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MOV to MP3 converter

Convert MOV to MP3 in your browser. No upload and no account: the file never leaves your device, so the only size limit is your device’s memory.

I want MP3
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Other ways to convert MOV

Convert other formats to MP3

Read more about the MOV format and the MP3 format, or see every video tool and all video conversions.

Should you convert MOV to MP3?

You recorded a talk, lesson or song on an iPhone and only need the audio as a small MP3.

Yes, when you only need the sound: a song from a music video, the audio of a lecture, or a voice recording to transcribe. The picture is left out and the soundtrack is saved as MP3.

MOV is Apple’s video container, usually H.264 or HEVC from an iPhone; MP3 is the most compatible lossy audio format ever made. Use MP3 when you don’t know what will play the file: cars, old players, podcasts hosts and upload forms all take it.

MOV and MP3 compared
Property MOV MP3
What it is Apple’s video container, usually H.264 or HEVC from an iPhone The most compatible lossy audio format ever made
Audio inside H.264 or HEVC video with AAC audio, or ProRes from editors 128–320 kbps
Plays on Apple devices and most editors; some Windows PCs, Android phones and upload forms struggle with it Every phone, computer, car stereo, speaker and app
Best for Recording and editing video on Apple devices Music and voice that has to play on anything

How to convert MOV to MP3

  1. 01

    Add your MOV

    Drop your MOV video onto the box, or click to choose it. It is read from your disk and stays there.

  2. 02

    Check the settings

    The output is already set to MP3. Change the bitrate if you want to; the defaults suit most files.

  3. 03

    Save the MP3

    Press convert and save the MP3. Several files come back together as a ZIP.

What changes when MOV becomes MP3

From AAC to MP3

MOV soundtracks are usually AAC, so saving MP3 is one more lossy step. 192 kbps suits music, 128 kbps is plenty for speech, and going above the original bitrate only makes the file bigger.

Video files without sound

Screen recordings and some exported clips have no audio track at all. The file is checked as soon as you add it, and you’ll be told before converting if there’s nothing to extract.

This page is put together from our notes on each format, choosing only what is true of MOV and MP3, so every pairing states the same facts the same way. How these pages are made.

Why it doesn’t upload

Uploading a whole video to keep only its sound wastes time and data, and hands over the footage too. The audio track is read and saved right here, and the file never leaves your device.

How to check for yourself

Worth knowing

  • About the MOV. A MOV from an iPhone is usually an ordinary H.264 or HEVC video that can move into MP4 without re-encoding; a MOV exported from an editor may be ProRes and ten times larger.
  • About the MP3. Converting a low-bitrate MP3 to 320 kbps makes it bigger without making it sound any better; what was thrown away is gone.
  • AVI, WMV, FLV and other older formats use the FFmpeg engine, a one-time 31 MB download.

Questions

Does extracting MP3 from an MOV lose quality?

The soundtrack is compressed again as MP3. At 192 kbps the difference from the original is inaudible for nearly everyone.

Can I get the audio from only part of the video?

Yes. Set a start and end time before converting, and only that section is saved as MP3.

Read more about this

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