M4A to MP3 Converter
Convert M4A to MP3 free — no upload, no signup
To convert M4A to MP3, drop your M4A audio files into the box below and click Convert. Fylo converts with ffmpeg running inside your browser, so nothing is uploaded and there's no signup or watermark. Make iPhone voice memos and iTunes songs play on any device.
Drop audio files here
or tap to browse · paste with Ctrl+V · add many at once
Your files never leave your device
Advanced
How to convert M4A to MP3
Add your M4A files
Drag and drop M4A files into the box or tap to choose them. The converter engine (about 31 MB) downloads once, the first time you convert.
Pick a bitrate
192 kbps suits music and 128 kbps or less suits speech. Sample rate and mono/stereo are under Advanced.
Convert and download
Click Convert, then download each MP3 file or all of them as one ZIP.
Why convert M4A to MP3?
iPhone Voice Memos, iTunes purchases and WhatsApp audio are often M4A, which some car stereos, older Android phones, websites and upload forms don't accept.
What happens when you convert M4A to MP3?
Fylo decodes the AAC and encodes MP3 at 192 kbps. Voice memos can use 128 kbps to save space. DRM-protected purchases (old iTunes .m4p) can't be converted.
How does Fylo convert M4A to MP3?
Fylo decodes the AAC (or ALAC) audio in the M4A with ffmpeg compiled to WebAssembly and encodes it with the LAME MP3 encoder at 192 kbps (adjustable from 96 to 320 kbps). Both formats are lossy, so each conversion discards a little detail — start from the highest-bitrate M4A you have. A 3-minute song is ≈ 3.6 MB at 160 kbps as M4A and ≈ 4.3 MB at 192 kbps as MP3. The original sample rate and channel layout are kept unless you change them under Advanced.
What's the difference between M4A and MP3?
M4A is an MPEG-4 container that holds only audio — usually AAC, or Apple Lossless (ALAC). Apple popularised the extension with the iTunes Store in 2003; iPhone Voice Memos and many podcasts also use it. Audiobooks often use the related .m4b extension.
MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III) was developed largely at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute and standardised in 1993. It removes sounds the ear is unlikely to notice — a technique called perceptual coding — so a 3-minute song takes about 4 MB at 192 kbps instead of about 32 MB as WAV. The last MP3 patents expired in 2017, so it's now free to use.
Learn more: M4A format guide · MP3 format guide
| Property | M4A | MP3 |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy (AAC) or lossless (ALAC) | Lossy |
| Typical bitrate | 128–256 kbps | 128–320 kbps |
| 3-minute song | ≈ 3.6 MB at 160 kbps | ≈ 4.3 MB at 192 kbps |
| Tags and cover art | Yes (full, with cover art) | Yes (ID3) |
| Compatibility | Apple devices, Android, Windows 10+, browsers | Universal |
| Best for | iTunes/Apple Music libraries, voice memos, audiobooks | Music and podcasts on any device |
| Introduced | 2003 | 1993 |
Frequently asked questions
Can I convert iPhone voice memos?
Yes — they're M4A files. Share them from the Voice Memos app to Files, then drop them here.
Will song tags be kept?
Basic conversion focuses on the audio; most tags aren't copied across.
Is my M4A file uploaded to a server?
No. Fylo runs ffmpeg, the same engine used by professional video tools, compiled to WebAssembly inside your browser. Your M4A file is read directly from your device and never sent anywhere.
Related tools
Updated