Does cutting an MP3 here reduce the audio quality?

Not when you use the MP3 download. The tool reads the file's MPEG frame table and copies the frames inside your selection byte for byte, so the kept audio is identical to the source — no decode, no re-encode, no second round of lossy compression. Most online cutters decode to PCM and re-encode at some default bitrate, which quietly adds a generation of loss even if you cut nothing. The WAV download does decode, but WAV is uncompressed, so nothing is lost there either.

Why does the MP3 cut land a few milliseconds off my timecode?

An MP3 is a chain of independent frames, each holding 1152 samples — about 26 ms at 44.1 kHz. A lossless copy can only start and end on a frame edge, so the tool snaps your handles to the nearest one and tells you where they landed. If you need a cut inside that 26 ms window — trimming the first breath off a vocal, for example — use the WAV download, which is accurate to the single sample.

Is my audio uploaded to a server?

No. The file is read with the File API, decoded by the browser's own Web Audio engine, and the result is assembled into a Blob in the page. No request carries the audio anywhere, which is why the tool works offline once the page has loaded. mp3cut.net, Clideo, and most of the first page of Google upload your file, hold it for some retention period, and cap the size on the free tier; none of that applies here.

What is the largest file I can trim?

There is no limit written into the tool — the ceiling is your device's memory. Decoded audio is held as 32-bit floats, so stereo 44.1 kHz costs roughly 21 MB of RAM per minute: a 30-minute file needs about 630 MB and still works comfortably on a laptop, while a three-hour recording will struggle on a phone. The lossless MP3 path is far lighter, but the waveform still needs the decoded version.

Which formats can I load?

Anything the browser can decode: MP3, WAV, M4A/AAC, OGG, Opus, FLAC, and WebM audio. Lossless frame copying is MP3-only — it depends on the MPEG frame structure, which the other formats do not have. For a WAV, M4A, or FLAC source the MP3 button is hidden and you export WAV instead. Safari's FLAC and Opus support is patchier than Chrome's, so a file that fails to decode there often loads fine in Chrome or Firefox.

Can I hear a faint click at the start of the trimmed MP3?

Occasionally, and it is inherent to the format rather than a bug. Layer III uses a bit reservoir: a frame may borrow space from the frames before it, so the first one or two frames of any cut can decode with slightly less detail than they had in context. The audible effect is a soft tick in the first ~50 ms. If it matters, start the selection in a quiet moment, or export WAV with a 0.05 s fade in.

Why is my WAV file so much bigger than the MP3 I started with?

WAV stores every sample uncompressed: 16-bit stereo at 44.1 kHz is about 10 MB per minute, regardless of the source. A 4-minute track that was 5 MB as a 160 kbps MP3 comes out around 42 MB as WAV. The tool shows the projected WAV size next to your selection so there is no surprise. Converting back to MP3 afterwards cannot recover what the original encoder discarded, so cut losslessly when you can.

Can I remove a section from the middle instead of keeping one?

Not in one pass — the tool keeps the selection rather than deleting it. To drop a middle section, export the part before it, then the part after it, and join the two files. For MP3s that is as simple as concatenating them, since frames are self-contained; on Windows, copy /b part1.mp3 + part2.mp3 out.mp3 produces a playable file.

Does the trimmed MP3 keep the title, artist, and cover art?

No. ID3 tags live outside the audio frames and are deliberately left behind, along with the Xing header that describes the original length — carrying it over would make players report the wrong duration. Add tags back in your player or music manager if you need them; the audio itself is untouched.

Does the tool work on a phone?

Yes, on Chrome for Android and Safari on iOS. Handle dragging uses pointer events, so it responds to touch as well as a mouse. The practical caveat is memory: iOS is aggressive about reclaiming it from background tabs, so keep the page in the foreground while you work and download the cut before switching apps.

Audio Trimmer — Cut MP3 Online Without Re-Encoding

Drop an audio file here, or

Choose file

MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, FLAC — the file stays on your device, nothing is uploaded.

Load an audio file, drag the two handles across the waveform, and download just the part you want. MP3 files are cut by copying whole MPEG frames, so the audio you keep is bit-for-bit identical to the original — no re-encoding, no generation loss. Everything runs in the browser tab through the Web Audio API: your file is never uploaded, so there is no size cap, no queue, and nothing to delete afterwards.

How it works

1
Add your audio file Drag an MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, or FLAC file onto the drop zone, or click Choose file. The file is read straight off your disk into the page — no upload, no progress bar waiting on a server. A full waveform appears as soon as the browser finishes decoding, which takes a second or two even for an hour-long podcast.
2
Select the part you want to keep Drag the two handles on the waveform, or grab anywhere in the middle to sweep out a fresh selection. For frame-exact work, type timecodes into the Start and End fields: 1:23.500 and 83.5 both mean the same point. Press Play selection to hear exactly what will be exported, fades included.
3
Add fades if you need them Fade in and fade out are set in seconds and use a quarter-sine curve rather than a straight line, so the level sounds steady through the ramp instead of rushing at the end. A 0.05 s fade is enough to kill the click you get from cutting mid-waveform; 1–2 s suits an intro or an outro.
4
Download MP3 or WAV Download MP3 for a lossless frame copy that keeps the original bitrate and file size ratio. Download WAV for a sample-accurate 16-bit cut with the fades baked in — the right choice when the clip goes into an editor, a transcript tool, or a video timeline.

Your data stays private

All processing happens entirely in your browser. No files, text, or data are ever sent to our servers. You can disconnect from the internet and this tool will still work.

Frequently asked questions

Does cutting an MP3 here reduce the audio quality?: Not when you use the MP3 download. The tool reads the file's MPEG frame table and copies the frames inside your selection byte for byte, so the kept audio is identical to the source — no decode, no re-encode, no second round of lossy compression. Most online cutters decode to PCM and re-encode at some default bitrate, which quietly adds a generation of loss even if you cut nothing. The WAV download does decode, but WAV is uncompressed, so nothing is lost there either.
Why does the MP3 cut land a few milliseconds off my timecode?: An MP3 is a chain of independent frames, each holding 1152 samples — about 26 ms at 44.1 kHz. A lossless copy can only start and end on a frame edge, so the tool snaps your handles to the nearest one and tells you where they landed. If you need a cut inside that 26 ms window — trimming the first breath off a vocal, for example — use the WAV download, which is accurate to the single sample.
Is my audio uploaded to a server?: No. The file is read with the File API, decoded by the browser's own Web Audio engine, and the result is assembled into a Blob in the page. No request carries the audio anywhere, which is why the tool works offline once the page has loaded. mp3cut.net, Clideo, and most of the first page of Google upload your file, hold it for some retention period, and cap the size on the free tier; none of that applies here.
What is the largest file I can trim?: There is no limit written into the tool — the ceiling is your device's memory. Decoded audio is held as 32-bit floats, so stereo 44.1 kHz costs roughly 21 MB of RAM per minute: a 30-minute file needs about 630 MB and still works comfortably on a laptop, while a three-hour recording will struggle on a phone. The lossless MP3 path is far lighter, but the waveform still needs the decoded version.
Which formats can I load?: Anything the browser can decode: MP3, WAV, M4A/AAC, OGG, Opus, FLAC, and WebM audio. Lossless frame copying is MP3-only — it depends on the MPEG frame structure, which the other formats do not have. For a WAV, M4A, or FLAC source the MP3 button is hidden and you export WAV instead. Safari's FLAC and Opus support is patchier than Chrome's, so a file that fails to decode there often loads fine in Chrome or Firefox.
Can I hear a faint click at the start of the trimmed MP3?: Occasionally, and it is inherent to the format rather than a bug. Layer III uses a bit reservoir: a frame may borrow space from the frames before it, so the first one or two frames of any cut can decode with slightly less detail than they had in context. The audible effect is a soft tick in the first ~50 ms. If it matters, start the selection in a quiet moment, or export WAV with a 0.05 s fade in.
Why is my WAV file so much bigger than the MP3 I started with?: WAV stores every sample uncompressed: 16-bit stereo at 44.1 kHz is about 10 MB per minute, regardless of the source. A 4-minute track that was 5 MB as a 160 kbps MP3 comes out around 42 MB as WAV. The tool shows the projected WAV size next to your selection so there is no surprise. Converting back to MP3 afterwards cannot recover what the original encoder discarded, so cut losslessly when you can.
Can I remove a section from the middle instead of keeping one?: Not in one pass — the tool keeps the selection rather than deleting it. To drop a middle section, export the part before it, then the part after it, and join the two files. For MP3s that is as simple as concatenating them, since frames are self-contained; on Windows, copy /b part1.mp3 + part2.mp3 out.mp3 produces a playable file.
Does the trimmed MP3 keep the title, artist, and cover art?: No. ID3 tags live outside the audio frames and are deliberately left behind, along with the Xing header that describes the original length — carrying it over would make players report the wrong duration. Add tags back in your player or music manager if you need them; the audio itself is untouched.
Does the tool work on a phone?: Yes, on Chrome for Android and Safari on iOS. Handle dragging uses pointer events, so it responds to touch as well as a mouse. The practical caveat is memory: iOS is aggressive about reclaiming it from background tabs, so keep the page in the foreground while you work and download the cut before switching apps.

From the blog

How to Cut an MP3 Without Losing Any Quality Why most online MP3 cutters re-encode your file, what a frame-aligned cut actually does, and when to export WAV instead. Read the post →

Audio Trimmer — Cut MP3 Online Without Re-Encoding

How it works

Your data stays private

Frequently asked questions

From the blog

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