Shorten (codec)
Readableother
Shorten is a file format used for compressing audio data.It is used to compress audio files losslessly. One of the first open source lossless compressors, it was created in 1993 by Tony Robinson.
Identify it
| Extensions | .shn |
|---|---|
| MIME types | application/x-shorten |
| Signatures | 616a6b67 at byte 0 (Shorten (codec)) |
| PRONOM | fmt/1961 |
| Wikidata | Q597450 |
| Library of Congress | fdd000199 |
Not sure your file is this? Identify it from its first bytes, in your browser.
Open it
Convert it
| To | With | Fidelity | Command and losses |
|---|---|---|---|
| FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) 1.2.1 | FFmpeg | Partial | ffmpeg -i in.shn out.flacAudio track only: the video is dropped. |
| Waveform Audio | FFmpeg | Partial | ffmpeg -i in.shn out.wavAudio track only: the video is dropped. |
| Matroska 1-4 | FFmpeg | Lossy | ffmpeg -i in.shn out.mkvRe-encoded with lossy codecs by default; try `-c copy` to remux without re-encoding when the codecs fit the container. |
| MPEG 1/2 Audio Layer 3 | FFmpeg | Lossy | ffmpeg -i in.shn out.mp3Lossy re-encoding. |
| MPEG-4 Part 14 | FFmpeg | Lossy | ffmpeg -i in.shn out.mp4Re-encoded with lossy codecs by default; try `-c copy` to remux without re-encoding when the codecs fit the container. |
| Ogg | FFmpeg | Lossy | ffmpeg -i in.shn out.oggLossy re-encoding. |
| WebM | FFmpeg | Lossy | ffmpeg -i in.shn out.webmRe-encoded with lossy codecs by default; try `-c copy` to remux without re-encoding when the codecs fit the container. |
Sources
From Converters (FFmpeg, ImageMagick, Pandoc, LibreOffice), Just Solve the File Format Problem (File Formats Wiki), PRONOM, Wikidata. Updated 2026-10-24.