MP4 to M4A Converter
Pull the audio track out of a MP4 file and save it as M4A — no upload, done entirely on your device. Drop a MP4 file below to get started.
Drop files, or click to browse
MP4 files only — processed one at a time
Frequently asked questions
Is this MP4 to M4A converter free?+
Yes, with no watermark, no account, and no daily limit.
Is my audio file uploaded anywhere?+
No — conversion runs locally using your browser's own built-in media codecs, entirely inside your browser tab.
Will this keep the video too?+
No — this tool extracts just the audio track and discards the video, giving you a standalone audio file.
Is there a maximum file size?+
There's no fixed file-size limit since nothing is uploaded to a server. Processing time scales with the track's length rather than a hard cutoff.
How do I convert MP4 to M4A?+
Drop your MP4 file into the box above — it's decoded and re-encoded as M4A automatically, with a download ready in seconds.
About MP4 and M4A
What is MP4?
MP4 (usually carrying H.264 video) is the most widely compatible video container — it plays on essentially every phone, browser, and TV.
Full MP4 format guide →What is M4A?
M4A is an audio-only MPEG-4 container, most often holding AAC audio — it's what Apple Music and Voice Memos save by default.
Full M4A format guide →MP4 and M4A solve different problems. MP4 is great for sharing, but M4A pulls ahead when you need good compression efficiency. If that's the situation you're in, converting is worth it.
How it works
- 1
Drop your file in
Drag your audio onto the box above, or click it to browse — there's no account to create and no upload to wait on.
- 2
Pick your settings
The output format is already set for this page — just adjust any extra options shown, if there are any.
- 3
Download the result
Your browser processes everything locally and hands you a download link the moment it's done — nothing was ever sent to a server.
Is it private?
Everything happens locally, inside this browser tab. Your audio is read from disk, processed with WebAssembly running on your own device, and handed back to you as a download — it's never transmitted anywhere, so there's nothing to intercept and nothing stored on a server.
Common use cases
- Voice memos and Apple Music downloads
- Podcasts
- Prepping a podcast episode for a hosting platform
- Fitting a voice memo under a messaging app's size limit
Supported formats
This is one of many pairings the audio toolkit handles. In total it covers:
Related conversions
Format details
About MP4 files+
MP4 (usually carrying H.264 video) is the most widely compatible video container — it plays on essentially every phone, browser, and TV.
MP4 is a container format standardized under MPEG-4, meaning the file itself is really a wrapper that most often holds H.264-encoded video alongside AAC audio. That specific combination struck a balance efficient enough for streaming and broad enough to be adopted everywhere, which is why it's the format cameras, phones, editors, and social platforms converge on as a safe default. It isn't always the smallest or most efficient option available — newer codecs inside newer containers can do better — but nothing beats it for guaranteed playback.
How to open a MP4 file
Opens readily in Any web browser, Any modern phone, TV, or media player. For real editing, use Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, iMovie.
Good for
- maximum device and platform compatibility
- good compression-to-quality ratio
Watch out for
- not the smallest option available for the same visual quality
About M4A files+
M4A is an audio-only MPEG-4 container, most often holding AAC audio — it's what Apple Music and Voice Memos save by default.
M4A is essentially an MPEG-4 container that's been restricted to audio only, and it's the extension Apple uses by default across iTunes downloads, Apple Music, GarageBand, and Voice Memos. In almost every practical case it holds AAC-encoded audio, so its quality and compression characteristics are effectively the same as AAC — it's really a matter of which extension a given piece of Apple software happened to save the file with.
How to open a M4A file
Opens readily in Any modern media player, iTunes/Apple Music, Most web browsers. For real editing, use Audacity (free), GarageBand.
Good for
- good compression efficiency
- native format across Apple apps
Watch out for
- occasionally needs converting for apps that only expect MP3
Need a different format? Try the full Audio Converter, or explore all audio tools.