About the MP4 to MP3 Converter
Save the sound from a video as an MP3: a song from a music video, a lecture you want to listen to on the go, a voice note recorded as video, or the audio of a WhatsApp clip. Choose the video, pick the quality and download the MP3.
The conversion runs on your phone or computer with FFmpeg, the same engine many video apps use, so your video is never uploaded anywhere. Files up to 100 MB work, which covers most phone clips.
How it works
A video file holds separate tracks for the picture and the sound. The converter reads the first sound track, decodes it, and encodes it again as an MP3 with the LAME encoder at the bitrate you pick. The picture track is skipped entirely, so it doesn't matter how large or sharp the video is.
Bitrate is how much data each second of sound gets. 128 kbps is plenty for speech and podcasts, 192 kbps sounds good for most music, and 320 kbps is the highest MP3 allows. Higher bitrates give bigger files: one minute is about 0.9 MB at 128 kbps, 1.4 MB at 192 kbps and 2.3 MB at 320 kbps.
Converting can't add quality that wasn't there. Phone videos usually record sound at about 128 to 256 kbps in AAC, so 192 kbps keeps nearly all of it, while 320 kbps mostly makes the file larger.
Assumptions and limits
- Only the first sound track is saved. Videos with several languages or commentary tracks give the main one.
- Files can be up to 100 MB. The converter itself (about 10 MB) downloads the first time and is then kept by your browser.
- On a computer a one-minute clip converts in about two seconds; phones and long videos take longer because the whole file has to be read.
Worked examples
A lecture recording
A 45-minute class recorded on a phone at 720p is usually well over 100 MB. Trim it on the phone first, or convert it in parts; at 128 kbps each 10 minutes of audio is about 9 MB.
A song from a music video
Pick 192 kbps for a good balance. A four-minute song comes out at about 5.5 MB and plays in any music app or car stereo.
A WhatsApp video
WhatsApp videos are small, so they convert in a second or two. Save the clip to your phone, choose it here and download the MP3 to share the sound as an audio file.
How to use the MP4 to MP3 Converter
- Choose your video. MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI and more, up to 100 MB.
- Pick the MP3 quality. 128, 192 or 320 kbps.
- Convert and download. Listen to it on the page, then save the MP3.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert MP4 to MP3 without uploading the video?
Choose the video on this page and press Convert to MP3. The FFmpeg converter runs inside your browser, so the video is processed on your own device and nothing is sent to a server. You can even disconnect from the internet once the converter has loaded.
Which MP3 quality should I choose?
Use 128 kbps for speech, lectures and podcasts, 192 kbps for music in most cases, and 320 kbps if you want the most detail and don't mind a file about two and a half times larger than at 128 kbps.
Why is there a 100 MB limit?
The whole video is read in your browser's memory while it converts. Keeping files under 100 MB means the conversion works reliably on phones as well as computers instead of crashing the tab on long or very large videos.
Can I convert MOV, MKV or WebM videos to MP3 too?
Yes. The converter reads almost every common video format, including iPhone MOV files, MKV, WebM, AVI, 3GP and FLV, as well as audio files such as M4A, WAV, OGG and FLAC that you want as MP3 instead.
Why does it say my video has no sound track?
Some videos really have no audio, such as screen recordings made with the microphone off or clips with the sound removed. There is nothing to save in that case; play the video first to check whether you can hear anything.
This tool runs entirely in your browser. What you enter or upload stays on your device and is never sent to our servers.