Split Audio into Smaller Parts
How do you split an MP3, WAV or M4A file into equal parts?
Split an audio recording into clips of a chosen duration or a chosen number of parts. Keep the compatible source format or export MP3, then download the clips together in a ZIP. For example, divide a long lecture into shorter sections before transcription or review. Check the cut points, because equal-duration segments can end in the middle of a sentence.
Cost: Free to use. File size and usage limits apply.
- Input
- A 10-minute audio recording
- Setting
- Segment duration 120s
- Output
- 5 clips in a ZIP
Duration-based cuts do not follow sentence boundaries. Listen around each cut if spoken context matters.
How to split an audio file
Add one audio file
Click Upload an audio file to split or drop the file onto the preview area. MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG, Opus, M4A, AAC and audio-only MP4 or WebM files of up to 200 MB work. If you already uploaded audio in another tool on this site in this browser, it is selected automatically and Files lists the others.
Choose how to split
Under Split Mode, pick By clip length to cut every so many seconds, or By number of parts to divide the recording into equal pieces. The card header shows how many clips you will get, for example
5 clips.Choose the output
Keep source format is selected by default and returns clips in the format you uploaded. Choose MP3 instead if every clip has to be an MP3, then pick the MP3 Bitrate.
Check the planned output
The Planned output box sums up the result, for example
5 × MP3 clips in one ZIP, and says whether the audio is copied or encoded.Split and download
Click Split Audio. When the job is done, Download ZIP saves all clips at once. They are numbered in playback order:
lecture_part_001.mp3,lecture_part_002.mp3and so on.
Split settings explained
- Split Mode
- By clip length cuts the recording every N seconds. All clips are equally long except the last one, which holds the remainder. By number of parts divides the total duration by the number you choose, so every part has the same length.
- Clip Length
- Default
30s. The slider starts at 10 s and moves in 5 s steps up to the length of your recording (at most 3,600 s). Type into the field for any value from 1 to 14,400 s (4 hours). A clip length longer than the recording gives you a single clip. Choose a length that suits the recording: a very short length on a long file produces a large number of clips. - Number of Parts
- From 2 to 50, default
4. Use it when you need a fixed number of pieces rather than a fixed length. - Keep source format
- Clips keep the format and file extension you uploaded. Compatible MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC, OGG, Opus, MP4 and WebM audio streams are copied without re-encoding, so there is no quality loss and WAV keeps its bit depth and sample rate. FLAC is re-encoded losslessly for each clip, which gives every part a correct length in its header.
- MP3
- Encodes every clip as MP3 at a constant bitrate and a sample rate of 44.1 kHz. Pick it when a player, app or upload form only accepts MP3. Converting a lossy source such as M4A or OGG to MP3 adds a second round of compression.
- MP3 Bitrate
- Shown when MP3 is selected:
128 kbps,192 kbps(default) or256 kbps. As a rule of thumb, 128 kbps is enough for speech and 192–256 kbps suits music. The bitrate fixes the size: about 0.92, 1.37 or 1.83 MB per minute of audio.
Where the cuts land and what the clips keep
The tool splits strictly by time and does not look for pauses. With By clip length, cuts are planned at exact multiples of your value: 600 s puts them at 10:00, 20:00, 30:00 and so on.
When audio is copied, each cut moves to the next boundary between compressed audio frames, so a clip can be a few hundredths of a second longer or shorter than planned. One MP3 frame at 44.1 kHz lasts about 26 ms. FLAC clips are cut on the exact sample. Either way, the clips follow on from each other without overlapping.
Text tags such as title and artist are copied into every clip, so all parts show the same title in a music player. The part number is only in the file name.
Worked example: a 45-minute podcast
A 45-minute MP3 at 128 kbps is 2,700 seconds long and about 41 MB. By clip length with 600 s gives 5 clips: four of 10:00 and a last one of 5:00. By number of parts with 4 gives four clips of 11:15 each.
With Keep source format, each 10-minute clip is about 9.2 MB and all clips add up to about the original size. Choosing MP3 at 192 kbps makes each 10-minute clip about 13.7 MB, roughly 62 MB in total, with no gain in quality because the source only had 128 kbps.
If you only need the text of one segment, unzip the archive and upload that clip to Audio Transcription.
Formats and limits
- Input formats
- MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG, Opus, M4A, AAC and audio-only MP4 or WebM. Files with a video track are not accepted.
- Output formats
- Clips in the source format or MP3, always delivered together in one ZIP
- Maximum file size
- 200 MB
- Files per job
- 1 audio file; up to 50 parts with By number of parts
- Processing
- On our servers with FFmpeg. A job can run for up to 15 minutes. No AI or third-party service is involved.
- Cost
- No credits are charged; daily usage limits may apply.
- Watermark
- None
- Storage
- Uploads and results are deleted automatically after 48 hours for guests and after 30 days for free accounts. Paid plans can keep files longer.
Frequently asked questions
Does splitting an MP3 reduce its quality?
Not with Keep source format: the MP3 frames are copied into the clips unchanged. Quality only changes if you choose MP3 as the output, because every clip is then decoded and encoded again at the bitrate you pick.
Can I split a WAV or M4A file without converting it?
Yes. WAV clips stay WAV with the same bit depth and sample rate, and M4A clips stay M4A with the AAC or ALAC audio copied as it is. If you need another format afterwards, unzip the clips and convert them with Audio Converter.
Why is the ZIP bigger than my original file?
Choosing MP3 at a higher bitrate than the source can increase the size, as in the podcast example above. Copying a supported source stream preserves its audio data, while each clip and the ZIP add file overhead. The total also depends on the source container and any lossless re-encoding. ZIP does not guarantee a significant reduction for audio that is already compressed.
Can I split at pauses or at timestamps I choose?
No. Cuts fall at equal time intervals, not at silence. If a cut lands mid-sentence, try a slightly different Clip Length or number of parts and check the new cut times before you share the clips.
How do I split the audio track of a video?
Files with a video track are not accepted here; audio-only MP4 and WebM are supported. Extract a video's sound first with MP4 to MP3; the MP3 then appears under Files in this tool, ready to split.
Is my recording sent anywhere else?
Your file is uploaded to our servers and split there with FFmpeg. It is not passed to any AI or other outside service. Your upload and the clips are deleted automatically after 48 hours for guests and after 30 days for free accounts; paid plans can keep files longer.