Extract the audio from a video as MP3
Pull the soundtrack out of a video and download it as an MP3. The tool is already set to audio extraction, so you only need to add your file.
MP4, MOV, WebM and most other formats — up to 200 MB and 10 minutes
Trimming copies the stream rather than re-encoding, so it finishes in seconds.
What extraction actually does
A video file holds separate picture and sound streams inside one container. Extraction takes the audio stream and writes it out as an MP3, discarding the video entirely. Because the sound is not being re-recorded from scratch, the result is as close to the original audio as MP3 allows, and the file is typically a twentieth of the size of the video it came from.
What people use this for
The common cases are a lecture or interview you want to listen to while walking, the audio from a video you filmed that you need for a different edit, or a voice memo your phone happened to record as video. It is also the fastest way to make a long recording portable, since an hour of audio is a manageable download where an hour of video is not.
A note on what you are allowed to extract
Extracting audio from your own recordings, or from material you have the rights to, is straightforward. Taking the soundtrack from copyrighted video you do not own is not, whatever the tool makes technically possible. This tool works on files you add from your own device rather than on links to other people’s videos, which keeps the distinction fairly clear in practice.
Frequently asked questions
What quality is the MP3?
The audio is written at a bitrate that keeps speech and music clear at ordinary listening volumes. It will not be better than the audio inside the original video, since nothing can recover detail that was never recorded, but it will not be noticeably worse either.
Can I extract just part of the audio?
Trim the video first using the cut option on the main video tool, then run the audio extraction on the shorter clip. Doing it in that order means you only encode the section you actually want.
Does this work on MOV files from an iPhone?
Yes. MOV, MP4, WebM, AVI and MKV all carry an audio stream that can be extracted the same way, regardless of which container the video arrived in.