Audio Cutter
Saves just the part you need from an audio file as WAV, MP3 or OGG. Drag on the waveform to set the range, delete a middle section or add fades.
Drag across the waveform to select a range, then drag either edge to adjust it. Click to move the playhead.
Range
Output
Shortcuts: Space play/stop · I set start to playhead · O set end to playhead · after clicking the waveform, ← → move 0.1 s (Shift 1 s) · Ctrl+wheel to zoom
Decoding and encoding both run in your browser. Latest Chrome or Edge recommended.
Accuracy and size by output format
We cut one minute (30–90 s) from a three-minute 44.1 kHz stereo WAV and saved it in each format. Length and position were checked by saving a test file with clicks in it and decoding the result again. Measured in Chrome on a Windows PC; OGG uses a variable bitrate whose size depends on the content, so its figures are for a synthetic signal.
| Format | Length and position | 1-minute clip | Time | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WAV 16/24-bit | Same as the source (0 sample values differed from a 16- or 24-bit WAV source) | 10.09 MiB | 0.05 s | Editing, files you will cut again |
| MP3 128 / 192 / 320 kbps | About 0.025 s of silence added at the start; about 0.031 s longer overall | 0.92 / 1.37 / 2.29 MiB | 4.0 / 4.2 / 4.9 s | Ringtones, sharing in chat apps |
| OGG (Opus) 64 / 96 / 160 kbps | Same as the source (saved at 48 kHz) | About 0.46 / 0.69 / 1.16 MiB | 0.6 / 0.6 / 0.8 s | Web and apps, small files |
Because of how MP3 encoders work, 1,105 samples (about 0.025 s) of silence are added at the start and the end is padded to a whole frame. Save loops and sounds that must line up exactly with other audio as WAV or OGG. WAV sizes are for 44.1 kHz stereo at 16 bits; 24-bit files are 1.5 times larger.
How to use it
- Drop an audio file into the window or click to choose one. You can open anything your browser can decode, such as MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC, OGG or FLAC; the full waveform appears on top and a zoomable one below.
- Drag across the lower waveform to select a range and adjust it with the edge handles. You can also press I (start) and O (end) while playing, or type times into the start and end boxes. Use "Zoom to selection" to place the edges more precisely.
- Choose the cut mode (keep or delete the selection), fade-in and fade-out, format and quality. The output length and estimated size are shown right away.
- Press Cut, listen to the beginning and end in the preview, then download. The range is added to the file name (for example song_cut_1m05s-1m35s.mp3).
Tips for common tasks
- Ringtones and alerts: Android phones can use MP3 and OGG files as ringtones. Pick about 30 seconds of the chorus and add a 2-second fade-out so it does not stop abruptly. iPhone ringtones need the M4R format, so the result cannot be used there as it is.
- Cleaning up meeting and lecture recordings: Use "Keep the selection" to drop small talk at the start and end, and "Delete the selection" to remove a break in the middle. The joint is faded down and up over 0.005 s so it does not click. Speech-only recordings saved as OGG 64 kbps take about 0.46 MiB per minute.
- Sound effects and music for video editing: Save files for your editor as WAV. If the source is WAV, sample values and sample rate stay the same, so cutting again and again never changes the quality.
- Loops: Turn on "Loop selection" to hear right away whether the seam sounds natural. Save loops as WAV or OGG rather than MP3, with fades off; the silence MP3 adds at the start leaves a small gap on every repeat.
- Choosing a fade length: Two to three seconds suits the end of a song, and half a second is enough around speech. Fades are applied when saving, so check them in the result preview and cut again with a different length if needed.
Frequently asked questions
Does cutting lower the quality?
Not if you save as WAV. The tool reads the source sample rate and decodes at that rate, so when we cut and saved 16-bit and 24-bit WAV files, not a single sample value differed from the source. Saving as MP3 or OGG compresses the audio again and loses a little, and saving an MP3 source as MP3 adds another round of compression. If that worries you, choose 192 kbps or higher for MP3.
Can I cut without re-encoding, keeping the original format?
Not at the moment. Cutting a compressed MP3 or M4A directly is only possible at frame boundaries 0.02–0.03 s apart, which makes exact positions hard to hit. This tool decodes the audio, cuts it sample by sample and saves it again, so the position is exact, but anything other than WAV is compressed again.
Is there a size or length limit?
There is no service limit, but the whole file is decoded into memory. 44.1 kHz stereo uses about 20 MiB per minute, so an hour-long recording takes more than 1 GiB. On a PC a three-minute file opened in 0.3 s and hour-long recordings usually open, but long files may fail on phones.
Why does an MP3 come out slightly longer?
MP3 encoders add 1,105 samples (about 0.025 s) at the start and pad the end to a whole frame, so a 10-second selection saved as MP3 became 10.031 s. You will not hear the difference in most uses, but if the exact length matters, save as WAV or OGG; both keep the same length as the source.
Can I use it on my phone?
Yes. You can drag across the waveform with your finger, and the edge handles have a wider touch area so they are easy to grab. OGG output needs WebCodecs, so browsers without it can save only WAV and MP3. Long files may not open on devices with little memory.