Trim Audio

Trim a recording to just the part you want. Load an audio file, drag the start and end handles or type exact times, add a short fade in and fade out, preview the selection and download the trimmed clip. Perfect for ringtones, voice memos, podcast clips and music samples — and your audio never leaves your device.

How to trim an audio file

1. Choose an audio file — MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG or any format your browser can play.
2. Click on the waveform near the start handle to move it, or type the start time in seconds; do the same for the end.
3. Add a fade in and fade out so the clip does not start or end abruptly.
4. Press “Preview selection” to hear exactly what will be saved.
5. Adjust and preview again until it sounds right, then download the trimmed WAV.

The highlighted part of the waveform is what you keep. The waveform helps you spot silence at the start and end, which usually shows as a flat line.

Why fades matter

Cutting audio in the middle of a sound creates a click, because the waveform jumps suddenly from a value to silence. A short fade — even 0.05 seconds — removes that click. Longer fades are a musical choice: a half-second fade in and one- to three-second fade out make song excerpts, ringtones and podcast clips sound polished. Set either fade to zero for a hard cut, for example when trimming silence before speech.

Common trimming jobs

Finding precise cut points

• Zoom in mentally by typing times to two decimal places (hundredths of a second).
• Start slightly early before speech — cutting into the first consonant sounds unnatural.
• End after the natural decay of the last note or word, not the instant it stops.
• Preview each change; small adjustments of 0.1–0.2 s make a big difference.
• For music, cut on a beat so the clip feels complete.

Worked example: a ringtone

A user wants the chorus of a song they recorded as a ringtone. They load the file, click the waveform to set the start at 45.20 s and the end at 72.80 s — a 27.6-second clip — add a 0.5-second fade in and a 2-second fade out, preview it twice and download the WAV. Their phone’s ringtone settings accept audio files; some phones need the file converted to M4A or placed in a specific folder.

About the output

The trimmed clip is saved as an uncompressed 16-bit WAV at your device’s audio sample rate, stereo if the source is stereo. WAV is universally compatible and avoids adding another round of compression artefacts, but files are large — about 10 MB per stereo minute. If you need a smaller file, convert the WAV to MP3 or AAC with any audio app.

Trim vs other edits

Trimming keeps one continuous section. To remove a section in the middle, trim the part before and the part after as two clips and merge them. To repeat a section, use a looper. To change speed or pitch, use a speed changer before or after trimming. Keeping each step simple makes it easier to get a clean result.

Trimming voice recordings

Voice memos and interviews usually begin with a few seconds of fumbling and end with the recorder being switched off. Trim both ends so the clip starts just before the first word and ends after the last. Leave around a quarter of a second of natural room sound before the first word — cutting right up to the syllable sounds abrupt. For long recordings, note the timestamps of the sections you want while listening, then trim each one separately.

Checking the result

Always preview the whole selection before downloading, listening especially to the first and last second. If you hear a click at the start, add a slightly longer fade in; if the ending sounds cut off, move the end handle a little later so the last sound decays naturally. Headphones make small problems much easier to hear than laptop speakers.

Copyright

Trim recordings you made or have the rights to use. Excerpts of commercial music may be fine for personal ringtones on your own phone but usually cannot be shared or published without permission.

Privacy

Audio files are decoded and trimmed entirely in your browser with the Web Audio API. Nothing is uploaded or stored.