converting m4a voice recordings to mp3 on windows 11

Audacity works too and the batch side is a bit nicer, but for m4a it needs the FFmpeg library installed alongside it or it won't open the file. Before converting at all though, what are they going on? Most phones, cars and players handle m4a fine these days.

VLC does it if you already have it. Media > Convert / Save, add the m4a, hit Convert / Save, pick the Audio - MP3 profile, then set the destination file. Watch the destination: type the full name ending in .mp3 yourself. If you leave the old extension it saves a file Windows won't recognise and you'll think it failed. For loads of recordings at once it's a bit clunky, but for a handful it's fine.