MP4 to M4A Converter
Take the sound track out of MP4 videos and save it as M4A, entirely on your device.
MP4 videos of any size (they are read in pieces). Files stay on your device.
How it works
- Choose your MP4 video, or drop it on the page. You can add several files at once.
- Choose M4A quality: a bitrate (96 to 256 kbps; 128 to 192 kbps is typical) or leave the default.
- Click Convert. Processing happens on your device and shows progress; you can cancel at any time.
- Preview the result and download the M4A file. With several files, download them all as one ZIP.
About MP4 to M4A conversion
MP4 is a video container: MPEG-4 Part 14 video, usually with h.264 or h.265 video, usually aac audio. This tool reads the audio track and leaves the picture behind. When the audio in the video is already AAC, it is copied into the M4A file without re-encoding, so quality is unchanged and the job finishes almost instantly.
M4A (MPEG-4 Audio, AAC in an MP4 container) is a lossy format that suits iPhone and Apple Music libraries, ringtones (.m4r), and better quality than MP3 at the same size.
Size depends on the video and the M4A settings you choose. As a guide, a 4-minute M4A track at its typical bitrate is about 5 MB.
MP4 vs M4A
M4A support: Native on Apple devices, Android and Windows. Older car stereos and some budget players may refuse it.
MP4 support: The most widely supported video container.
| Detail | MP4 | M4A |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Depends on the audio codec | Lossy |
| Codec | H.264 or H.265 video, usually AAC audio | AAC |
| Typical bitrate | audio track usually 96 to 256 kbps AAC | 96 to 256 kbps; 128 to 192 kbps is typical |
| A 4-minute track | varies with the video | about 5 MB |
| File extensions | .mp4, .m4v | .m4a, .mp4, .m4r |
| Best for | phone videos, downloads and web video | iPhone and Apple Music libraries, ringtones (.m4r), and better quality than MP3 at the same size |
| Introduced | 2001 | 2001 |
Quality and compatibility notes
- M4A: The same file can hold lossless Apple Lossless (ALAC), so the extension alone does not tell you whether it is lossy.
- M4A bitrate range: 96 to 256 kbps; 128 to 192 kbps is typical.
- Tags: M4A stores MP4 metadata atoms (iTunes style), including cover art and chapters.
Questions
Does converting MP4 to M4A reduce quality?
A small amount of detail is discarded, which is how M4A gets smaller. At a reasonable bitrate the difference is hard to hear.
How big will the M4A file be?
Size depends on the video and the M4A settings you choose. As a guide, a 4-minute M4A track at its typical bitrate is about 5 MB.
Is my MP4 file uploaded anywhere?
No. The conversion runs in your browser on your device. The file is never sent to a server, and nothing is stored after you close the page.