Save a video's audio as MP3, M4A or WAV with Quick tools

A video file carries its sound inside it. Sometimes you need that sound on its own: for a podcast draft, a voice memo archive, or a track you plan to edit in an audio tool. The Extract audio card in Quick tools returns the sound as a separate file.

Pick a format

The dialog has a Format picker with three choices:

• MP3 is selected when the dialog opens. It is a compressed file that plays almost anywhere.
• AAC (.m4a) is another compressed choice, saved with the .m4a ending.
• WAV is uncompressed. The file is large, and it suits any further audio editing.

The download keeps your video's name and swaps the ending. A video named interview.mp4 arrives as interview.mp3, interview.m4a or interview.wav, depending on the format you picked.

Extract the audio

1. Open the Projects page and find the Quick tools row above your projects.
2. Click Extract audio.
3. Drop a video onto the dashed box, or press Choose a file.
4. Under Format, choose MP3, AAC (.m4a) or WAV.
5. Press Run. The dialog shows Uploading, then Extracting audio.
6. When it says "Done", your download should have started. Press Run another to pull a second file, or Close.

You get the sound of the whole file, from the first second to the last. The audio is read straight from your upload, so no video render takes place. As with every Quick tools run, the upload leaves a project in your Projects list.

Choosing between the formats

• Send it to a person to listen to: MP3.
• Hand it to an audio editor or keep a lossless copy: WAV.
• Your destination asks for an .m4a file: AAC (.m4a).

If you plan to share the file, check that you have the right to use everything in the sound, including any music playing behind the speech.

Pair it with Isolate voice

Extract audio takes whatever sound the video holds, music and noise included. To get speech alone, run the video through Isolate voice first. It downloads a video whose sound is the cleaned speech. Then run that downloaded video through Extract audio. The second run gives you the cleaned speech as an audio file. Isolate voice uses credits by the length of the video, so run it on the part you need.

Clips already on a timeline

If the clip you want is already in a project, you have a shorter route. Select the video clip, open the Extract tab in the right panel, and press the button there. It copies that clip's sound into the project, trimmed to the part you used.

Your first extraction

Open DepCut, go to Projects, and extract the audio from a recent clip as an MP3.