Convert .M4A files to .MP3 in iTunes

Sometimes when you open your iTunes app to listen to your favorite songs, you might end up having some audio files with format other than MP3 (even though MP3 is the standard for most music players).

If you have some M4A files and the app that you use to play music files does not recognize the format, iTunes helps you with this. Since iTunes has a built-in conversion tool, you can convert the M4A files to MP3 without any technical skills.

Since the file conversion process does not replace or overwrite the original M4A file and the converted audio track is saved as a new file, after the conversion, you may want to remove the source M4A file if you want to gain some free space on your hard drive.

Here is how you can convert an M4A file to MP3 using iTunes.

■Initialize iTunes on your notebook or desktop PC.
■Click Edit from the menu bar at the top.
Note: If the menu bar is not displayed, click the Options icon on top-left corner of the screen (icon with black and white blocks), and select Show Menu Bar from the displayed list.



■From the Edit menu, click Preferences.



■From the displayed General Preferences window, ensure that the General tab is selected.
■Click the Import Settings button from the When you insert a CD section.



■In Import Settings window, select MP3 Encoder from the Import Using drop-down list.
■From the Setting drop-down list, select Good Quality (128 kbps).



■Press OK to save changes, and to close the General Preferences window.
■From your iTunes playlist, select the song that you want to convert to MP3.
■Once done, back on the iTunes main interface, right-click the M4A song, and choose Create MP3 Version from the displayed context menu to convert the file to MP3 format.

Note: By default, the converted media will be saved in the iTunes Media folder of your computer.