How to extract audio from an MP4 as MP3
Sometimes all you need from a video is the sound: an interview to transcribe, a recorded lecture to listen to in the car, a song from a rehearsal or the voices from a meeting. Converting to MP3 gives you a much smaller file that plays on any phone, computer or car stereo.
This converter pulls the audio track out of your MP4 and saves it as MP3. The picture is left out.
Step by step
- Click Select file and choose the .mp4 video (up to 50 MB and 10 minutes).
- Check that Convert to shows MP3.
- Click Extract audio as MP3 and keep the tab open.
- Download the MP3.
MP3 quality
The audio is encoded as high-quality variable-bitrate MP3, averaging around 190 kbps, a level where voice and music sound good and the file stays light. MP3 is lossy, but it plays on practically any device.
If you plan to edit the audio afterwards, consider WAV as the target instead: it is uncompressed and avoids loss at each step.
Which track is extracted, and limits
The first audio track of the video is extracted, with voices, music and effects mixed together just as they sound in the video. If the MP4 has several tracks, such as different languages, only the first is used. The video's metadata is not copied to the MP3.
The video must have sound: a silent recording will show a warning. Videos up to 10 minutes, up to 4K and 50 MB are accepted.
If you only want the sound to make a transcript, MP3 is fine; for podcast editing or music production, extract to WAV or FLAC first and export to MP3 at the end.
Frequently asked questions
- What bitrate is the MP3?
- High-quality variable bitrate, averaging around 190 kbps.
- Can I extract just part of the audio?
- No, the full audio track is extracted. Trim the MP3 afterwards if needed.
- What if the video has several languages?
- The first audio track is extracted.
- What is the maximum length?
- 10 minutes of video and 50 MB per file.
- Can I convert YouTube videos?
- This converter works with files already on your device; it does not download videos from websites.
