How to cut audio
- Drop a sound file on the box above or click Choose an audio file. MP3, WAV, M4A and OGG work, as long as your browser can play them. A video also works if you want to cut its sound.
- A waveform of the sound appears. Drag on it to choose the part to keep: pressing near the left edge of the selection moves the start, near the right edge moves the end. For an exact cut, type the Start and End times in seconds.
- Optionally set a fade in and a fade out, in seconds, so the clip begins and ends smoothly instead of with a click.
- Click Play the selection to hear exactly what will be saved, fades included. Adjust until it sounds right.
- Choose MP3 (small) or WAV (uncompressed), then click Cut and save and download the file. It is named after the original, for example
interview-cut.mp3.
Everything happens in your browser. The sound is never uploaded, there is no sign-up, watermark or daily limit, and the original file is not changed.
How it works
Your browser decodes the file into raw samples: tens of thousands of numbers for every second of sound. The waveform is drawn from the loudest sample in each small slice of the recording, which is why speech shows as bursts and silence as a flat line. When you save, the tool copies only the samples between your start and end times, multiplies the first and last few of them by a gradually rising or falling volume to make the fades, and then writes them as a WAV file or compresses them to MP3 with the LAME encoder, which runs in the page and is loaded only when needed.
Because the preview plays the same samples that are saved, what you hear is what you get. Decoding keeps the whole sound in memory, which is why files are limited to 100 MB and 20 minutes.
MP3 or WAV?
- MP3 is compressed and small, around 1 MB per minute at 128 kbps. Use it for ringtones, sharing and playing on any device.
- WAV is not compressed: about 10 MB per minute for stereo CD quality. Use it when you will keep editing the clip in other software, or when you want no extra loss.
- For speech such as interviews and voice notes, 96 kbps MP3 is usually enough. For music, choose 192 kbps or more.
Worked example
You want a ringtone from a song that lasts 3 minutes 40 seconds, and the part you like starts at 1 minute 12 seconds. Drag on the waveform near the 1:12 mark, or type 72 as the start and 97 as the end, giving a 25-second clip, short enough for most phones. Set a fade out of 2 seconds so it does not stop suddenly, press Play the selection to check it, choose MP3 at 192 kbps and save. The file is about 25 × 192 ÷ 8 ≈ 600 KB.
Tips and common problems
- Cut at quiet moments. Look for flat parts in the waveform, between words or beats, and a cut there will not click. A short fade in or out of 0.05 to 0.3 seconds also hides clicks.
- Fine adjustments. Dragging is quick; the arrow keys in the time boxes change the value by 0.1 second.
- Could not read the file. The browser may not support the format or the file has no sound. Try Chrome or Edge, or convert the file to MP3 or WAV first.
- Repeated edits. Each MP3 save compresses again, so cut from the original file rather than from a previous cut, or save the intermediate step as WAV.
- Copyright. Cut only sound you own or have permission to use.
Frequently asked questions
Is my audio uploaded to a server?
No. The sound is opened, cut and saved in your browser, on your own device. The original file and the cut never leave it.
Which formats can I open?
Any sound your browser can play: MP3, WAV, M4A/AAC and OGG work in all current browsers, and Chrome and Edge also open FLAC and Opus. You can also open a video file to cut its sound. The result is saved as MP3 or WAV.
Does cutting an MP3 lose quality?
The sound is decoded and the selected part is compressed again, so an MP3 cut is a second compression step. Choose a high quality such as 192 or 256 kbps to keep the result very close to the original, or save as WAV, which is not compressed.
How do I make a ringtone or a short clip?
Drag on the waveform to select the part you want (most phones accept 20 to 30 seconds), listen with Play the selection, add a short fade out so it does not end abruptly, and save as MP3. Putting the file on your phone as a ringtone depends on the phone.
Is there a limit on the file size?
Yes: files up to 100 MB and 20 minutes. The sound is decoded in memory on your device, which takes about 21 MB for each minute of stereo audio, so longer files could make a phone or an older computer run out of memory.