How to Convert MP4 to MP3 for Free: Pull the Audio Out of Any Video

You have a video and you only want the sound. A freestyle you filmed on your phone, a clip of your own show, an idea you once recorded as a video. You want an MP3 so you can listen to it, share it or drag it into your DAW.

Good news: you do not need expensive software for that. In this guide you will find three free ways to convert MP4 to MP3, which quality to pick and when a WAV is the better choice.

What happens when you convert MP4 to MP3?

An MP4 is a kind of box. Inside it there is usually a video track and an audio track. That audio track is almost always AAC, a compressed audio format. When you convert an MP4 to MP3, you throw away the video and turn the AAC audio into an MP3.

An M4A is the same box, just without the video. That is why converting works almost exactly the same as when you convert M4A to MP3.

Good to know: AAC and MP3 are both formats that have already thrown some information away. Going from one to the other will never make the sound better than the original. You can keep the loss as small as possible by picking a high bitrate.

Option 1: in your browser, no upload

The fastest way is our free audio converter. It runs entirely in your browser. Your file is not sent to a server, you do not need an account and there is nothing to install.

1. Open the audio converter.
2. Drag your MP4 into the box. The file picker often only shows audio files, so dragging is the easiest way with a video.
3. Choose MP3 as the format.
4. Choose 320 kbps. That is the highest MP3 quality and the best choice if you still want to work with the audio.
5. Click Convert. Your MP3 downloads right away. The video is gone, only the sound is left.

Not working? The converter can open anything your browser can play by itself. A regular MP4 with AAC audio works in modern browsers like Chrome. If your file still does not work, try another browser or use option 2.

Need to convert a lot of videos at once? The Pro version converts multiple files in one go and gives them to you as a ZIP. It is also part of the Tools Pro bundle, together with the Pro features of our other tools.

Option 2: with VLC (Windows and Mac)

Already have VLC on your computer? You can pull the audio out of a video there too. On Windows it works like this:

1. Open VLC and go to Media, then Convert / Save.
2. Click Add and pick your MP4.
3. Click the arrow next to Convert / Save and choose Convert.
4. Under Profile, choose Audio - MP3.
5. Click Browse, pick where the file goes and give it a name that ends in .mp3.
6. Click Start. When the bar at the bottom is full, your MP3 is in the folder you picked.

On a Mac, the same feature lives in VLC under the File menu, at Convert / Stream. Menu names can differ a little between versions.

Option 3: on a Mac with QuickTime Player

On a Mac you can also use QuickTime Player, which comes preinstalled. Open your video, go to File, choose Export As and then Audio Only. According to Apple, that gives you an MPEG-4 audio file with AAC, so an M4A and not an MP3 yet.

Want an actual MP3? Drag that M4A into the audio converter and choose MP3. To be fair, option 1 is faster here because it skips that extra step.

MP3 or WAV: which one should you pick?

It depends on what you will do with the audio.

• Listening, sharing or sending: pick MP3 at 320 kbps. Small file, great sound. One minute of audio at 320 kbps is about 2.4 MB.
• Editing in your DAW: pick WAV. That way you do not add any extra compression during the conversion. The file is a lot bigger though.
• Uploading to Spotify or another streaming service: do not use audio pulled from a video. Export your track again from your project as a WAV. Read why in WAV to MP3: which quality to choose.

MP3 too big to email? How to reduce audio file size shows you how to pick the bitrate. Want your own cover art and artist name inside the MP3? Check out how to add album art and tags to an MP3.

What can you use it for as a producer or rapper?

• Replaying a freestyle or idea. Recorded a flow or melody as a video? Turn it into an MP3 and drop it in your DAW next to your beat.
• Your own show or studio video. Pull the sound out so you can hear what could be better.
• Only the voice or only the beat? If you want the vocal and the instrumental separated afterwards, read how to remove vocals from a song.

Only use this for videos you made yourself or whose audio you are allowed to use.

FAQ

Is converting MP4 to MP3 free?

Yes. With the audio converter, VLC and QuickTime Player it costs nothing. With the audio converter you do not need an account either.

Will I lose quality?

A little, because you go from one compressed format to another. Pick 320 kbps to keep that as small as possible, or WAV if you do not want any extra compression at all.

Is my video uploaded?

Not with our audio converter. Everything happens in your browser and your file stays on your own device.

Can I convert multiple videos at once?

Yes, with the Pro version of the audio converter. You get all your MP3s in one ZIP file.

Ready? Drag your video into the free audio converter and you will have your MP3 in seconds.