MP4 to MP3 the audio of your video, ready to play.
To convert MP4 to MP3, pick the .mp4 file, leave the format on MP3 and download the audio. The MP3 comes out at a constant 192 kbps, about 1.4 MB per minute, and plays on any phone, car stereo or editor. It's free, with no sign-up and no watermark, and it handles two-hour videos.
Free, no sign-upLarge video: extracting can take a few minutes. Keep this tab open until it finishes.
How to turn an MP4 into an MP3
- 01
Pick the .mp4
Drag the video onto the dashed area or tap to choose it. A screen recording, a phone video, a downloaded lecture or a saved livestream: any MP4 with sound works.
- 02
Leave it on MP3
The default is stereo MP3 at 48 kHz, which suits both speech and music. If the recording used a single mic, mono avoids sound in only one ear on headphones.
- 03
Download the audio
The button shows progress as a percentage and the time left. When it finishes, download the .mp3 with the same name as the video.
What happens to the audio when an MP4 becomes an MP3
An MP4 is a container: the video and the audio live inside it, and the audio is almost always AAC. Converting to MP3 means taking the audio out of the container and writing it again as MP3, the format every device plays. The picture is left behind, which is why the file shrinks so much: a 1-hour lecture in 1080p MP4 is close to 2 GB, and its MP3 is 86 MB.
We write the MP3 at a constant 192 kbps (CBR). A constant bitrate matters when the audio goes into an editor or a player with a seek bar: every second takes the same space, so jumping to 42:10 lands exactly on 42:10. For speech, 192 kbps is more than enough; for music, it matches what the big music stores have long used.
| MP4 length | MP3 at 192 kbps |
|---|---|
| 1 minute | 1.4 MB |
| 10 minutes | 14 MB |
| 30 minutes | 43 MB |
| 1 hour | 86 MB |
| 2 hours | 173 MB |
Where the MP4s that become MP3s usually come from
Almost every video that passes through a phone or a computer is already MP4. Android phones record MP4, WhatsApp delivers video as MP4, screen and meeting recordings save as MP4, and course platforms let you download lessons as MP4. In all of these cases, what people want is the sound: to listen in the car, send it to someone, transcribe it or trim one part.
The iPhone is the exception: its camera records MOV. The steps are the same, and this page takes MOV too, so there is no need to convert the video first.
- A lecture or talk to listen to while driving or at the gym
- A recorded sermon or service turned into the church podcast
- A video interview that needs a transcript
- The audio of a WhatsApp video to keep or forward
- Music or voice-over from a video to reuse in an edit
MP3, WAV or keep the M4A?
MP3 is the pick when the audio will be played, sent or published: it's small and plays everywhere. WAV is the pick when the audio goes into editing or mastering, because it has no compression; the trade-off is about 11 MB per minute in stereo.
The original audio in an MP4 is AAC, the same format as M4A. If your destination takes M4A, that would be the most faithful copy. But older car stereos, speakers, some editors and plenty of upload forms only accept MP3, and that's why MP4 to MP3 is still the conversion people search for most.
| Format | Size per minute | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| MP3 192 kbps | 1.4 MB | Listening, sending, publishing |
| WAV 16-bit, 48 kHz | 11 MB | Editing and mastering |
| M4A (original AAC) | ~1 MB | Apple and modern players |
More than MP4 to MP3. What was said, as text and as clips.
See also
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert MP4 to MP3 for free?
Pick the .mp4 file on this page, leave the format on MP3 and click convert. The MP3 comes out at 192 kbps, with the same name as the video. It's free, with no sign-up, no watermark and no usage limit.
Does converting MP4 to MP3 lose quality?
A little, because the AAC audio in the MP4 is encoded again as MP3. At 192 kbps you won't hear a difference in speech, and it's very small in music. If the audio goes into professional editing, choose WAV, which is uncompressed.
Can I convert MP4 to MP3 on my phone?
Yes. Open this page on your phone, tap the upload area and pick the video from your gallery. For very long videos, a computer finishes faster.
Does it work with a 1 or 2 hour MP4?
It does. A 2-hour recording takes a few minutes and becomes an MP3 of about 173 MB. The button shows the percentage and the time left.
My MP4 has no sound after converting. Why?
Some MP4s have no audio track at all, such as screen recordings made without a microphone. If the video plays with sound in your player and still fails here, the audio may use a codec your browser can't read. Try another browser.
Can I transcribe the MP3 afterwards?
Yes. Upload the MP3, or the MP4 itself, to FilmScribe. We transcribe it word by word, with the time of each line and who said it, and you download TXT, PDF or SRT.
Turn the audio of your MP4 into text. And download only the part that matters.
Upload the video or paste a YouTube link. We transcribe it word by word and you download an MP3 of the whole audio or of the lines you pick.
See the result on your own recording before adding a card.