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MOV to MP3 converter

Drop a MOV here and get its sound as an MP3 in seconds, at near-original quality.

Convert a MOV file to MP3

Drop a MOV file here

or choose one from your device

Up to 2.0 GB. Stays on your device.

How to convert MOV to MP3

Three steps, all on this page.

  1. Choose your MOV

    Choose or drop a MOV file. The page reads what is inside and checks that this browser can convert it before anything starts.

  2. Convert to MP3

    Pick the options you want, then press Convert to MP3. Tracks that an MP3 can hold as they are get copied, which is near instant.

  3. Check and download

    The new file is opened again and checked against the original before it is offered. Listen in the preview, then download it.

What changes from MOV to MP3

  • MOV is Apple’s QuickTime format. Its sound can be AAC, HE-AAC, Apple Lossless, MP3 or uncompressed PCM, among others. Source
  • An iPhone set to High Efficiency (Settings › Camera › Formats) records its video in HEVC; Most Compatible records H.264. Source
  • Browsers differ on HEVC. Safari plays it on any Mac since High Sierra, Chrome on macOS Big Sur and later; Firefox support depends on the system, and Windows often needs extra hardware or an extension. Source
  • AAC and MP3 both discard sound to save space. MDN notes that compressing lossy audio again adds to the loss, so a higher bitrate is the safer choice. Source
  • QuickTime Player’s File › Export As › Audio Only writes an Apple MPEG-4 audio file with an AAC track, which is an M4A. Source
  • The Music app on a Mac makes MP3 copies of songs: set Import Using to MP3 in Settings › Files › Import Settings, then choose File › Convert › Create MP3 Version. Source
  • No browser can write MP3 by itself. This page uses the LAME 3.100 encoder, compiled to run inside the browser. Source

MOV file

MOV (QuickTime)

  • PictureH.264, HEVC or ProRes
  • SoundAAC or PCM

MP3 file

MP3

  • Picturenone
  • SoundMP3, 128 to 320 kbps

Who converts MOV to MP3

Mostly iPhone and Mac owners, because both save video as MOV. The sound is what they are after: a voice note that was filmed rather than recorded, a lecture or sermon captured on a phone, a song they played at an open mic, a rehearsal, an interview for a podcast. A Mac screen recording of a talk or a call, saved by QuickTime Player, is another common one. Only convert sound you have the right to use.

iPhone videos in HEVC convert in any browser

iPhones from the iPhone 7 on save the picture as HEVC when the camera is set to High Efficiency. Plenty of browsers and PCs cannot play that picture: Firefox often cannot, and many Windows machines need an extension first. For an MP3 it makes no difference. The page reads only the sound track, which in an iPhone or Mac video is AAC, a format every browser decodes. The HEVC picture is never touched, so an iPhone video converts just as well in Firefox as in Safari.

The same goes for ProRes, the editing format that iPhone Pro models and Final Cut Pro save. No browser can show a ProRes picture, yet the sound in a ProRes MOV converts to MP3 normally.

What happens to the sound

The AAC sound in the MOV is decoded and then encoded again as MP3. Two lossy formats in a row mean a small second loss: the MP3 can match the original’s quality closely, but never beat it. What decides how close is the bitrate you pick.

Two things stay exactly as they were. The length matches the video to within a tenth of a second (every MP3 is opened again and checked before you can save it), and the sound stays in stereo if the video had stereo. Volume is not changed.

Picking a bitrate

An iPhone records its sound as AAC: the two iPhone 13 Pro videos we checked were at 162 and 188 kbps. An MP3 at about that rate or above keeps the difference hard to hear.

  • 128 kbps: fine for a talk, a lecture or a voice note. About 0.9 MB for each minute of sound.
  • 192 kbps (the default): the right choice for nearly every iPhone video, music included. About 1.4 MB a minute.
  • 320 kbps: the highest an MP3 goes, for a performance you want to keep at its best. About 2.3 MB a minute, and it cannot recover detail the phone’s microphone never caught.

From a 176 MB video to a 4 MB MP3

We converted a three-minute 1080p HEVC MOV with 160 kbps AAC sound, the shape an iPhone saves, on an M1 Mac. The video was 175.8 MB. The MP3 came out at 2.7 MB at 128 kbps, 4.1 MB at 192 and 6.9 MB at 320, in about two seconds in Chrome, Firefox and WebKit, the engine behind Safari. The picture is nearly all of a video’s size, so taking it away is what shrinks the file; the bitrate decides the rest.

That makes an MP3 the easy way to send a long recording by email or message. At 128 kbps, a 20-minute lecture fits under 20 MB.

MP3 or M4A?

If what you need is an audio file and nothing insists on MP3, an M4A is the better copy: it holds the MOV’s AAC sound untouched, so nothing is lost at all. iPhones, Android phones, Macs, Windows and nearly every app play M4A. QuickTime Player makes one with Audio Only (see below).

Choose MP3 when a podcast host, a car stereo, an older MP3 player, a church sound desk or an upload form asks for it by name, or when you are not sure what the other side will use. MP3 plays on more old hardware than anything else.

When not to convert

If the person or app receiving it can take the MOV, or an M4A, send that. Both keep the original sound exactly, and an MP3 only adds a second round of compression.

An MP3 will not make a recording sound better. Wind noise, a distant voice, a phone held in a pocket or a concert recorded at full volume all come through as they were, and 320 kbps only makes a larger copy of the same problem. A Mac screen recording that captured only the microphone stays that way too: the guide to recording a Mac screen with computer audio explains why macOS leaves system sound out. Keep the MOV if you may want the video again.

Other ways to convert MOV to MP3

QuickTime Player Mac

  1. Open the MOV in QuickTime Player.
  2. Choose File › Export As › Audio Only, then Save.

Instant, and nothing is lost, but the file is an M4A, not an MP3. Fine for most uses; for an MP3, add the Music app’s step below or drop the M4A here.

Music app Mac

  1. Export the sound as an M4A with QuickTime Player first (above), then drag the M4A into the Music app.
  2. In Music › Settings › Files › Import Settings, set Import Using to MP3 Encoder and pick a quality, then click OK.
  3. Select the track and choose File › Convert › Create MP3 Version. The MP3 appears next to the original in your library.

Built into every Mac, but it takes two apps and adds the track to your music library.

VLC Windows, Mac or Linux

  1. In VLC, choose Media › Convert / Save (on a Mac: File › Convert / Stream) and add the MOV.
  2. Choose the profile Audio – MP3; the settings button next to it sets the bitrate.
  3. Save as a file ending in .mp3 and press Start.

Free and offline. VLC reads HEVC and ProRes MOVs, and can convert several files in one go.

ffmpeg Any computer, from the command line

  1. Install ffmpeg (on a Mac with Homebrew: brew install ffmpeg).
  2. Run ffmpeg -i video.mov -vn -c:a libmp3lame -b:a 192k video.mp3 for an MP3 at 192 kbps.
  3. For a lossless M4A instead, run ffmpeg -i video.mov -vn -c:a copy video.m4a.

Uses the same LAME encoder as this page. Best for a folder of files: one line in a loop converts them all.

Frequently asked questions

How do I convert a MOV to MP3 on a Mac?

Drop the MOV on the converter at the top of this page, pick a bitrate and press Convert to MP3; it works in Safari, Chrome and Firefox. Without a browser tool, QuickTime Player’s Audio Only export gives an M4A, and the Music app can turn that into an MP3.

Why is part of the audio missing after converting?

Usually the MOV has more than one sound track, and the converter took the wrong one: an interview filmed with an external microphone, or a recording app that keeps the microphone and the computer’s sound apart. When a file has several tracks, this page lists them and lets you pick. Every MP3 is also checked against the video’s length, so a cut-off result is never handed over.

Can I get the audio from an iPhone video?

Yes. AirDrop or copy the video to your computer and drop it here: it converts even if your browser cannot play the HEVC picture, because only the sound is read. On a Mac, QuickTime Player’s Audio Only export also works.

Does converting MOV to MP3 lose quality?

A little, since the AAC sound is compressed a second time. At the default 192 kbps most people cannot hear it. If you need no loss at all, export an M4A with QuickTime Player instead.

Is this MOV to MP3 converter free?

Yes, with no sign-up, watermark or limit on how many files you convert. The conversion runs on your own computer, which is why it costs nothing to offer.

Is my file uploaded?

No. Your MOV is read, converted and checked on your own computer, so there is no upload and no queue. In Chrome and Edge on a computer files of any size work, written straight to a file you choose; in other browsers, files up to 2.0 GB. We count anonymous page views and whether a conversion worked; when one fails, the event also carries the step, your browser’s error and the file’s codecs, size and length in broad bands, never the file or its name. If a conversion fails you can choose to send us the file, which is deleted within 30 days. See the privacy policy.

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