What is the MIME type of .wav files?
The MIME type (media type) for WAV audio files with the .wav extension is audio/wav. You may also see audio/x-wav, audio/wave. Uncompressed audio; huge files. Use MP3, AAC or Opus for the web.
Content-Type header
Content-Type: audio/wavServer configuration
| Server | Configuration |
|---|---|
Nginx (mime.types or types {}) | audio/wav wav; |
Apache (.htaccess) | AddType audio/wav .wav |
IIS (web.config) | <mimeMap fileExtension=".wav" mimeType="audio/wav" /> |
| Node.js / Express | res.type('wav') or res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'audio/wav') |
| Amazon S3 | Set Content-Type: audio/wav on the object (metadata), or pass --content-type audio/wav to aws s3 cp |
Should .wav files be compressed?
Yes. WAV audio is uncompressed data, so enabling gzip or Brotli for audio/wav typically saves 50–80 % of the transfer size. Make sure your server’s compression list includes this type — check with the website compression test.
Why the MIME type matters
Browsers decide what to do with a response — render, run, play or download — from the Content-Type header, not the file extension. With X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff, a wrong type causes stylesheets and scripts to be blocked outright. For uploads, never trust the type sent by the client; check the file’s content (its magic bytes) on the server.
Frequently asked questions
What is the MIME type for .wav?
audio/wav. Alternatives seen in the wild: audio/x-wav, audio/wave.How do I set the Content-Type for .wav in Nginx?
audio/wav wav; is listed in the types block (usually in /etc/nginx/mime.types) and reload Nginx.