How to Extract Audio From a Video on Windows (5 Free Ways)
The short answer
The quickest free way on Windows 10 or 11 is VLC: Media → Convert / Save, add the video, pick the Audio - MP3 profile and start. If you'd rather not install anything, a browser-based tool like my video to audio converter does it in Chrome or Edge and lets you choose MP3, M4A, WAV or OGG. Windows 11's built-in Clipchamp editor can export audio only too. For the best possible quality, one FFmpeg command copies the audio track out without re-encoding it at all.
Option 1: VLC (free, offline, MP3)
VLC is a free media player that a lot of PCs already have, and its built-in converter can write audio-only files.
1.Open the converter
In VLC, open Media → Convert / Save (Ctrl+R). Click Add, choose your video, then click Convert / Save at the bottom.
2.Pick the audio profile
In the Profile list, choose Audio - MP3. Other audio profiles include Vorbis (OGG), FLAC and CD (WAV).
3.Name the output
Click Browse, pick a folder and type a file name ending in .mp3. VLC doesn't always add the extension for you.
4.Start
Click Start. The playback bar moves while it converts, and the file appears in the folder when it's done.
What's good: free, offline, and it opens almost any video format, including old AVI, WMV and FLV files.
The limits: the MP3 profile defaults to 128 kbps. To change it, click the wrench icon next to the profile, open Audio codec and set the bitrate. If you forget the .mp3 at the end of the name, you get a file Windows doesn't recognise. Rename it and it plays.
Option 2: Clipchamp (built into Windows 11)
Clipchamp is Microsoft's video editor and comes preinstalled on Windows 11. It has an audio-only export.
1.Import the video
Start a new video, import your file and drag it onto the timeline.
2.Trim if you want
Drag the clip's edges to keep only the part you need. This is where Clipchamp beats the other options.
3.Export audio only
Click Export and choose the audio-only option, then save the file.
What's good: already on the PC, and trimming is visual and easy.
The limits: it's a full video editor, so it's slow to open for a one-file job. Clipchamp's own guide also notes that its audio download comes out as an M4A, not a true MP3. That's fine for most players, but not for a tool that insists on .mp3.
Option 3: Audacity (if you'll edit the audio)
Audacity is a free audio editor. It can open video files once you install its FFmpeg import library, which Audacity points you to the first time you try.
1.Install the FFmpeg library
Follow the link in Audacity's preferences (Libraries) to download the FFmpeg package for your version, and install it.
2.Import the video
Use File → Import → Audio and choose the video. Audacity loads only its sound.
3.Clean it up and export
Cut, normalize or reduce noise if you need to, then File → Export Audio as MP3, WAV, OGG or FLAC.
Use it for podcast clips, interviews and anything that needs editing anyway. For a straight conversion, it's more setup than you need.
Option 4: FFmpeg (best quality, one command)
FFmpeg is the command-line tool most video software runs on underneath. Install it with winget install Gyan.FFmpeg in a terminal, then open a new terminal in the folder with your video.
Copy the audio without re-encoding. Most MP4 videos from phones and cameras carry AAC audio, and FFmpeg can copy that track into an M4A untouched:
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -c:a copy output.m4a-vn drops the video and -c:a copy copies the audio bit for bit, so there's zero quality loss and it finishes in a second or two even for an hour-long file. It only works when the audio is AAC. Check first with:
ffprobe -v error -select_streams a:0 -show_entries stream=codec_name -of default=nw=1 input.mp4If it prints codec_name=aac, the copy command works. If it prints opus (common in WebM and MKV files), copy into an .opus file instead, or convert.
Convert to MP3:
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -c:a libmp3lame -q:a 2 output.mp3-q:a 2 is LAME's high-quality variable bitrate setting, averaging around 190 kbps.
Convert to WAV for editing:
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -c:a pcm_s16le output.wavFFmpeg is the right tool if you're comfortable in a terminal or need to batch a folder. If you've never used one, the other options are quicker to learn.
Option 5: A browser converter (no install)
Chrome, Edge and Firefox on Windows can decode and encode audio inside a web page, so a converter can do the whole job on your PC without installing anything.
1.Open the converter
Go to the video to audio converter and drag your video in.
2.Pick a format and bitrate
MP3, M4A, WAV or OGG. For MP3, M4A and OGG, choose 128, 192 or 320 kbps.
3.Convert and download
Check the result in the page's player, then download it.
What's good: works on a work laptop where you can't install software, and it reads MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM and older formats like AVI and WMV. The video stays on your PC.
The limits: one file at a time, and very large files take as long as your PC needs to decode them. If all you have is MP4 files and you want MP3, the MP4 to MP3 converter is set up for exactly that.
Which one should you use?
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| One video to MP3, quickly | VLC or a browser converter |
| Can't install software (work PC) | Browser converter, or Clipchamp on Windows 11 |
| Only part of the video | Clipchamp (visual trim) |
| Zero quality loss | FFmpeg with -c:a copy |
| A folder of 50 videos | FFmpeg in a loop, or VLC's batch convert |
| You'll edit or clean up the audio | Audacity, or export WAV and edit |
Why does my extracted audio sound worse than the video?
Usually it doesn't. Any loss comes from re-encoding: the video's AAC is decoded and compressed again as MP3, which costs a little each time. At 192 kbps or more you won't hear it on speech or most music. If you want none at all, copy the AAC track with FFmpeg as above, or save as WAV. A higher bitrate than the source can't add detail back, and my MP3 bitrate guide explains why 320 kbps is often wasted.
Teams and Zoom recordings
Meeting recordings are the most common reason people do this on a PC. A Teams or Google Meet recording is an MP4 where the picture barely matters, and MP3 at 128 kbps turns an hour of it into about 58 MB you can play on a commute. Zoom is easier: if you recorded locally, look in the recording folder first. Zoom usually saves an audio-only M4A next to the MP4, so there's nothing to extract.
If what you want from a meeting is the text, not the sound, video to text transcribes it in the browser.