Extract Audio From Video for Free: 8 Best Tools (2026)

To extract audio from a video for free on Windows, open it in VLC and use Convert / Save to save the sound as an MP3. If you need the words from a lecture, an interview or a YouTube video rather than the sound, skip the audio file: upload the video or paste its link into HypeScribe and get a transcript with speakers and timestamps that you can search and download. To keep the original sound with no quality loss, copy the audio track out with FFmpeg or LosslessCut.

• Quickest on Windows: VLC, Media → Convert / Save, profile "Audio - MP3".
• No quality loss: FFmpeg with -vn -c:a copy, or LosslessCut if you'd rather click than type.
• No install: 123apps Audio Converter or CloudConvert in the browser.
• On a Mac: QuickTime Player, File → Export As → Audio Only.
• Need the text: HypeScribe transcribes the video or its link directly.

Free tools to extract audio from video compared

We picked tools that are free for this job and cover the four cases people ask about: Windows, no quality loss, no install, and Mac. Each one was checked against its official site and documentation in October 2026. Video editors such as Shotcut and OpenShot can export audio too, but for one sound file they're more than you need.

How do I extract audio from a video on Windows?

VLC media player

VLC is the easiest choice if it's already on your computer, and it plays almost any video format, so the file will open. The audio export sits in the conversion window:

1. Open VLC and choose Media → Convert / Save.
2. Click Add, pick the video, then click Convert / Save.
3. Under Profile, choose "Audio - MP3".
4. In Destination file, name the file with .mp3 at the end, and click Start.

The "Audio - MP3" profile converts the sound into a new MP3, by default at 128 kbps, rather than copying it. That's fine for listening or transcribing, not for music you want at full quality. VLC also runs on Mac and Linux, where the menus differ slightly.

Audacity

Audacity is a free audio editor, so it's the pick when the extracted sound needs work: cutting the silence at the start, removing background noise or making a quiet voice louder. To open a video it needs the FFmpeg library, which Audacity can't include for patent reasons; its support site links a free installer, and after a restart Audacity finds it. Then import the video and save the sound with File → Export Audio as MP3, WAV, FLAC or another format.

For a plain copy of the audio it's more work than VLC: one more install and an export step. Use it when you plan to edit.

Windows 11's own video editor, Clipchamp, has an audio-only export too, but it saves an M4A file, and Microsoft's help describes that option for projects that contain only audio.

How do I extract audio without losing quality?

In an MP4, the sound is usually already compressed as AAC, so converting it to MP3 compresses it a second time. The tools in this section copy the audio track out of the file as it is: nothing is lost, and it's fast, because nothing is converted.

FFmpeg

FFmpeg is the free command-line tool behind a lot of video software; Audacity, for one, uses it to open video files. The project itself publishes only source code, and its download page links ready-made builds for Windows and Mac. Open Command Prompt on Windows or Terminal on a Mac in the folder with the video, and one line copies the audio out of an MP4 (if Windows says it doesn't recognize ffmpeg, type the full path to ffmpeg.exe instead):

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -c:a copy audio.m4a

-vn leaves the video out and -c:a copy copies the sound without converting it. The output file type has to be able to hold that sound: .m4a works for AAC, which is what most MP4 files carry. If FFmpeg says it can't write the audio to that file, check what the track is with ffprobe video.mp4 and pick a matching file type. If you simply need an MP3, convert it:

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -c:a libmp3lame -q:a 2 audio.mp3

It suits anyone comfortable with a terminal and anyone with a folder of videos to process, since one command can loop over all of them (see the FAQ below).

LosslessCut

LosslessCut gives you the same lossless copy with buttons and a timeline. Its Extract all tracks command saves the audio, the video and any subtitles as separate files without re-encoding them. It fits best when you want the sound of one part of a video, a single answer from an interview for example: cut that part out, then export each track as an individual file.

The download from GitHub is free; the paid Mac App Store and Microsoft Store versions have the same features and support the developer. It doesn't edit the sound itself, so for noise removal or volume, take the file into Audacity afterwards.

MKVToolNix

MKVToolNix is built for MKV files, which often carry several audio tracks, such as two languages or a director's commentary. Its mkvextract tool pulls one track out exactly as it is, in the format it already has:

mkvextract movie.mkv tracks 1:audio.aac

Here 1 is the number of the audio track you want; mkvmerge --identify movie.mkv lists every track with its number. mkvextract only reads MKV files, and its graphical app doesn't extract tracks yet, so for an MP4, use FFmpeg or LosslessCut.

How do I extract audio from a video online?

Online tools need no install, but the video is uploaded to their servers. If the file has to stay on your computer, use one of the programs above.

123apps Audio Converter

123apps has two pages that do this, Audio Extractor and Audio Converter, and its own guide to getting the sound out of a video points to the Audio Converter. Open the video from your computer, Google Drive, Dropbox or a link, choose MP3, WAV, M4A or another format, set the quality from 64 to 320 kbps and click Convert. It's the one to pick for an MP3 or a large file.

For free you get 70 files a day of up to 4 GB each, with ads; the paid Premium plan removes the ads and the daily limit. 123apps says it deletes files from its servers a few hours after you're done.

CloudConvert

CloudConvert covers a few formats 123apps doesn't list, such as AIFF and WMA: from an MP4 it makes AAC, AIFF, FLAC, M4A, MP3, WAV or WMA. The free plan covers 10 conversions a day with files up to 1 GB, and paid credits remove the size limit.

How do I extract audio from a video on a Mac?

QuickTime Player, which comes with every Mac, does it without anything new: open the video, choose File → Export As → Audio Only, name the file and click Save. You get an MPEG-4 audio file (.m4a) with AAC sound. If the Export menu shows no options, Apple says the recording may be copy-protected. For MP3 or a lossless copy, VLC, Audacity, FFmpeg and LosslessCut all run on a Mac too.

Need the text, not the audio file?

If you only need the audio to transcribe it, skip that step. HypeScribe takes the video itself, or just its link, and gives you the text.

• Upload the video as it is, of any length. On an iPhone you can pick it straight from Photos or Files.
• Or paste a link from YouTube, Zoom, Google Drive, Loom, TikTok, Instagram and other sites.
• Get the transcript with speaker labels and timestamps, in 99+ languages, with an overview of what was said and an AI assistant you can ask about it.
• Download the text as TXT, DOCX, PDF or Markdown, or as SRT subtitles for the video.

It runs in the browser on a computer or a phone, with nothing to install. It isn't the tool if you need the sound itself, for a podcast clip or a voice-over: HypeScribe gives you text, not an audio file. For more ways to do it, see our guide on how to transcribe a video to text.

FAQ

Does extracting audio from a video reduce quality?

Only if the audio is converted. Saving it as an MP3 in VLC or CloudConvert compresses it again; copying the track with FFmpeg, LosslessCut or MKVToolNix keeps it exactly as it was in the video.

Which format should I save the audio as?

MP3 if it has to play everywhere. M4A to keep the AAC sound from an MP4 unchanged, as long as you copy the track with FFmpeg or LosslessCut rather than convert it. WAV if you'll edit it: it's uncompressed and opens in any editor, but the file is much larger and it can't bring back quality the video's compressed track never had.

How do I extract audio from many videos at once?

With FFmpeg and a loop. In Command Prompt on Windows, in the folder with the videos:

for %f in (*.mp4) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -vn -c:a copy "%~nf.m4a"

In Terminal on a Mac:

for f in *.mp4; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -vn -c:a copy "${f%.mp4}.m4a"; done

How do I get the audio from a YouTube video?

See our guide to ripping audio from YouTube videos. If what you need is what was said, paste the YouTube link into HypeScribe for a transcript instead.