How to Remove Audio from a Video (Free)

To remove audio from a video, save a copy with the sound track taken out: open it in a tool such as QuickVeed's free Mute Video, Google Photos (tap Mute) or FFmpeg (the -an option), and export. The picture stays the same and the new file has no audio at all.

Below are the steps for each method, the difference between muting and removing the track, and how to put new sound back in, whether that's music, a voice-over or a dub in another language.

The short answer

To remove audio from a video for free, open it in QuickVeed's Mute Video tool and click Remove audio and save (in your browser, no upload), tap Mute in Google Photos on Android, or run ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -an -c:v copy out.mp4, which drops the sound and copies the picture with no quality loss.

Key takeaways

• Removing the track is better than turning the volume to zero: the file is smaller and editors see it as silent.
• FFmpeg with -an -c:v copy is instant and lossless because the picture isn't re-encoded.
• Keep the original. You can't get the sound back from the muted copy.
• To lower only background noise or music, you need audio editing or voice separation, not muting.

Disclosure: we make QuickVeed and show how to do this in it, along with other ways. Details about other products come from their public pages, checked in October 2026 and linked at the end.

Method 1: Remove audio in your browser

QuickVeed's free Mute Video tool is free, runs in your browser, nothing is uploaded and no sign-up is needed, with no watermark.

1. Open the tool and drop an MP4 or WebM file, up to 500 MB and 10 minutes.
2. Click Remove audio and save. The video plays through once, silently, while it's recorded; you can watch the progress and cancel.
3. Preview the silent copy and download it. The original file isn't changed.

The saved file is recorded from the picture only, so it has no audio track at all, not just a silent one. The browser plays the video once and records the result, so saving takes as long as the video (for a speed change, as long as the new video). Keep the tab open and in front while it runs. The file is MP4 when your browser can record MP4 and WebM otherwise, and the tool tells you which before you start. Videos larger than 1920 px on the long side are scaled down to that size, and the result is re-encoded, so it isn't bit-for-bit identical to the original.

Because the browser records the video as it plays, a 5-minute clip takes about 5 minutes. For a long recording you only need part of, trim it first so you aren't waiting on footage you'll throw away. If you need a lossless result or a whole folder done at once, use FFmpeg instead (Method 3).

Method 2: On your phone

Android (Google Photos)

Google's help page for editing videos in Google Photos lists a Mute option: open the video, tap Edit, tap Mute, then tap Save to keep a copy with your edits. The exact menu can differ between Pixel and other phones and between app versions.

iPhone

Apple's Photos app edits video, but we couldn't find an Apple help page that documents removing the sound, so check your Photos editor for a volume control, or open the browser tool from Method 1 in Safari. It runs on the phone, and the video isn't uploaded.

Whichever phone you use, send the muted video to yourself in a messaging app or open it on a computer, and play it once with the volume up. It's a ten-second check that catches an edit that wasn't saved.

Method 3: Remove audio with FFmpeg

With FFmpeg, the free command-line tool, removing audio is instant and lossless because you don't re-encode the picture:

-an means no audio and -c:v copy copies the video stream without touching it. The last command keeps the track but silences a range, handy for bleeping a name or a phone number.

Because -c:v copy doesn't re-encode, a muted 1 GB file takes seconds and comes out a little smaller than the original, minus the size of the sound track. If FFmpeg complains about the container, change the output extension to match the input, for example .mov for a MOV file.

To remove audio and shrink the file at the same time, re-encode instead: ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -an -c:v libx264 -crf 23 out.mp4. Lower crf values keep more quality; 18-23 is a common range.

Method 4: In a video editor

Every video editor can do this: put the clip on the timeline, detach or unlink the audio, delete it, and export. Use this route when you're replacing the sound in the same session, because you can drop in music or a voice-over and line it up before exporting.

If you plan to add new sound straight away, the editor route saves an export: mute or delete the original audio, drop in the new track, set its volume and fade it out at the end, then export once. Exporting twice, once silent and once with the new sound, re-encodes the picture twice and loses a little more quality each time.

When to remove audio, and how to check it worked

People remove sound for good reasons. A few common ones:

• Background music you can't use. A video with an unlicensed track can be claimed or blocked on YouTube and muted on other platforms. Removing it and adding licensed music avoids that.
• Private conversations in the background. A product clip filmed in an office may pick up names, phone numbers or other people's voices.
• Wind or traffic noise that makes the original sound unusable.
• Website and email videos that autoplay. Browsers generally only autoplay muted video, and a file with no audio track is smaller.
• Making a GIF-like loop as a short MP4 instead of a GIF. See how to convert a video to GIF.

Check the audio track is really gone

A file can be silent but still contain an audio track, which some editors and platforms treat differently. To check, run ffmpeg -i out.mp4: if no line starting with Stream and containing Audio appears, the track is gone. Media players such as VLC also show the streams in their codec or media information window. The browser tool and the -an command both remove the track entirely.

Replacing the sound: music, voice-over or another language

Most people remove audio to put something better in its place. Here are the common cases and what to use:

• Background music: add a track in any editor. Use music you have a licence for, especially on YouTube, where Shorts over a minute with a copyright claim are blocked (see YouTube Shorts size and length).
• A new voice-over: write the script and generate narration with QuickVeed's AI voice generator: up to 10,000 characters, 9 text-to-speech models, from 7 credits per 1,000 characters on Chatterbox to 25 on ElevenLabs v3. The free words to minutes calculator tells you how long the script will run.
• Another language: you don't need to mute first. QuickVeed's AI dubbing can separate the voice from the music, keep the music and replace only the speech, in the speaker's cloned voice (with their consent) or a stock voice. See how to dub a video and keep the background music.
• Only remove background noise: muting removes everything. Use an audio editor's noise reduction instead.

If you want the sound itself as a separate file rather than a silent video, see how to extract audio from a video.

Frequently asked questions

How do I remove the sound from a video for free?

Open it in QuickVeed's free Mute Video tool and click Remove audio and save, or run ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -an -c:v copy out.mp4. On Android, Google Photos has a Mute option in its video editor.

Is muting a video the same as removing the audio?

Not quite. Muting in a player only silences playback. Removing the audio saves a new file with no sound track, which is smaller and silent everywhere.

Can I remove audio without losing quality?

Yes, with FFmpeg's -an -c:v copy, which copies the picture untouched. Browser tools and editors re-encode, which loses a little quality.

Can I remove just the background music and keep the voice?

Not by muting. You need voice separation, which splits speech from music. QuickVeed's AI dubbing uses it to keep music while replacing speech.

How do I remove audio from part of a video?

In an editor, split the clip and delete the audio for that part. With FFmpeg, use the volume filter with an enable range, as shown above.

Can I get the sound back after removing it?

Not from the muted copy. Keep the original file.

Try it with your own video

Remove the old sound, then give the video a new voice-over. Try the free tools first, then upload a video when you want captions, clips or dubbing. QuickVeed plans start at $18/month, and new accounts get a 14-day trial with 75 credits, no card needed. Sign up or see pricing.

Sources

Competitor details in this post were checked against these public pages in October 2026. Products and prices change, so confirm with each vendor before you decide.

• Google Photos Help: edit your videos (Android)
• Apple Support: how to edit videos on iPhone, iPad or Mac
• FFmpeg documentation
• FFmpeg filters documentation