What does extracting audio from a video do?
A video file is really several streams bundled together: one for the picture, one or more for sound, and sometimes subtitles. Extracting audio means taking only the sound stream and saving it as its own file, leaving the picture behind.
Here the sound is encoded as an MP3. That produces a compact audio file you can play on nearly any device, with none of the video data that makes up most of the original's size.
Why people pull audio out of videos
The most common reasons are practical. You may have recorded a lecture, meeting or interview on video and only need to listen back while commuting. A musician might want the audio of a rehearsal clip. A podcaster might record on video and publish only the sound.
It is also useful for reuse. Once you have an audio file, you can trim it with the audio cutter, adjust it with other audio tools, or drop it into a project that has no use for the video.
Only extract audio from videos you own or have permission to use. The tool processes whatever file you give it and does not check where it came from.
How to extract audio with this tool
- Drag a video onto the upload area, or click to select one.
- There are no options to set. The tool removes the video stream and encodes the audio as MP3.
- Click Run. The first run downloads the ffmpeg engine (roughly 30MB), then processing starts and a progress bar appears.
- When it finishes, a preview player is shown. Note that this player is a video element, so you will hear the audio without a picture.
- Click Download to save the file, or Start over to try another video.
Your video stays on your device because ffmpeg runs inside your browser.
Tips and limits
The tool takes the audio as ffmpeg selects it by default. If a video contains several audio tracks, such as multiple languages, you cannot choose between them here.
The saved file is named after your video with "-extract-audio" added, and it ends in .mp3.
Long videos take longer, and very large files can hit your browser's memory limits. If you only need part of the sound, trimming the video first with Trim Video means less to process.