How to extract audio from a video (MP4, MOV, MKV) without installing anything

A video file is really a container with several tracks inside: the picture, the sound and sometimes subtitles or audio in other languages. Extracting the audio means taking that sound track out and saving it as its own file. It's useful more often than you'd think: to turn a video recording into a podcast, transcribe a talk, keep the music from your own video or send just the sound of a meeting.

Which format to choose

An important note: the audio in almost every video is already compressed (usually AAC). Saving it as WAV or FLAC doesn't recover quality that wasn't there; it only avoids losing more. If the goal is listening, an MP3 at 192 or 320 kbps is indistinguishable in practice and takes a tenth of the space of a WAV.

Step by step

1. Choose the video. Phone recordings (MP4 on Android, MOV on iPhone), screen captures and most videos from your camera or cloud all work.
2. Choose the format and quality using the table above.
3. Extract and download. A new audio file is created on your device; the original video stays untouched.

What to do with the audio next

• Subtitle the video: run the audio through Speech to Text and download the SRT file with the timing of each line. We explain it in the transcription guide.
• Make a podcast from a video recording: clean the noise with the noise remover, level the volume with the booster and export as MP3.
• Keep just a clip: cut the part you want with the trimmer.
• Separate voice from music: if the video has background music and you only want the voice, try the Vocal Remover.

Three practical cases

• A lecture recorded on your phone. Extract the audio as MP3 at 128 kbps (plenty for speech), run it through Speech to Text and you'll have your notes as text, plus a light file to review by listening.
• A video of your band playing. Extract as WAV to keep quality, adjust the lows with the equalizer, normalize the volume and export as MP3 to share it as a song.
• A video call you want to archive. If only what was said matters, the audio takes a fraction of the video's space. Extract as M4A or MP3 and keep that instead of the full video.

Common problems

The video has several languages

The first audio track is extracted, which is the main one in almost every file. If you need another, you'll have to split it out with a video editor.

The WAV is huge

That's expected: a minute of stereo WAV is about 10 MB because it isn't compressed. If you won't edit it, choose MP3.

The video is very large

Everything is processed in your browser's memory. With very heavy videos, especially on a phone, the browser can run out of memory. If that happens, try from a computer or with a shorter video.

Privacy: why doing it locally matters

Many conversion sites upload your video to their servers to process it. If it's a work meeting, a recorded consultation or a family video, that means handing a copy to a third party. Here extraction is done by FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly inside your browser: the file never leaves your computer. We explain how it works in how we process audio in your browser.