Convert HEVC to AAC — Free Online Tool
Extract and convert the audio track from an HEVC/H.265 video file into a standalone AAC audio file. This tool discards the video stream entirely and re-encodes the audio using AAC at 128k bitrate — ideal for pulling podcast-ready audio or music from high-efficiency video sources.
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FFmpeg Command
Copy this command to run the same conversion locally with FFmpeg on your desktop. Download FFmpeg
Drop your HEVC file here
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Settings
Note: Browser-based encoding uses approximate quality targets. For precise CRF compression, copy the FFmpeg command above and run it on your desktop.
Estimated output:
Conversion Complete!
DownloadHow It Works
HEVC files contain both a video stream encoded with the H.265 codec and one or more audio streams, often encoded in formats like AAC, AC-3, or EAC-3. This conversion extracts the audio stream and re-encodes it using the native FFmpeg AAC encoder at a 128k bitrate, producing a standalone .aac audio file. The H.265 video stream is completely discarded — no video processing occurs at all. Because the source audio may not already be AAC (or may be AAC at a different bitrate or profile), a full decode-and-re-encode pass is performed rather than a simple stream copy. The result is a compact, widely compatible AAC audio file stripped of all video data.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg program. In this browser-based tool, FFmpeg runs locally via WebAssembly (FFmpeg.wasm), so no file data leaves your device. |
-i input.hevc
|
Specifies the input file — an HEVC/H.265 encoded video file. FFmpeg reads both the H.265 video stream and the audio stream from this container, though only the audio will be used in the output. |
-c:a aac
|
Sets the audio codec to AAC using FFmpeg's built-in AAC encoder. This decodes whatever audio format is in the HEVC source and re-encodes it as AAC-LC, the most compatible AAC profile for Apple devices, web streaming, and mobile playback. |
-b:a 128k
|
Sets the AAC audio output bitrate to 128 kilobits per second. At this bitrate, AAC delivers quality comparable to 192k MP3, making it suitable for speech, podcasts, and general music listening with a compact file size. |
output.aac
|
Defines the output filename and format. The .aac extension tells FFmpeg to write a raw ADTS AAC file — an audio-only container that cannot hold video, which is why the H.265 video stream from the source HEVC file is automatically discarded. |
Common Use Cases
- Extract the audio commentary or narration track from an HEVC screen recording to create a standalone podcast episode or voiceover file
- Pull the music or soundtrack from an H.265 encoded movie or TV episode rip for offline listening on an iPhone or iPad, which natively supports AAC
- Convert the audio from an HEVC drone footage file to AAC so it can be used as a standalone ambient sound clip in a video editing project
- Strip audio from an H.265 video lecture or tutorial for playback on an iPod or older Apple device that cannot decode HEVC video
- Extract interview audio recorded as HEVC on a modern mirrorless camera to produce an AAC file ready for upload to a podcast hosting platform
- Produce a lightweight AAC audio preview from a large 4K HEVC master file without needing to transcode or process the heavy video stream
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, this is a lossy conversion. The audio from your HEVC file is fully decoded to raw PCM and then re-encoded into AAC at 128k bitrate. If the original audio was already AAC, you are re-encoding from lossy to lossy, which introduces a second generation of compression artifacts. For most speech and general listening, 128k AAC is entirely transparent, but if the source audio is high-quality music or was previously stored at a higher bitrate, you may want to increase the bitrate to 192k or 256k using the quality selector before converting.
The video stream is completely dropped. FFmpeg does not process, decode, or include any of the H.265 video data in the output file. The .aac output is a pure audio container — it cannot hold video at all. This means even very large 4K or 8K HEVC source files will produce a relatively small output file, since only the audio track is retained.
Yes, AAC is Apple's preferred audio codec and is natively supported across all Apple platforms including iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and the Apple Music ecosystem. Files produced by this tool use the standard AAC-LC profile, which is the most broadly compatible AAC variant and plays back without any additional software or codec installation on iOS, macOS, Windows 11, and most modern Android devices.
When the output format is .aac, FFmpeg automatically infers that the output is audio-only and ignores the video stream by default, since the AAC container cannot carry video data. The -vn flag (which explicitly disables video output) is therefore redundant here. If you were outputting to a container that supports both audio and video — such as .mp4 — you would need -vn to ensure only audio is written.
Replace the value after -b:a with your desired bitrate. For example, use '-b:a 192k' for higher quality or '-b:a 96k' for a smaller file size. AAC generally achieves transparent quality for most content at 128k–192k, making values above 256k offer diminishing returns. You can adjust this directly on the tool page using the quality selector before running the conversion, and the displayed FFmpeg command will update automatically to reflect your choice.
The single-file command shown on this page can be adapted for batch processing in a terminal. On Linux or macOS, you can run: for f in *.hevc; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:a aac -b:a 128k "${f%.hevc}.aac"; done. On Windows Command Prompt, use a for loop: for %f in (*.hevc) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:a aac -b:a 128k "%~nf.aac". This will process every HEVC file in the current directory and output a matching .aac file for each.
Technical Notes
The AAC output from this tool uses the native FFmpeg AAC encoder (not libfdk_aac), which produces standards-compliant AAC-LC (Low Complexity) audio. AAC-LC is the most universally supported AAC profile across streaming platforms, mobile devices, and desktop players. The .aac file format uses the ADTS (Audio Data Transport Stream) framing, which is the standard raw AAC container — distinct from AAC wrapped inside an MP4/M4A container. Most players handle ADTS .aac files correctly, but if you encounter compatibility issues with a specific player or platform, wrapping the output in an .m4a container (by changing the output filename extension) may improve compatibility while keeping the AAC audio stream identical. Note that HEVC files often carry audio in non-AAC formats such as AC-3, EAC-3, or Opus, so a full re-encode is always performed rather than a stream copy. Metadata such as title, artist, or chapter markers from the source HEVC file is not preserved in the AAC output.