How do I remove audio from an existing video?

Removing audio from video is surprisingly common. People may want to remove audio for a variety of reasons, including: replacing it with different audio, extracting the audio track, troubleshooting audio sync issues, creating silent videos or GIFs, or editing together footage from multiple sources. Whatever the reason, removing audio from video is possible using both desktop and online tools.

In this guide, we’ll overview the main methods for stripping audio from video files. This includes using desktop video editors, online audio remover tools, mobile apps, converting to GIFs, and more. With the right software, you can delete audio from videos in just a few clicks. We’ll also look at how to troubleshoot if you run into any issues with removing audio from your clips.

Download the Video File

The first step in removing audio from a video is to download the video file to your computer or device. If the video is hosted on a platform like YouTube or Facebook, you can use a free online converter tool to download it.

For YouTube videos, go to the video page and copy the URL. Then paste the URL into a converter site like Online Video Converter and click the “Download” button. You can select the video format and quality. Facebook videos can be downloaded using sites like FBDown.

If the video is hosted on a website, you may be able to right click on the video player and select “Save Video As” to download it. Browser extensions like Video Downloader Professional can also help capture videos from many sites.

For videos saved on your phone or camera, connect your device to your computer and locate the video files to copy them onto your hard drive. Now you have the video file available on your computer for editing.

Use Desktop Video Editors

Desktop video editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, and Vegas Pro provide advanced tools for removing audio from videos. Here are the general steps to follow in a desktop editor:

Import the video file into your video editing software. In the timeline, the video and audio tracks will be separated into different layers.

Mute or delete the audio track completely. You can do this by right clicking on the audio track and selecting Mute or Delete.

Export the video from the editing software without the audio track. Most programs allow you to export video in common formats like MP4, MOV, AVI.

Professional video editors like Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro provide precise tools for removing or replacing audio tracks, including options like keyframes for fading audio in and out.

The benefit of a desktop editor is having fine-tuned control over the audio removal and supporting advanced video formats. The drawback is the learning curve with professional software.

Use Online Tools

Online video editors accessed through a web browser provide a simple way to remove audio from videos without needing to download software. Some popular online tools include:

VEED is an online video editor that lets you mute videos or remove audio tracks completely in just a few clicks. You don’t need to install anything – it works fully in your browser.

Adobe Express also provides a free web-based video editor where you can delete audio from video clips quickly and easily, no experience required.

The key benefits of using online tools are that they don’t require downloading or installing desktop software and many offer basic editing capabilities for free. The process tends to be more straightforward compared to desktop video editors. However, advanced options may require upgrading to a paid account.

For simple audio removal from videos, online video editors provide a fast, accessible option directly in your web browser.

Mobile Apps

Mobile phones and tablets provide convenient, on-the-go video editing capabilities. Popular mobile video editing apps like VN – Video Editor & Maker, KineMaster, CapCut, and Adobe Premiere Rush allow you to edit videos directly on your mobile device.

To remove audio from a video using a mobile app:

1. Download and install a video editing app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device. Some top choices include VN, KineMaster, CapCut, and Adobe Premiere Rush.
2. Import the video file into the app that you want to edit.
3. Look for an option to “Mute Audio”, “Remove Audio”, or “Separate Audio”. This is usually found in the audio settings or options for that clip.
4. Select that option to strip out the audio from the video.
5. Export and save the now audio-less video to your camera roll or device storage.

Mobile apps provide quick and easy ways to remove audio directly on your phone or tablet. Their intuitive interfaces make it simple, often with just a couple taps.

Convert to GIF

Converting a video to an animated GIF file will automatically remove any audio from the original video. This is because the GIF file format does not support audio – it can only contain still or animated image data. Some popular free online tools and mobile apps that can convert videos to GIFs include:

Adobe Express – Adobe’s free online tool lets you turn videos into GIFs in just a few clicks. Just upload your video, select the start/end times, and download the resulting silent GIF.

Ezgif – Ezgif is another online converter that supports MP4, AVI, MOV, WEBM, and other common video formats. It generates high quality GIFs up to 100MB in size.

VEED.io – VEED’s MP4 to GIF converter works quickly to remove audio and convert your videos. You can also use it in reverse to turn GIFs into short, soundless videos.

So if you want to easily extract just the video portion of a clip, converting to GIF is a fast way to automatically remove any audio track at the same time. The resulting GIF can then be shared online or used in silent presentations and videos.

Extract Audio Track

One method to remove audio from a video is to extract just the audio track, leaving you with only the audio file. This can be done using command line tools like ffmpeg or open source shell tools.

Ffmpeg is a free and open-source command line tool that can record, convert and stream audio and video. To extract an audio track from a video file using ffmpeg, you’d use a command like this:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -acodec copy output.aac

The -i flag specifies the input file, -vn tells ffmpeg to not include the video stream, and -acodec copy copies the audio codec without re-encoding. This results in an output audio file like output.aac containing just the extracted audio.

There are also many open source shell scripts and tools for Linux/Unix systems that can extract audio tracks. For example, vidextools provides handy wrappers around ffmpeg to easily extract just audio into various formats.

So command line tools provide a free and customizable way to automate extracting the audio stream from a video file.

Re-encode the Video

One way to remove the audio from a video is to re-encode the video without the audio track. This process essentially creates a new video file without audio by converting the original video file. Re-encoding a video can strip out the audio while preserving the video track.

There are several command line tools that allow you to re-encode video files, such as Handbrake. With Handbrake, you can specify encoding settings to strip out the audio when converting the video. The advantage of using a command line tool is that you have more control over the encoding parameters.

One downside to re-encoding is potential loss of video quality, especially if you use a high compression codec. Each time a video is re-encoded, some quality can be lost. The amount of quality loss depends on the codec and encoding settings used. To preserve quality, it’s best to use lossless video codecs when re-encoding.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues removing audio from your video, here are some solutions for common problems:

If the original audio track is still audible after following the steps to remove it, try re-exporting the video file. Sometimes audio remnants can persist in the rendered video if not fully re-encoded.

On mobile apps, check that the volume/mute controls are correctly adjusted for the clip itself and not just device-wide. Toggling mute on and off for the specific clip may help.

If using keyframe editing in desktop software, make sure you have properly deleted or muted all keyframes containing audio rather than just portions. Any remaining audio keyframes can cause the sound to still come through.

For trouble removing audio tracks in Windows Movie Maker, disable all audio tracks then re-add only the desired tracks. This forces the unused audio to be removed from the final export.

If you need to remove audio from video clips in bulk, try using a batch processing tool for automated editing rather than removing sound from videos one by one.

As a last resort, fully re-encode the video using Handbrake or FFmpeg. This will strip and rebuild the file from scratch without any remnants of the original audio.

Conclusion

To recap, there are various ways to remove audio tracks from videos based on your needs and the tools you have available:

– Using free desktop editing programs like Shotcut or OpenShot allows precise editing and full control over the export.

– Online tools like Clideo, Apowersoft, and Clipchamp offer quick and easy browser-based audio removal.

– Mobile apps like InShot, KineMaster, or VideoShow provide on-the-go editing options.

– Converting videos to GIFs will automatically remove audio.

– Extracting the audio into a separate track is also possible through FFmpeg or other command line tools.

– Re-encoding the video using Handbrake or other encoders can strip out audio.

– If you run into issues with audio sync, codec support, quality loss, or other problems – try troubleshooting settings, source files, and output formats.

For more help removing audio tracks from videos, these additional resources are useful:

– Adobe support articles on working with audio and video

– Video editing tutorials and guides on YouTube

– Online forums and communities for video editing questions

With the right tools and techniques, you can successfully remove audio from videos for any project or purpose. The options range from quick online fixes to advanced video editing workflows. Focus on finding the method that works reliably within your timeframe and skill level.