This article will show you how to easily extract audio from video on Mac in different ways. There are scenarios where you may need to pull audio from video, such as making a ringtone from a video and taking music from video to listen to in your music player. There are some great audio extractors to help you get the job done. And some of them are included with macOS.
Extract audio from video on Mac with 6 tools:
iFunia Video Converter
Free Download macOS 10.11 or later 
Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7
You can effortlessly pull the audio you need from almost any video format using iFunia Video Converter, an audio extractor, video and audio converter, DVD ripper, DVD burner, and video downloader all rolled into one.
Step 1. Download this audio extractor for Mac and install it.
Free Download macOS 10.11 or later
Step 2. Drag the video from which you want to extract audio into the app.
Step 3. Click the Output Format icon, choose General Audio in the sidebar. Select a desired format, say, MP3 Audio.
Step 4. This step is optional. Click the settings icon next to the format and configure based on your need.
Step 5. Click the conversion icon 
in the bottom right corner.
Once the extraction is done, you can click the check mark icon 
to open the folder where the extracted audio file is saved.
How do I extract audio from a YouTube video on a Mac? iFunia Video Converter can also help.
Step 1. Go to the third tab.
Step 2. Copy the URL of the YouTube (or any other supported website) video and paste it in the URL box at the bottom.
Step 3. Choose an audio format.
Step 4. Click the download icon 
.
Tip: Once it is completed, click the check mark icon to find the YouTube video. You can go to the first tab to convert to any other format again.
iFunia Video Converter Benefits
Available for macOS and some other operating systems, VLC media player or simply VLC is a well-known media player. It supports many file formats and can be used for various tasks. Audio extraction is one of them. Below are the instructions on how to use the app to extract audio from MP4 on Mac.
Step 1. Open VLC on your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or iMac, etc.
Step 2. From the top menu bar, select File > Convert / Stream.
Step 3. In the Convert & Stream window, import the MP4 file that you want to extract audio from.
Step 4. Under the Choose Profile section, click the dropdown list and choose the audio format you need.
Step 5. This step is optional. Click Customize, go to the Audio codec tab and adjust parameters such as codec and bitrate.
Step 6. Under the Choose Destination section, click Save as File.
Step 7. Click Browse and select a destination folder for the extracted audio file.
Step 8. Name the audio file. You need to manually add the file extension, say, .mp3. Click Save.
Step 9. Click Save.
In the first test, I didn't add the file extension in Step 8. The extracted file ended up being unrecognizable by Mac. So, it's important to add it.
Developed by Apple, iMovie is included with macOS, iOS and iPadOS. This versatile, easy-to-use video editing app can help you with almost all basic video editing tasks including this one. With this method, you don’t need to install anything. But the limited list of supported video and audio formats can be a downside.
Step 1. Open iMovie on your Mac. Go to the Projects tab.
Step 2. Click Create New > Movie.
Step 3. Import the video file into iMovie.
Step 4. Drag the file into the timeline.
Step 5. Click the share icon 
in the top right corner. Choose the File option that appears.
Step 6. In the File window, click the Format dropdown list and choose Audio Only.
Step 7. iMovie lets you extract audio from video to AAC, MP3, AIFF and WAV. Choose the format you need.
Step 8. Click Next.
Step 9. Name the audio file, choose where you want to save it and click Save.
If it's a large video and you only need to extract audio from a specific portion of the video, iMovie can help. In Step 4, split the video and delete the unwanted clip(s).
Just like iMovie, QuickTime Player is also built in to macOS. There have been versions of QuickTime Player. The newer versions such as version 10 and the older versions such as version 7 provide different ways to take audio from video.
Step 1. On your Mac, open the video in QuickTime Player.
Step 2. From the top menu bar, select File > Export As > Audio Only.
Step 3. Choose where to save the file. Click Save.
The audio file will be in M4A format.
The earlier versions can separate audio from video and let users extract the audio to MOV format.
Step 1. Open a video file in QuickTime Player.
Step 2. Choose Window > Show Movie Properties.
Step 3. Select Sound Track and click the Extract button.
Step 4. Choose File > Save As.
Step 5. Select a destination location and click Save.
You can also remove audio from video on Mac in a similar way. In Step 3, click the Delete button instead. Also, you can use QuickTime Player 7 to add audio to video.
Audacity is a free and open-source audio editor, offering useful features such as Recording, Export / Import and Editing. You can use it to make audio out of video. But to do this, you first need to install the FFmpeg library. Without it, you won’t be able to import a video into Audacity, let alone extract audio from it.
Step 1. Download and install Audacity.
Step 2. Install FFmpeg. Audacity Manual has instructions for this.
Step 3. Manually locate the FFmpeg library. You can also find the instructions in Audacity Manual.
Step 4. Now drag the video into Audacity, and the app will only import audio from the video.
Step 5. From the menu bar, select File > Export and then select a desired export format such as MP3 or OGG.
As you can see, the method is not that straightforward. It is not recommended unless you have already installed Audacity and the FFmpeg library.
In addition to the audio extractors talked about above, there are also online services to help you with the task. Audio-extractor.net is one of them. Since this method is web-based, it can also be used on Windows and other operating systems.
Step 1. Open your web browser. Go to https://audio-extractor.net/.
Step 2. Click Open video and upload the video file.
Step 3. Use the default audio format (MP3) or select the format you need.
Step 4. Click Extract audio.
Step 5. Click Download.
You are required to upload your video to their server first. If the video is large, it will take a long time to upload, which lacks efficiency.
In addition to these audio extractors, apps such as Adobe Premiere Pro and Vegas Pro can also extract audio from video on Mac effectively without quality loss. But such apps are costly and therefore less available. Luckily apps like iFunia Video Converter are here to help. Once the sound is extracted, you can easily listen to it in your favorite music player or use it for other purposes.
Chloe LEE is good at explaining and solving complex technology problems to her readers. Since joining iFunia Studio, she has focused on writing articles about video and DVD software, and how-to tutorials.
