File Format Categories
Every file format MegaConvert supports falls into one of the eleven categories below. Each category represents a family of formats that share common conversion paths, technical foundations, and use cases. Pick the category that matches what you have on your computer right now and you'll find every format we can read, write, and translate between.
File formats exist because no single way of encoding information is best for every job. Photographs need different handling than scanned documents; spoken audio compresses differently than orchestral music; a vector logo behaves nothing like a screenshot. Learning which category your file belongs to is the first step in choosing the right conversion target — and avoiding common mistakes like saving line art as JPG or shipping a 500 MB uncompressed audio file when a 5 MB OPUS would have been audibly identical.
All categories
Image Converter
28 formats
Raster image formats store pixel-by-pixel color data.
JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF +22 more
📄Document Converter
18 formats
Document formats range from layout-fixed (PDF, PS) to flow-based (DOCX, ODT, RTF) to plain text (TXT, MD).
PDF, DOCX, DOC, ODT, RTF, TXT +12 more
🎵Audio Converter
13 formats
Audio formats trade off file size, fidelity, and compatibility.
MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, OGG, WMA +7 more
🎬Video Converter
19 formats
Video formats combine a container (MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM) with a video codec (H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1) and an audio track.
MP4, AVI, MKV, MOV, WMV, FLV +13 more
📊Data Converter
10 formats
Data formats encode structured information for software to read.
CSV, TSV, JSON, XML, YAML, TOML +4 more
📦Archive Converter
9 formats
Archive formats bundle multiple files into one container, usually with compression.
ZIP, TAR, GZ, BZ2, XZ, 7Z +3 more
🔤Font Converter
4 formats
Font formats deliver glyph outlines and metadata to renderers.
TTF, OTF, WOFF, WOFF2
📚E-Book Converter
9 formats
Ebook formats deliver flowable text that reformats to any screen.
EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, PDF, FB2, TXT +3 more
💬Subtitle Converter
6 formats
Subtitle formats carry timed text that pairs with video.
SRT, ASS, SSA, VTT, SUB, JSON
✏️Vector Converter
6 formats
Vector formats store images as mathematical curves and shapes that scale without losing quality.
SVG, EPS, PDF, DXF, EMF, WMF
🧊3D Model Converter
6 formats
3D model formats encode geometry, materials, and sometimes animation.
STL, OBJ, PLY, GLB, OFF, DAE
Choosing the right format for the job
Most file format problems trace back to one mistake: picking a format for one purpose, then trying to use it for another. PDF is excellent for delivering a finished document; it's painful as a working editor format. JPG is excellent for photographs; it produces ugly ringing artifacts on screenshots and line art. WAV preserves every sample of an audio recording; it makes a terrible podcast download. Knowing the strengths and limitations of each category saves you from repeated quality loss, oversized files, and broken workflows.
🖼Image Converter
Raster image formats store pixel-by-pixel color data. Choose between lossless formats (PNG, TIFF, BMP) when you need exact pixel preservation, or lossy formats (JPG, WEBP, AVIF) when smaller file size matters more than perfect detail. Most modern web workflows use WEBP or AVIF; print and design workflows still rely heavily on PNG and TIFF.
See all 28 image converter formats →📄Document Converter
Document formats range from layout-fixed (PDF, PS) to flow-based (DOCX, ODT, RTF) to plain text (TXT, MD). Layout-fixed formats reproduce a page exactly as designed; flow-based formats let text reflow to different page sizes. Convert between them when you need to edit a fixed-layout file or when you need to deliver a flowable document as a printable page.
See all 18 document converter formats →🎵Audio Converter
Audio formats trade off file size, fidelity, and compatibility. Lossy codecs (MP3, AAC, OGG, OPUS) achieve smaller files by discarding inaudible information, while lossless codecs (FLAC, WAV, ALAC) preserve every original sample. Streaming services typically deliver AAC or OPUS; archival and mastering work uses WAV or FLAC.
See all 13 audio converter formats →🎬Video Converter
Video formats combine a container (MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM) with a video codec (H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1) and an audio track. The container determines compatibility and metadata support; the codec determines compression efficiency. MP4 with H.264 is the most universally compatible combination; AV1 in WebM is the most efficient for modern browsers.
See all 19 video converter formats →📊Data Converter
Data formats encode structured information for software to read. JSON and YAML are human-readable and dominant in modern web APIs; XML is verbose but widely supported in enterprise and government systems; CSV remains the universal interchange format for tabular data. TOML and INI handle configuration; Parquet and Avro handle large analytics datasets.
See all 10 data converter formats →📦Archive Converter
Archive formats bundle multiple files into one container, usually with compression. ZIP is the universal lowest-common-denominator; 7Z and RAR achieve smaller files at the cost of platform support; TAR.GZ and TAR.BZ2 dominate the Linux and scientific computing world. Convert between them when sharing across platforms or when you need a specific compression ratio.
See all 9 archive converter formats →🔤Font Converter
Font formats deliver glyph outlines and metadata to renderers. TTF and OTF are the desktop standards; WOFF and WOFF2 are compressed variants designed for the web (WOFF2 typically halves the file size). Convert TTF or OTF to WOFF2 when self-hosting fonts on a website to reduce page weight without sacrificing quality.
See all 4 font converter formats →📚E-Book Converter
Ebook formats deliver flowable text that reformats to any screen. EPUB is the open standard supported by most readers; MOBI and AZW3 are Amazon's Kindle formats; FB2 is popular in Eastern Europe. Convert between them when moving books across reader ecosystems or when you need to add the file to a personal library.
See all 9 e-book converter formats →💬Subtitle Converter
Subtitle formats carry timed text that pairs with video. SRT is the simplest and most widely supported; VTT (WebVTT) is the standard for HTML5 video and supports basic styling; ASS/SSA supports rich typography and positioning for fansubs and karaoke. Convert between them when your video player or platform requires a specific format.
See all 6 subtitle converter formats →✏️Vector Converter
Vector formats store images as mathematical curves and shapes that scale without losing quality. SVG is the web standard and is itself an XML format; AI and EPS are Adobe Illustrator's native and exchange formats; PDF can carry vector content as well. Use vector formats for logos, icons, technical diagrams, and any artwork that needs to print at multiple sizes.
See all 6 vector converter formats →🧊3D Model Converter
3D model formats encode geometry, materials, and sometimes animation. OBJ is the simplest interchange format; FBX is the dominant film and game pipeline format; GLTF is optimized for web and real-time delivery; STL is the universal 3D-printing format. Convert based on what your downstream tool expects: STL for printing, GLTF for web, FBX for animation pipelines.
See all 6 3d model converter formats →Common questions about file format categories
Why does the same file extension appear in multiple categories?
Some extensions are genuinely multi-purpose. PDF, for example, is both a document format (its dominant use) and a vector graphics format (its underlying structure). DOCX appears in document and ebook categories because Word documents and EPUB ebooks share parts of the same XML packaging spec. When this happens, we list the format under its primary category — the one users mean when they say the format's name out loud.
Can I convert across categories — say, an image to a PDF?
Yes, when the conversion makes sense. Image-to-PDF and PDF-to-image are both common and well-supported because PDF can carry raster images natively. Audio-to-video isn't a real conversion (you can't derive a picture from sound), but you can wrap an audio track into a video container with a static image — also supported. Cross-category conversions that don't make physical sense simply don't exist; they'll never appear as options.
Does converting always lose quality?
Not always. Lossless-to-lossless conversions (PNG → TIFF, FLAC → WAV) preserve every bit of original information. Lossless-to-lossy conversions (PNG → JPG, FLAC → MP3) discard data permanently and can't be reversed. Lossy-to-lossy conversions (JPG → WEBP, MP3 → AAC) cause generation loss because each lossy codec introduces its own artifacts on top of the previous ones. When quality matters, always start from the highest-quality original you have and convert directly to the final delivery format.
How do I know which format my file really is?
File extensions are advisory, not authoritative — anyone can rename a file. The actual format is determined by the bytes inside the file (the "magic number" in the first few bytes). MegaConvert reads the actual file content when you upload, so mislabeled extensions don't matter; we'll detect the real format and convert correctly. If you need to identify a file outside our converter, the file command on macOS or Linux and tools like TrID on Windows do the same thing.
Are any formats better than others within a category?
"Better" depends on the use case. Within images, AVIF compresses better than WEBP, which compresses better than JPG — but JPG has near-universal support, AVIF is still emerging, and the difference is invisible at high quality settings. Within audio, OPUS is technically superior to MP3 at every bitrate, but MP3 plays on every device ever made and OPUS doesn't. Pick based on what your downstream consumer can actually open, not just on technical superiority.
Why doesn't MegaConvert support [some obscure format]?
We support the formats that real workflows need — currently 157+ across 11 categories, with 2,600+ conversion pairs. If a format is missing it's usually because the underlying open-source libraries we use don't implement it, or because the format is proprietary and reverse-engineering it would produce unreliable results. Email christopherfloied101@gmail.com if you need a format we don't list and we'll evaluate adding it.