There are plenty of reasons to want the audio on its own. A podcast might be recorded on video but only need to be published as sound, a lecture recording might be too large to share as video when only the narration matters, or a musician might want to sample a soundtrack from a clip without the picture attached. Whatever the reason, decoding the video and keeping only its audio track is a two second operation once it runs locally.
Nothing about the file is sent anywhere. The video is read from your device, its audio track is decoded by the Web Audio API and written out as WAV by a small encoder running in the same browser tab, so a private recording, an unreleased edit or a large file with no upload allowance all work the same way.
Why you would extract audio from video
Video files are usually far larger than the audio track alone, since video frames dominate the file size while the soundtrack is a comparatively small stream running alongside them. Pulling the audio out on its own produces a file that is often a tenth the size or less, which matters when sharing over email, uploading to a podcast host, or archiving a narration separately from the footage.
It is also the fastest way to move a soundtrack into an audio editor. Most digital audio workstations either cannot import video at all or import it clumsily, treating the picture as dead weight they still have to load and discard. Extracting the audio first means the editor only ever has to deal with sound.
- Extract audio from video to publish a video recorded lecture or interview as a podcast.
- Extract audio from video to sample a soundtrack or sound effect for reuse elsewhere.
- Extract audio from video before importing into an audio editor that does not handle video well.
- Extract audio from video to share just the narration when the picture is not needed.
- Skip extraction if you specifically need the video and audio to stay together.
What gets kept and what gets discarded
Everything about the picture, including every video frame and any subtitle track, is discarded entirely. What remains is the audio track exactly as the browser decoded it, at its original sample rate and channel count, written into a WAV container as 16 bit PCM.
If the source video's audio was recorded or encoded at a low sample rate or in mono, the extracted WAV faithfully reflects that. Extraction cannot add detail the original recording never had, it can only preserve what the video's audio track already contained. Whether you need to pull sound from video for a podcast or just want the narration on its own, the result reflects the source rather than an improved version of it.
Why the audio comes out as WAV
Browsers decode audio through the Web Audio API but can only reliably encode a small number of formats without a licensed codec, and WAV needs none at all since it is uncompressed pulse code modulation with a simple header. That is why every video to audio converter built on standard web technology, including this one, exports to WAV rather than promising to reproduce the video's original AAC or Opus audio stream unchanged.
The upside is compatibility. A WAV file opens in every audio editor, every operating system and most hardware without a plugin, so the trade of a larger file size for guaranteed compatibility is usually the right one for a one off extraction.
How this video audio extractor works under the hood
The file is read locally and handed to the same decodeAudioData method the Web Audio API uses for standalone audio files, which is capable of pulling the audio track out of a video container and decoding it into raw samples on its own. Those samples are then written into a WAV file using a hand rolled encoder that follows the standard RIFF header layout.
Because no server is involved at any point, there is no upload time, no processing queue and no limit on file size beyond what your device's memory allows. You can confirm this yourself by opening your browser's network panel during an extraction and watching for outgoing requests that carry the file, since there will not be any.
Working with large video files
Decoding audio out of a long video still requires loading and decoding the entire file, so a two hour recording can take a noticeable moment and use several hundred megabytes of memory even though the final WAV only contains sound. This is normal, not a fault, and reflects the fact that the browser has to walk through the whole container to find the audio stream.
If a very large file causes the browser tab to stall, splitting the source video into shorter segments first, or working on a desktop browser rather than a phone, resolves it reliably.
How to extract audio from video
- 1
Add your video file
Drag an MP4, WebM or MOV file onto the drop area, or click it to browse. The file stays on your device.
- 2
Wait for the soundtrack to decode
The browser reads the video's audio track and reports its duration, sample rate and channel count.
- 3
Export the audio
Press extract to write the decoded audio out as a 16 bit PCM WAV file.
- 4
Download the WAV
Download the extracted audio file, ready to use in any audio editor or player.
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Sources and further reading
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about the extract audio from video.
It is saved as a standard 16 bit PCM WAV file. Browsers can decode a video's audio track but cannot reliably re encode it as a compressed format like AAC without a licensed codec, so WAV is the honest, universally compatible output for an extraction performed with web technology.
Yes, as long as the browser can decode the video container. MP4 and WebM recordings from phones and screen recorders both work. If a particular file will not decode, try re exporting it from the app that recorded it, since some device specific codecs are not universally supported.
There is no limit imposed by the tool itself, but the entire video has to be decoded in your browser's memory to reach the audio track, so a very large or very long file uses proportionally more memory. Most laptops handle a couple of hours of footage without trouble.
No. Decoding the video and writing the audio out as WAV both happen locally using the Web Audio API. The file never leaves your device, which means there is no upload wait regardless of file size and nothing is stored anywhere beyond your own browser tab.
The extraction preserves the audio exactly as it was decoded from the video, with no trimming or time shifting applied, so it stays aligned with the original footage's timing. If you plan to recombine it with the video later, keep both files' start points unchanged.
If a video file genuinely has no audio track at all, there is nothing to decode and the extraction will report an empty or silent result. This is common for screen recordings captured without microphone input, and it reflects the source file rather than a limitation of the extractor.