Convert M4A to MP3 — Free, No Upload
Make an iPhone voice memo or an AAC track play anywhere.
Drop a file here
or click to choose a file
Runs on your device Your file is processed by your own browser and is never uploaded to a server.
Short answer
An M4A file can be converted to MP3 for free in a web browser. The AAC or ALAC audio inside the M4A container is decoded and re-encoded with the LAME MP3 encoder, producing a file that plays on car stereos, older players and software that never supported M4A. The conversion is local, so nothing is uploaded and there is no length limit.
At a glance
| Accepts | M4A, AAC, MP4 audio, ALAC |
|---|---|
| Produces | MP3 (LAME) |
| Processing | In your browser |
| Price | Free, no limits |
| Account | Not required |
M4A is what an iPhone voice memo, an Apple Music purchase and most Android recording apps produce. It is a perfectly good format and slightly more efficient than MP3 at the same bitrate — but it is the format that is missing when a car stereo, a dictation transcriber or a decade-old media player refuses to open the file.
Because the source is already lossy, this is a second generation of encoding. Choosing 192 kbps or above keeps that from being audible; going below the bitrate of the original M4A is where re-encoding artefacts start to show.
How to use it
- 1
Add the M4A file
Drop in an .m4a, .aac or .mp4 audio file, including an iPhone voice memo.
- 2
Choose the bitrate
192 kbps or higher, since this is a second encode. Use 128 kbps only for speech.
- 3
Convert
The AAC audio is decoded and re-encoded to MP3 on your device.
- 4
Download the MP3
Save the file and play it anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
Can this convert an iPhone voice memo?
Yes. Voice memos are M4A files. Share the memo to Files or email it to yourself, then open it here — 128 kbps is plenty for speech.
Will songs bought from iTunes convert?
Purchases from the iTunes Store since 2009 are DRM-free and convert normally. Anything still carrying FairPlay DRM, including Apple Music downloads, cannot be decoded by any general-purpose converter.
Does the conversion lose quality?
Slightly. M4A is already lossy, so this is a second generation. Encoding at 192 kbps or above keeps the difference inaudible for almost all listeners.
What is the difference between M4A and MP4?
None structurally — both are MP4 containers. The .m4a extension signals that there is no video track. This tool reads either and ignores any video it finds.
Is my file uploaded?
No. The conversion runs inside your browser and no copy of the file leaves your device.