.ape File Extension

What kind of file is an .ape?

An .ape file usually contains audio compressed with Monkey's Audio. The format is lossless, so decoding reconstructs the original audio samples rather than approximating them as MP3 or AAC does.¹ Software commonly labels it with the conventional audio/x-ape MIME type, but IANA has not registered an APE audio media type.²

A genuine Monkey's Audio file begins with the ASCII signature MAC , which is hexadecimal 4D 41 43 20.³ Checking those first four bytes helps catch a mislabeled file, although it cannot prove that the rest of the stream is complete or safe.

How do I open an .ape on my computer?

Use software with an explicit Monkey's Audio decoder:

• On Windows, the reference Monkey's Audio application can play, decompress, verify, and convert APE files.⁴ foobar2000 also supports the format.⁵
• On Windows, macOS, or Linux, VLC lists APE among its supported audio codecs.⁶
• FFmpeg can inspect, decode, or convert the file on all three desktop platforms.³

Web browsers do not natively support Monkey's Audio. If a player rejects the file, verify the MAC signature and test it with maintained software before assuming the filename is correct.

Poly support for .ape

Poly recognizes .ape as audio and keeps the file stored, synced, shared, versioned, and searchable by filename. It opens in the audio-player interface, but browsers normally cannot decode the stream, so playback is limited.

APE audio is not currently transcribed or indexed by sound, and its tags and cover art are not extracted. The Poly agent therefore cannot listen to or summarize the recording. Convert a copy to FLAC before uploading when playback, speech search, or agent access matters.

History of .ape

Matthew T. Ashland first released Monkey's Audio in 2000.⁷ Early releases used .mac; the project's version history says version 3.00 changed the default extension to .ape.⁸ That change avoided confusion with other uses of .mac, while FFmpeg still recognizes both names for compatibility.³

Monkey's Audio was designed around exact reconstruction and flexible compression levels. Higher compression settings can trade more processing time for a modestly smaller file, but they do not change decoded audio quality.⁴

Working with .ape and alternatives

FLAC is usually the best conversion target. Both formats are lossless, so a correct decode-and-encode conversion preserves the audio samples, while .flac has broader player and browser support. .wav with PCM is also lossless but usually much larger.

MP3, AAC, and Opus make smaller delivery copies but are lossy. Keep the original APE or a verified FLAC master if you may convert again. Also check tags and embedded artwork after conversion because metadata fields do not always map cleanly between formats.¹