How to extract audio from video on Windows

Extract audio with Clipchamp

Clipchamp is Microsoft’s video editor. It comes with Windows 11 and is also available for Windows 10 from the Microsoft Store. It can export a project as audio only, which gives you an M4A file (AAC audio in an MPEG-4 container), not an MP3.

1. Open Clipchamp from the Start menu and sign in with your Microsoft account if it asks.
2. Create a new video and import your file from the Your media tab, or drag the file into the window.
3. Drag the video from your media onto the timeline.
4. Right-click the clip on the timeline and choose the option to detach the audio. The sound appears as its own track below the video.
5. Select the video clip (not the audio track) and press Delete, so only the audio is left.
6. Select Export in the top-right corner and choose the audio-only option. The .m4a file is saved to your Downloads folder.

Microsoft’s help page describes the audio-only export for projects that contain only audio, which is why the video track is removed first. Menu wording can differ slightly between Clipchamp versions.

Extract audio as MP3 with VLC

If a website, car stereo or app wants an MP3 specifically, the free VLC media player can convert a video into an audio file. VLC encodes the sound again, so the MP3 is a new copy of the audio rather than the original track.

1. Open VLC and choose Media > Convert / Save (Ctrl+R).
2. Select Add, pick your video, then select Convert / Save at the bottom of the window.
3. In the Profile list, choose Audio - MP3.
4. Next to Destination file, select Browse, choose a folder and type a file name that ends in .mp3.
5. Select Start. VLC shows the progress in its main window, and the MP3 is ready when the bar reaches the end.

Keep the original audio with FFmpeg

FFmpeg is a free command-line tool (download links for Windows builds are on ffmpeg.org). Most phone and camera MP4 files store their sound as AAC, so you can copy that track into an M4A file without encoding it again. The first command copies the audio as is; the second converts it to a good-quality MP3.

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -c:a copy output.m4a
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -c:a libmp3lame -q:a 2 output.mp3

If the first command fails, the video’s audio is not AAC (WebM files usually use Opus, for example). Use the MP3 command instead, or change the output to a matching format.

Extract audio in your browser

If you would rather not install anything, MuteVideo’s Extract audio page does the same job in the browser on your PC. Choose the video, pick MP3, M4A or AAC and save the file. The video is processed on your computer and is not uploaded. It accepts MP4, MOV and WebM files, up to 500 MB in total on a desktop.

Which audio format to choose

• MP3: plays on almost every device, car stereo and upload form. Pick it when you are unsure.
• M4A: AAC audio in an MPEG-4 file. It sounds the same as MP3 or better at the same size and plays in Windows Media Player, on iPhone and on Android.
• AAC: the same audio without the MPEG-4 wrapper. Some editors and older devices prefer it, but most people are better served by M4A.

Every time lossy audio is encoded again it loses a little detail. If you plan to edit the sound later, keep the original video, or copy the track with FFmpeg instead of converting it.