Reset to defaults
Need help?Convert FLAC to MP3 online, free. Upload your lossless files and this FLAC to MP3 converter encodes MP3s that play on every phone, car stereo and player. Keep the default Very High quality preset, or set the bitrate yourself: a constant rate up to 320 kbps, a LAME-style variable range, or a target file size. Channels and sample rate stay as they are unless you change them.
How to convert FLAC to MP3
- Upload the FLAC files: Drag .flac files onto the page or click Add Files. An album can be converted in one job; every track gets the same settings.
- Pick the quality: The Quality Preset is Very High by default. For a specific number, open File Compression and choose Constant Bitrate (320 kbps for the most detail, 192 or 128 kbps for smaller files), Variable Bitrate, Custom Bitrate or Specific file size.
- Convert and download: Leave Audio Channel and Audio Sample Rate on Original unless you need mono or a particular rate, click Convert, and download the MP3s.
Quality Preset
The preset ladder runs from Highest to Lowest, with Very High marked Recommended and selected by default. A preset sets the encoder's quality level rather than a fixed data rate, so the bitrate of the result varies with the material. Use the bitrate modes when a player, platform or size limit asks for a specific figure.
Bitrate and file-size modes
Constant Bitrate offers the standard MP3 steps from 8 to 320 kbps: 320 kbps keeps the most of a lossless source, 192 kbps is enough for most listening, 128 kbps is the usual choice for speech or background music. Variable Bitrate offers ten ranges, from 45–85 kbps up to 220–260 kbps, that spend more bits on complex passages and fewer on simple ones; the top ranges give near-320 quality in a smaller file. Custom Bitrate accepts any typed value, and a rate the codec cannot produce at the current sample rate is adjusted with a note in the result. Specific file size derives the bitrate from the track's duration so the MP3 lands at or under the figure you enter (8 MB is pre-filled).
Audio Channel, Audio Sample Rate and Trim
Audio Channel is Original by default; Mono halves the data for spoken-word recordings. Audio Sample Rate is Original by default, with 8 to 48 kHz available. MP3 supports at most 48 kHz, so 88.2 and 96 kHz high-resolution FLAC is resampled during encoding, and 24-bit depth is not carried into MP3 because the format does not store samples that way. Trim, Unchanged by default, converts only a section — enter a start time and a duration in seconds or HH:MM:SS.sss.
When to convert FLAC to MP3
- A car stereo, Bluetooth speaker or older portable player lists MP3 but not FLAC.
- An album has to fit on a phone with limited storage or be sent over a slow connection.
- iTunes or the Apple Music app on a Mac will not import the FLAC files.
- You want copies for everyday listening while the FLAC stays as the archive.
What to expect
The conversion is lossy: MP3 discards information that the FLAC kept, and it cannot be recovered from the MP3. Encoding from FLAC gives the best MP3 a given bitrate can produce, because the encoder works from the complete signal rather than from an earlier lossy copy. At 320 kbps a typical track shrinks to roughly a quarter of its FLAC size; at 192 kbps to about a seventh.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the conversion lossless?
No. FLAC is lossless; MP3 is not. At 256–320 kbps most listeners cannot tell the MP3 from the source; keep the FLAC as the master.
Which bitrate should I choose?
320 kbps Constant Bitrate or the 220–260 kbps variable range for music you care about; 192 kbps for a good balance of size and quality; 128 kbps or less for speech, where Mono also helps.
Will the tags and album art carry over?
Title, artist, album, track number and the other common fields are written into the MP3's ID3 tags. Uncommon fields may not map one to one; check in a tag editor if they matter.
Can I convert a whole album at once?
Yes. Add all the tracks to one job; each is encoded separately with the same settings, so the files stay consistent.
My FLAC is 96 kHz / 24-bit — do I need to change anything?
No. MP3 holds at most 48 kHz, so the audio is resampled during encoding; leaving Audio Sample Rate on Original lets the converter handle it.
Does XConvert keep my files?
Files are processed on our servers and deleted automatically after a few hours.
Related tools
- FLAC to M4A — AAC for Apple devices, smaller than MP3 at the same quality
- FLAC to WAV — uncompressed audio for editing, no quality loss
- MP3 to FLAC — the reverse direction (it cannot restore lost detail)
- Compress FLAC — make the FLAC itself smaller while staying lossless
- Compress MP3 — shrink MP3 files you already have
References
- RFC 9639, Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC): https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9639
- ISO/IEC 11172-3 (MPEG-1 Audio, Layer III): https://www.iso.org/standard/22412.html
- LAME MP3 encoder: https://lame.sourceforge.io/