How to extract audio from a video on Mac
Right-click the video in Finder and choose FileMate › Extract Audio. FileMate saves the sound as Holiday audio.m4a next to the video. When the audio is already AAC, as in most iPhone and camera videos, it’s copied as it is, without re-encoding, so nothing is lost. QuickTime Player can do it too: File › Export As › Audio Only.
The audio is extracted on your Mac. The video isn’t uploaded.
Extract the audio with FileMate
- Select the video in Finder: MP4, MOV or M4V. Select several to extract them all.
- Right-click and choose FileMate › Extract Audio.
- The M4A file is saved next to the video. If the video has several audio tracks, FileMate asks which one you want.
With QuickTime Player
- Open the video in QuickTime Player.
- Choose File › Export As › Audio Only.
- Save the
.m4afile.
That works well for one video at a time.
Why M4A?
M4A is the standard container for AAC audio, the format almost every phone and camera records video sound in. Saving it as M4A means the audio can be copied straight out of the video with no quality loss. It plays in Music, QuickTime, on iPhone, Android and Windows, and in nearly every audio app.
If the video’s audio is in another format, FileMate converts it to AAC, and the result says so.
I need an MP3
MP3 is older and slightly larger than AAC at the same quality, but some devices and upload forms insist on it. FileMate doesn’t make MP3 files. The Music app can: add the M4A to your library, set Settings › Files › Import Settings to MP3 Encoder, then choose File › Convert › Create MP3 Version.
Make the audio smaller
For a long recording, right-click the M4A and choose FileMate › Compress Audio. It saves an AAC copy at a lower bitrate, down to 80 kbps at Maximum, which is fine for speech.
Get FileMate
A lecture, an interview, a song from a rehearsal video: right-click, Extract Audio, and the sound is its own file, made on your Mac.
Normal price €9.99, now €4.99 incl. VAT
One payment, no subscription. macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Apple silicon or Intel.