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MOV to M4A converter

Convert MOV to M4A 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 M4A
Advanced 4
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Leave both at 0 for the whole file.

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Bytes of your files sent anywhere: 0 B

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Other ways to convert MOV

Convert other formats to M4A

Read more about the MOV format and the M4A format, or see every video tool and all video conversions.

Should you convert MOV to M4A?

You want the audio from an iPhone video as an M4A that plays in Apple Music, GarageBand and every phone.

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 M4A.

MOV is Apple’s video container, usually H.264 or HEVC from an iPhone; M4A is AAC audio in an MP4 container, Apple’s everyday audio format. Use M4A for music and recordings on Apple devices, or anywhere AAC is accepted and size matters.

MOV and M4A compared
Property MOV M4A
What it is Apple’s video container, usually H.264 or HEVC from an iPhone AAC audio in an MP4 container, Apple’s everyday audio format
Audio inside H.264 or HEVC video with AAC audio, or ProRes from editors 128–256 kbps AAC
Plays on Apple devices and most editors; some Windows PCs, Android phones and upload forms struggle with it Apple devices, Android, browsers and most players; some older car stereos, Windows apps and forms refuse it
Best for Recording and editing video on Apple devices Good-sounding audio at small sizes

How to convert MOV to M4A

  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 M4A. Change the bitrate if you want to; the defaults suit most files.

  3. 03

    Save the M4A

    Press convert and save the M4A. Several files come back together as a ZIP.

What changes when MOV becomes M4A

Already AAC inside

MOV soundtracks are usually AAC, so the M4A is that same kind of audio compressed a second time rather than copied out. Set the bitrate at or above the original, typically 128 to 192 kbps, and the second pass can’t be heard.

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 M4A, 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 M4A. An .m4a can also hold lossless ALAC audio, several times larger; the extension alone doesn’t tell you which.
  • AVI, WMV, FLV and other older formats use the FFmpeg engine, a one-time 31 MB download.

Questions

Does extracting M4A from an MOV lose quality?

The soundtrack is compressed again as M4A. 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 M4A.

Read more about this

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