Audio Cutter

How to Cut Audio Files Online

1. Upload Your Audio File: Drag and drop or click "Add Files" to select audio from your computer. Batch is supported — drop multiple files and apply the same cut settings to all. Accepted formats: MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, M4A, OGG, OPUS, WMA, AIFF, AC3, AMR, AU, and more (full list in feature metadata).
2. Set Start Time and Duration: Under Trim, choose Time Range. Enter Start time and Duration in either Seconds (e.g. 12.5) or HH:MM:SS.sss format (e.g. 00:01:30.500) — pick the unit from the dropdown next to each field. The cutter keeps everything between start and start + duration; the rest is discarded.
3. Pick Output Format and Quality (Optional): Defaults to the original format — the kept segment is re-encoded in the same codec at close to the source bitrate, so quality is preserved in practice. Switch the output extension under To Extension if you need MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC, etc., adjust Audio Codec, Constant or Variable Bitrate under File Compression, change the Audio Channel (Stereo / Mono / Unchanged), or set the Audio Sample Rate (8 kHz – 48 kHz).
4. Cut and Download: Click Convert. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared. Download individually or as a ZIP.

Why Cut Audio?

Audio cutting (also called trimming) removes the parts of a file you don't want and keeps the slice you do — without re-recording or running a full DAW. The same job ffmpeg -ss START -t DURATION does on the command line, exposed as a one-click browser tool. Common reasons:

• Make a ringtone or text alert — Apple caps custom M4R ringtones at 40 seconds; GarageBand-exported tones cap at 30 seconds. Cut a chorus or hook to 30 s, switch output to M4A (rename .m4a to .m4r after download), and sync via Finder. Android tones have no length cap but most users keep them under 30 s.
• Trim podcasts, lectures, and voice memos — Cut intros, outros, dead air at the start of a Zoom or Voice Memo recording, the "we're recording" preamble, or a flubbed take. A 1-hour file with a 12-minute relevant segment becomes a 12-minute file in seconds.
• Extract a quote or sample — Pull a specific verse, chorus, lecture slide audio, or news clip out of a longer recording for citation in a podcast, social post, slide deck, or video edit. A sample-accurate cut means the excerpt starts and ends exactly where you set it — no clipped syllables.
• Split a long DJ mix or live recording — Cut a 2-hour live set or DJ mix into individual tracks by running the tool multiple times with different start/duration windows. Each output is a clean slice of the original.
• Shrink WhatsApp / Telegram voice messages — Voice notes are OGG/OPUS. Cut the relevant 20 seconds before forwarding to keep recipients out of a 4-minute ramble. WhatsApp's attachment cap for voice messages is rarely the issue — verbosity is.
• Remove ads and song breaks from old radio recordings — DJ chatter, station IDs, and ad breaks live between the songs in archived broadcasts; cut and re-stitch the actual music into a clean compilation.

Cut vs Trim vs Split — Which Do You Need?

Operation	What it does	Pick when
Cut / Trim	Keep ONE continuous segment from start_time to start_time + duration	You want one slice — a ringtone, a quote, a podcast segment
Multi-cut (run repeatedly)	Run the cutter once per output slice with different start + duration windows	You're splitting one long file into many separate clips
Split at silence	Auto-detect quiet gaps and emit each chunk separately	Splitting a tape rip / DJ mix into tracks by gap (not supported here — use a DAW)
Convert (no cut)	Change codec/format with no time edit	You just want format conversion — use Audio Converter instead
Compress	Shrink file size without changing duration	The cut isn't enough; you need a smaller file too — see Audio Compressor

Supported Input Formats

Format	Typical source	Cut behavior
MP3	Music, podcasts, voice recordings	Sample-accurate; re-encoded near source bitrate
WAV	DAW exports, studio recordings, dictation	Sample-accurate; PCM out, no quality loss
FLAC	Lossless music rips, archival audio	Sample-accurate; stays FLAC, sample-lossless
AAC / M4A	iTunes, Apple Music DRM-free, iPhone Voice Memos	Sample-accurate; re-encoded near source bitrate
OGG / OPUS	WhatsApp / Telegram voice notes, game audio, Discord recordings	Sample-accurate; re-encoded near source bitrate
WMA	Older Windows Media recordings, Sony NetMD rips	Sample-accurate; re-encoded
AIFF	macOS production audio, Logic Pro exports	Sample-accurate; PCM out, no quality loss
AC3 / EAC3	Movie soundtracks ripped from DVD / Blu-ray	Sample-accurate; re-encoded near source bitrate
AMR	Older phone voice memos, GSM-era recordings	Sample-accurate; re-encoded
AU	Sun / NeXT audio, legacy Unix recordings	Sample-accurate; re-encoded

Every cut re-encodes the kept segment in the output codec. For uncompressed and lossless formats (WAV, AIFF, FLAC) the audio samples come through unchanged, so there is no quality loss. For lossy formats (MP3, AAC, OGG/OPUS, WMA, AC3, AMR) the cutter re-encodes at close to the source bitrate — one high-bitrate generation is inaudible in practice, but it is a re-encode, not a byte-for-byte copy. Changing output format or sample rate re-encodes as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does cutting audio reduce quality?

For WAV, AIFF, and FLAC output, no — the kept segment is rewritten in the same lossless format, so the audio samples are preserved exactly. For lossy formats (MP3, AAC, OGG/OPUS, WMA) the cut is sample-accurate but the audio is re-encoded at close to the source bitrate — one high-bitrate generation is inaudible in practice, but it is a re-encode, not a bit-identical copy. Changing the output format (MP3 to AAC, FLAC to MP3, etc.) or lowering the bitrate has a bigger effect than the cut itself.

How accurate are the cut points?

Sample-accurate for every format. The audio is decoded at your Start time and Duration, so the cut lands on the exact timestamp you enter rather than snapping to a codec frame or keyframe — no need to pre-convert compressed sources to WAV for precision. For ringtones, podcast trims, and clip extraction, the boundary lands exactly where you set it.

How do I create an iPhone ringtone?

Cut the segment to 30 seconds or less (Apple's documented max for GarageBand-exported tones; iTunes will sync up to 40 s but enforces the cap). Set output format to M4A. After download, rename the extension from .m4a to .m4r. Drag the file into Finder (macOS Catalina+) or iTunes (Windows / older macOS) with your iPhone connected, then pick the tone under Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone. Note that iOS plays only the first 20 seconds during an actual incoming call regardless of file length.

Can I cut multiple sections from one file?

Run the cutter once per output slice. Each run takes a different Start time + Duration and produces a separate file — three runs gives you three clips. For a long DJ set or live recording with many cut points, this is faster than it sounds because each run is a quick server-side cut. For audio merge after cutting, the workflow is cut → cut → cut → use a separate merge tool (or a DAW like Audacity for free).

What's the largest file I can cut?

Cutting happens on our servers, so the limit is upload size and connection speed and patience for the initial upload. Multi-GB FLAC archives and full-length DJ mixes work; the upload is the slow part. There's no per-file MB cap imposed by XConvert and no quantity limit on batch jobs.

Why does my cut MP3 have a tiny click at the start?

If the cut point lands mid-waveform — where the signal isn't at a zero crossing — playback begins with an abrupt step, which can sound like a brief click or tick. Two fixes: (1) nudge the Start time a few milliseconds to land in a quieter spot, or (2) add a short fade-in with a free DAW like Audacity after cutting. The same behavior exists in every audio editor regardless of codec.

Can I cut and convert format in one step?

Yes. Set Start time + Duration under Trim, then change the output extension under To Extension and adjust Audio Codec, bitrate, sample rate, or channels. The cutter trims first (cheap operation) then re-encodes the remainder, which is faster than encoding the entire source and trimming after. Use this for MP3 → M4A ringtones, WAV → MP3 compression after cutting silence, FLAC → AAC for storage.

Will the metadata (tags, artwork) survive the cut?

For MP3, M4A, FLAC, and OGG: ID3 / Vorbis comment tags usually survive the cut. Embedded artwork survives in most cases but can be stripped if the encoder repacks the metadata block. WAV has no standard tag container, so any RIFF INFO chunks may or may not transfer. If preserving artwork matters, verify the output in your music player before deleting the original.

Is XConvert really free with no watermark?

Yes. No sign-up, no email required, no watermark on the audio output, no file count limits, no daily quota. The cutter runs as a managed conversion on our servers — the file is uploaded, processed on our edge servers, and the result returned for download. Files are deleted from our servers after processing. If you need to compress the output further, see Audio Compressor; to convert format without cutting, use Audio Converter; to trim video instead, see Video Cutter.