Why extract audio at all
Audio files are a fraction of the size of video, play in more places, and are the only part you need for a podcast episode, a ringtone, or background music. Interview recordings, lectures and concert clips all become far more useful as audio.
MP3 or M4A — which format
MP3 is the universal answer — every player, phone and car stereo reads it. M4A is Apple's AAC format: similar quality at smaller sizes, and the natural choice if your audio lives in the Apple world. When in doubt, pick MP3.
Extract in the browser with EditVideo
The audio extractor on this site does it locally: drop the video, pick MP3 or M4A, and download the audio. The conversion runs in your browser — the video never uploads anywhere, which matters for private recordings.
Quality notes worth knowing
The extracted audio keeps the quality of the source track — extraction doesn't degrade it, though converting to a lossy format like MP3 adds one compression pass. Use the highest-quality video you have, and keep the original file until you're happy with the result.
What people do with extracted audio
The classics: turning a concert clip into a ringtone, a talk into a podcast draft, a lecture into a commute listen, and a video call into a voice memo. Extracted audio also feeds transcription tools, which read audio far more cheaply than video.