Is this audio trimmer free, and are my files uploaded?

It’s free with no account, and nothing is uploaded: your browser reads, cuts and saves the file on your own device.

How large a file can I trim?

There is no set limit. Long recordings work best on a computer, since a phone has less memory for the decoded sound.

Does trimming lower the quality?

Not with Original, which copies the sound as it is. Saving as MP3 re-encodes it at the bitrate you pick; for an MP3 the trimmer suggests the source’s own, so the loss is too small to hear.

Can I cut out a part in the middle?

Yes. Mark the part and choose Remove selection. The two sides are joined with a 10 ms crossfade so there is no click.

How do I make an iPhone ringtone?

Trim the song to 30 seconds or less and save an MP3, then open it in Apple’s free music-making app and share it as a ringtone. The guide above has the steps.

Which formats can I trim?

MP3, M4A, AAC, WAV, FLAC, OGG and Opus, and the sound of MP4, MOV, WebM and MKV videos. The result is MP3, WAV or the original format.

Can I cut MP3 online on my phone?

Yes. This MP3 cutter works in Safari on iPhone and in Chrome on Android, and the start and end times can be typed when a handle is hard to place with a finger.

To the millisecond for WAV and when saving MP3 or WAV. With Original, a compressed file is cut on its frames, within about 26 ms of the mark.

Why do other trimmed MP3s start with a short silence?

MP3 encoders add a little silence at the start of every file. This sound trimmer reads the encoder’s note about it and removes it, so the cut starts right on the sound.

Free Audio Trimmer: Cut MP3 Online

no sign-up, no file limit: Free
per arrow key, or type the time: 10 ms
one part, joined without a click: Keep or remove
to cut the silence at both ends: One click
MP3, M4A and OGG cut as they are: No re-encoding
MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC, OGG, even video: Any audio

How do you trim an audio file?

Open the audio trimmer, add the file, then drag the two handles around the part you want to keep, or type the start and end times. Choose Remove selection to cut that part out instead. Add a fade if the cut lands mid sound, and save it as MP3, WAV or the original format.

Use the audio trimmer in three steps

The same for a song, a voice memo or a video.

Add the file
Drop an MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC or OGG, or a video, into the sound trimmer. The waveform appears in a moment.
Mark the part
Drag the handles or type the times, then keep that part or remove it. Fades are optional.
Save the result
Download an MP3, a WAV or the original format, named after your file with "trimmed" added.

An audio trimmer that cuts exactly where you mean

An audio trimmer and MP3 cutter with exact times, clean joins and the original sound when you want it.

Keep a part, or remove one

Keep selection saves only the part between the handles. Remove selection takes it out and joins what is left with a 10 ms crossfade, so a cough, a ringing phone or a false start disappears without a click at the join.

Precise to the millisecond

Each arrow key moves a handle by 10 ms, Shift moves it by a second, and the times can be typed in. Zoom in on the waveform to put a cut right between two words or on the first beat of a bar.

Cut the silence in one click

Recordings often start with a few seconds of nothing and end with a fumble for the stop button. Cut silence at the ends finds where the sound starts and stops, and the sound trimmer sets both handles there.

Fades in and out

A song cut mid phrase sounds abrupt. Fade in and fade out go up to 10 seconds each, the usual length for a ringtone or a clip under a video is 1 to 3.

Cut MP3 online without re-encoding

Original copies the frames of an MP3, M4A or OGG between your two times, as they are, so the trimmed file sounds exactly like the source. A compressed file is cut on its frames, within about 26 ms of where you marked.

Straight on to the next tool

The trimmed audio can go straight on to the transcriber or the vocal remover in the studio, without downloading it first.

Audio trimmer samples

Four cuts made from this site’s own songs and recordings by the audio trimmer in the studio: listen to the source and the result.

Trimmed on your own device

What the audio trimmer does with your files.

Your browser does the cutting
The sound is decoded, cut and saved on your phone or computer.
Never uploaded
Voice memos, interviews and unreleased songs stay in your own folders.
No account
Trim as many files as you like without signing up.
No watermark
The result is your sound and nothing else: no jingle, no voice tag.

Audio trimmer guide: songs, voice memos and ringtones

Keep a part or remove one

Most trims keep one stretch: the chorus of a song, a quote from an interview, the minute of a lecture you want to share. Mark it with the handles and keep it.

Removing works the other way round. When a recording is good apart from one moment, a sneeze, a phone notification, a sentence you got wrong, mark that moment and remove it. The two sides are joined with a 10 ms crossfade, short enough not to be heard and long enough to stop a click.

Cutting the best part of a song with an MP3 cutter

Start the cut on the first beat of a bar, just before the singer comes in, and end it on a beat too. Zoom in until the drum hits show as spikes in the waveform and put the handle on the left edge of one.

1Play the song and note roughly where the chorus starts and ends.
2Set the handles there, then zoom in and move each one to a beat.
3Use Play selection with Loop to hear the cut over and over.
4Add a 1 second fade in and a 2 second fade out, unless the cut starts and ends on silence.

For a ringtone, 20 to 30 seconds is enough: phones loop it while they ring.

Removing silence with a sound trimmer

Voice memos, podcasts and recorded calls usually start with dead air and end with the click of the stop button. Cut silence at the ends looks at the waveform, finds the first and last sound louder than about −38 dB, and leaves 50 ms on each side so no word is clipped.

If a recording has a hum or background noise, the trimmer may count it as sound. Then set the handles by hand where the speaking starts.

Cut MP3 online without re-encoding: what it means

An MP3 is made of frames of about 26 ms, each compressed on its own. A normal MP3 cutter decodes the whole file, cuts it and compresses it again, and every round of compression loses a little detail.

Original copies the frames between your two times as they are. The sound is identical, the file has the source’s bitrate, and it is done in a moment. The cut lands on a frame edge, within about 26 ms of where you marked, and fades are not possible, because a fade changes the sound. WAV files are always cut exactly on the sample, whichever output you choose.

Making a ringtone from your audio

Trim the part to 30 seconds or less in the audio trimmer and save it as an MP3. From there, each phone has its own route.

1iPhone: open the MP3 in Apple’s free music-making app, then Share, Ringtone, and it appears in Settings, Sounds.
2iPhone with a Mac: rename an M4A cut to .m4r and drag it onto the phone in Finder.
3Android: copy the MP3 into the Ringtones folder, or pick it in Settings, Sound, Ringtone.

With a desktop editor or the command line

In a desktop audio editor, select the part with the mouse, keep only the selection, and export. It decodes and re-encodes the file, as most desktop editors do.

On the command line, ffmpeg -ss 30 -to 60 -i in.mp3 -c copy out.mp3 copies 30 to 60 seconds without re-encoding. Put -ss before -i for a fast cut on frame edges, as this trimmer does with Original.