Convert MOV to FLAC — Free Online Tool
Extract and convert the audio track from a MOV file into a lossless FLAC file, preserving every detail of the original audio without any quality degradation. Ideal for pulling studio-quality audio from QuickTime recordings or professional video projects where the source audio — typically AAC or PCM — needs to be archived or edited in a pure audio context.
to
FFmpeg Command
Copy this command to run the same conversion locally with FFmpeg on your desktop. Download FFmpeg
Drop your MOV 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
During this conversion, FFmpeg discards the video stream entirely and decodes the audio track embedded in the MOV container — most commonly AAC or PCM — then re-encodes it using the FLAC codec. Because FLAC is lossless, the output faithfully represents the decoded audio waveform with no perceptual quality loss. If the MOV source contains AAC audio, that compressed audio is first fully decoded to raw PCM, then losslessly compressed into FLAC — meaning the final FLAC reflects the quality ceiling of the original AAC encode, not the raw source. If the MOV contains uncompressed PCM or Apple Lossless (ALAC) audio, the FLAC output is a true lossless representation of the original. The -compression_level flag controls how aggressively FLAC compresses the data, affecting file size and encode time but never audio quality.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg binary — the underlying engine that powers this browser-based tool via WebAssembly. The same command shown here runs identically on your local desktop FFmpeg installation for files over 1GB. |
-i input.mov
|
Specifies the input QuickTime MOV file. FFmpeg reads the container and identifies all streams inside it — typically a video stream, an audio stream (commonly AAC or PCM), and potentially chapters or metadata atoms specific to the MOV format. |
-c:a flac
|
Sets the audio codec to FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec), instructing FFmpeg to decode the source audio from the MOV — whatever its original codec — and re-encode it as lossless FLAC. No audio data is perceptually discarded during FLAC encoding itself. |
-compression_level 5
|
Controls how hard the FLAC encoder works to compress the audio data, on a scale of 0 (fastest, largest file) to 8 (slowest, smallest file). Level 5 is the FLAC default and balances encode speed with file size efficiently — the decoded audio is identical regardless of the level chosen. |
output.flac
|
Defines the output filename and format. The .flac extension tells FFmpeg to write a standalone FLAC audio file, which implicitly excludes the video, subtitle, and chapter streams present in the source MOV — only the decoded and re-encoded audio track is written. |
Common Use Cases
- Archive the audio from a professionally recorded QuickTime interview or documentary clip as a lossless FLAC file for long-term storage without worrying about generation loss during future edits
- Extract a high-quality music performance recorded in Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve as a MOV and deliver it to a mastering engineer in FLAC format
- Pull the audio from a MOV screen recording of a software demo to use as source material for a voiceover or podcast, preserving the full dynamic range before any lossy export
- Convert ALAC or PCM audio embedded in a MOV file to FLAC for compatibility with music players and audio software (like foobar2000 or Audacity) that prefer open-format lossless audio
- Prepare audio tracks from MOV camera footage for integration into a DAW project, where FLAC is the preferred import format for lossless stems
- Strip video from a MOV file containing recorded field audio or Foley work and save the isolated audio as FLAC for a sound design library
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on what audio codec is inside the MOV file. If the MOV contains uncompressed PCM or Apple Lossless (ALAC) audio, the FLAC output will be a perfect lossless representation — no quality is lost at any stage. If the MOV contains AAC audio (the most common case), FFmpeg must first decode that lossy AAC stream to PCM before encoding to FLAC. The FLAC file will be lossless, but it can only reproduce the quality ceiling set by the original AAC encode — it does not recover detail that AAC's compression already discarded. Think of it as a lossless snapshot of a lossy source.
FLAC supports rich metadata through its Vorbis Comment tagging system, and FFmpeg will attempt to map compatible metadata fields — such as title, artist, album, and date — from the MOV container's iTunes-style atoms into FLAC tags. However, MOV-specific metadata like chapter markers, multiple audio track information, and GPS or camera data embedded by Apple devices will be lost, as FLAC has no equivalent structures for these fields. It is worth inspecting the output file's tags in a tool like Kid3 or foobar2000 to confirm what transferred correctly.
This is expected when the MOV source contains lossy AAC audio. AAC achieves small file sizes through perceptual compression that discards audio data, while FLAC compresses losslessly, storing the full decoded PCM waveform. A decoded AAC stream at 48kHz stereo is uncompressed PCM data, and even FLAC's efficient lossless compression typically results in files 2–4x larger than an equivalent AAC encode. If file size is a concern and the source was already AAC, consider whether FLAC's lossless guarantee is necessary for your use case.
You can change the compression level by modifying the -compression_level value to any integer from 0 to 8, for example: ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:a flac -compression_level 8 output.flac. Level 0 encodes fastest with the least compression (largest file), while level 8 takes the longest but produces the smallest FLAC file. Crucially, this setting has absolutely no effect on audio quality — every compression level produces a bit-for-bit identical decoded audio output. The default level 5 is a well-balanced choice for most use cases.
Yes. On Linux or macOS, you can use a shell loop: for f in *.mov; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:a flac -compression_level 5 "${f%.mov}.flac"; done. On Windows Command Prompt, use: for %f in (*.mov) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:a flac -compression_level 5 "%~nf.flac". Each MOV file in the directory will be processed sequentially, producing a matching FLAC file. This is particularly valuable for this tool's displayed command when you have a large library of QuickTime files exceeding the 1GB browser processing limit.
FLAC is a pure audio format with no support for video data, so FFmpeg automatically drops all video streams during this conversion. You do not need to pass a -vn flag explicitly — FFmpeg recognizes that the FLAC output container cannot hold video and excludes it. Similarly, any subtitle tracks, chapter markers, or secondary audio tracks present in the MOV file will not be included in the output. If your MOV has multiple audio tracks, FFmpeg will by default map and mix the first audio track; use the -map flag if you need to target a specific track.
Technical Notes
MOV files from Apple devices and professional NLEs like Final Cut Pro frequently contain AAC audio at 44.1kHz or 48kHz, though high-end production workflows may embed PCM (codec: pcm_s24le or pcm_s16le) or Apple Lossless (ALAC) audio tracks. FFmpeg handles all of these source codecs when writing to FLAC, but the conversion path differs: PCM and ALAC sources result in a genuinely lossless end-to-end chain, while AAC sources involve a lossy-to-lossless transcode that preserves decoded fidelity but cannot reconstruct data discarded during the original AAC encoding. FLAC supports sample rates up to 655kHz and bit depths up to 32-bit integers, making it more than sufficient for professional 24-bit/96kHz audio from high-end MOV sources. One notable limitation is that FLAC does not support floating-point PCM — if your MOV contains 32-bit float audio (rare but possible from certain DAW exports), FFmpeg will convert it to 32-bit integer PCM before FLAC encoding. Multi-channel audio (5.1 surround) embedded in MOV is fully supported by FLAC and will be preserved in the channel layout. The output FLAC file will not include MOV-specific features such as edit lists, timecode tracks, or Apple ProRes metadata.