One video to MP3 converter for every common format
A video file is a container that holds a picture stream and one or more sound streams. To extract audio from a video, you only need to read the sound, decode it and write it out again as MP3. The picture, which is usually more than 90% of the file, is left behind.
AudioDrop handles the video formats you are most likely to have. Here is what each one usually carries.
| Format | Origin | Usual audio inside | Where you meet it |
|---|---|---|---|
| MP4 | MPEG-4 Part 14 (ISO standard) | AAC | Phones, cameras, downloads, social apps |
| MOV | Apple QuickTime (1991) | AAC, sometimes PCM | iPhone video, Mac screen recordings, Final Cut |
| WebM | Google (2010) | Opus or Vorbis | Browser recordings and web video |
| MKV | Matroska project (2002) | AAC, Opus, FLAC, AC-3, DTS and others | Film archives, recordings, streaming rips |
Why extract audio as MP3
MP3 is the most widely supported audio format there is. It was standardised in 1993, it is lossy, and at 192 kbps a minute of stereo takes about 1.44 MB. Compare that with a minute of 1080p video, which is often tens of megabytes.
- Listen to a talk, sermon, class or interview without keeping the screen on.
- Send the sound of a clip to someone without a huge attachment.
- Use a video's audio in a podcast, edit or transcription service.
- Save a performance you filmed as a track for your music library.
Honest notes on quality
Most video files store lossy audio, usually AAC or Opus. Turning that into MP3 is a lossy-to-lossy conversion. The result can match the original closely, but it cannot be better, and a small amount of extra detail is lost.
Choose a bitrate that suits the content. For voice, 128 kbps is generally transparent enough. For music, 192 kbps is a sound default and 256 or 320 kbps leaves more margin. If your video carries lossless PCM, as some camera and editing exports do, 320 kbps makes the most of it. If you plan to edit the audio further, convert video to WAV instead and export MP3 at the end.
What to check before you convert
- Only the primary audio track is extracted. Extra language or commentary tracks are skipped.
- Your browser must be able to decode the audio codec. AAC, Opus, Vorbis, MP3 and FLAC are well supported; AC-3 or DTS tracks in MKV may not be.
- MP3 is mono or stereo. Surround soundtracks are not kept as surround.
- Titles, artwork and other metadata from the video are not guaranteed to carry across.
Extract audio from video on phone or computer
You do not need desktop software to convert video to MP3. The same page works on a laptop and on a phone, and the steps barely change.
On a computer, drag files straight from your desktop, Finder or File Explorer. Batches of long videos are easiest here because computers have more memory. On iPhone, open the page in Safari, tap the drop area and pick a clip from Photos or the Files app; the MP3 lands in Files. On Android, Chrome lets you pick from your gallery or Downloads, and the MP3 saves to Downloads.
Phone videos are often recorded in HEVC or at high frame rates. That does not matter here, because only the audio track is decoded. The picture is never rendered, which keeps extraction quick even for 4K footage.
Runs on your device, not on a server
Most online converters upload your video, process it remotely and send the result back. AudioDrop does the opposite. It opens the file in your browser, decodes audio with WebCodecs and encodes MP3 with a LAME-based encoder built for WebAssembly. Nothing is uploaded, so there is no wait for a big file to cross the internet and no copy stored anywhere.
It works offline once the page has loaded. Drop a folder of clips and several convert at the same time, each downloading on its own. There is no file size cap, although very large videos need enough device memory to be read.