.

If you don’t have one I will recommend you to install VLC Player. Or you can view a list of programs that can open .ogv files.

For better compatibility, you should convert those files to media formats like MP4, MOV, MKV, MP3, WAV, or AAC, which will facilitate the procedure of sharing or editing on other program like audio editor or video editor. Now please follow my lead to OGV/OGG/OGA file conversion.

Step 1 Download and Install Video Converter on your computer.

Step 2 Import your OGG files into the program panel.

Step 3 Choose a target media format that fits your need. If you want to make more custimization to your file then, open Settings pane and more options will be available for you there. Finally click Convert button.

Now the converted media files can replace the original .ogv, .ogg, or .oga files, and you are free to open them with any player that you have.