Cut and trim MP3 files by setting start and end times. Create ringtones, remove silence, extract clips. Free, no quality loss.
Process files in seconds with our optimized servers
Set exact start and end points with frame accuracy
Maintain original quality with smart re-encoding
MP3 is still the most universally compatible lossy audio format — accepted by every car stereo, podcast host, voicemail system, and ringtone manager built in the last twenty years. Trimming an MP3 instead of converting it first keeps that compatibility while letting you cut intros, isolate a quote, or fit a length limit imposed by another service.
.m4r) cap at 40 seconds of playback, with 30 seconds being the practical default that Music/iTunes will let you sync without prompting; Android tones are usually 30 seconds. Trim a chorus or hook to that window before converting.| Behavior | Original preset trim | Custom-settings trim |
|---|---|---|
| Audio path | Decode -> cut -> re-encode near the source bitrate | Decode -> cut -> re-encode at your settings |
| Quality loss | One high-bitrate generation — inaudible in practice, but a re-encode | Depends on the bitrate you pick |
| Cut precision | Per-sample, sub-millisecond | Per-sample, sub-millisecond |
| Output bitrate | Close to source | Whatever Quality Preset / Custom Bitrate you choose |
| Output sample rate / channels | Same as source | Configurable (8-48 kHz, Mono/Stereo) |
| Use when | You just need a shorter clip, same format | You also need to change bitrate, sample rate, or channels |
Either way the trim is sample-accurate and the kept audio is re-encoded — with the Original preset it stays MP3 at close to the source bitrate, so one generation is inaudible in practice. Changing bitrate, channels, or sample rate simply re-encodes at your chosen settings instead.
| Bitrate (CBR) | Typical use | Roughly |
|---|---|---|
| 64 kbps | AM-radio voice, telephony | 0.5 MB per minute |
| 96 kbps | Audiobooks, talk podcasts | 0.7 MB per minute |
| 128 kbps | Default web/streaming MP3 | 1.0 MB per minute |
| 192 kbps | Music podcasts, casual listening | 1.4 MB per minute |
| 256 kbps | High-quality music | 1.9 MB per minute |
| 320 kbps | MP3 ceiling, archival lossy | 2.4 MB per minute |
Variable bitrate (VBR) presets V0 (245 kbps avg) through V9 (65 kbps avg) generally give better quality per byte than the equivalent constant bitrate. Leave the preset on Original to stay close to the source bitrate; set VBR explicitly only when you want a smaller output.
The cut is sample-accurate, and the kept 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. Dropping the bitrate, sample rate, or channel count has a far bigger effect on quality than the trim itself.
Sample-accurate. The audio is decoded at your Start time and Duration, so the cut lands on the exact timestamp you enter rather than snapping to an MP3 frame boundary (frames are 1152 samples, about 26 ms at 44.1 kHz). Sub-millisecond edits like synced loops work directly — no need to convert to WAV first for precision.
In most players, yes. The output is a freshly encoded MP3 with a standard LAME header carrying the correct encoder delay and padding values, so decoders that respect those tags (iTunes/Apple Music, foobar2000, modern Android players) start and end playback cleanly. Older or minimal decoders that ignore LAME metadata may expose a few milliseconds of priming silence at the very start — this is an MP3 format limitation, not a tool bug.
Yes. Upload several MP3s and they all receive the same Start time and Duration. This is useful for batch-trimming a series of recordings (e.g., trimming a five-second silent leader off thirty voice memos), but if the files have different intro lengths you'll want to process them individually.
Trim the section you want to ≤30 seconds (Apple's Music/iTunes sync window), then convert the trimmed MP3 to .m4r using a converter that supports the AAC-in-MP4 ringtone wrapper. The 40-second limit some sources cite is the format ceiling; 30 seconds is what Apple's tools will sync without warning. Keep the file mono or stereo at 44.1 kHz — both work fine for ringtones.
There's no hard file-size cap published for this tool — processing happens on our servers, so the practical limit is upload size and connection speed. A two-hour 128 kbps podcast (~115 MB) trims reliably on a modern laptop. For multi-hour audiobook files larger than ~1 GB, expect the upload step to be the slow part.
It shouldn't — the trimmer decodes the audio and cuts at your exact Start time, so the output does not snap to MP3 frame boundaries. If a clip seems offset, double-check the timestamp format you entered (HH:MM:SS.mmm vs plain seconds), and note that some players show a few milliseconds of encoder priming silence at the very start of any MP3 file.
Yes — that's exactly what this tool does. Set the Start time to the beginning of the section you want, and the Duration to its length. Everything outside that window is discarded. To remove a section in the middle and join the two outer pieces, use the audio cutter instead, which supports multi-segment cuts.
Trim first, then compress. Trimming first means the compressor only has to process the audio you're keeping, which is faster and avoids re-encoding audio you'll throw away. If your source is already at a comfortable bitrate, the trim alone is enough — no compression step needed.
This page is tuned for MP3 specifically. For WAV, M4A, FLAC, OGG, AAC, AIFF, and 15+ other formats use the general-purpose audio trimmer, or jump directly to format-specific pages like trim WAV and trim M4A. All of them share the same Start time / Duration workflow.