Extract text from Video for Windows files (VFW)
To convert VFW video files to another format, you need Windows Media Player or other Video software.
To convert other file formats to the "Obsolete Video Format" file type, you need software like Windows Media Player or a similar tool.
A .vfw file is an obsolete video file associated with the Video for Windows multimedia framework released by Microsoft in 1992. It stores video and audio data, often acting as an early container for the Audio Video Interleave (AVI) format.
Originally, these files were played using the classic Microsoft Windows Media Player. Today, powerful third-party software like the open-source VLC media player can sometimes open them, depending entirely on the specific legacy video codec used to compress the data.
Because the format is severely outdated, you will face massive compatibility issues. Modern operating systems like Windows 11 and macOS no longer include the legacy 16-bit or 32-bit codecs required to decode the original video stream. Furthermore, you cannot upload a .vfw file to any social media platform, nor can you play it natively on modern iOS or Android smartphones without specialized apps.
To recover and play the video today, you must convert it to a universally supported format like MP4 (using the standard H.264 codec), MKV, or a modern AVI. Keep in mind that due to the extreme age of the original file format, the visual resolution and framerate will remain low, but the file will finally be accessible on standard screens.
Standard online converters frequently fail to process .vfw files because they lack support for ancient Microsoft codecs. Just drag and drop your file onto convert.guru to identify the format, view its internal metadata, and convert it to a modern video file if our analysis detects a supported underlying legacy stream.
Use Convert.Guru to open and convert your VFW file.
Users also converted AVI, MP4 and MPB files.
If you want to convert VFW file to MP4, AVI, MOV, WMV, FLV, WEBM, MKV, M4V, 3GP, OGV, ASF or RM, you can use Windows Media Player or similar software from the "Legacy Video Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MTS, MOV, RMVB, DIVX, RM, H264, TS, WMV, VOB, MP4, XVID or AVI files to VFW, try Windows Media Player or another comparable tool in the "Legacy Video Storage" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our VFW converter.