How to Convert M4A to MP3 on Windows/Mac [2024 Guide]

"Need some help to convert M4A to MP3. I have a lot of recordings on my iPhone and the audio format is M4A but find no player supported. How do I change a M4A file to MP3?"

M4A files, encoded with AAC, offer high audio quality at a smaller size, making them a popular choice for music, podcasts, and audiobooks. However, this format may not be supported by all devices, so converting M4A to MP3 enhances compatibility. Under this demand, this post provides 4 methods to convert M4A to MP3 on Windows and Mac, ensuring you can enjoy your favorite audio on any device.

Method 1. How to Convert M4A to MP3 via Desktop Tool

Converting M4A to MP3 on Windows or Mac is a breeze only if you have a reliable music converter. Then, you can effectively get things done in a short time. Next, we will introduce you to 2 powerful M4A to MP3 converters to get you started. Let's explore!

Convert M4A to MP3 on Windows 10 Using Windows Media Player

Windows Media Player offers a workable solution to help convert M4A to MP3 on Windows. Before Windows Media Player 12, you can easily convert M4A files to MP3 format by clicking the "Save As" button. For Windows Media Player 12 and later, you can burn the source M4A songs to a CD and save them in MP3 format. Here's how it works.

Step 1. Right-click your M4A audio files, and select "Open with Windows Media Player". Once it launches, navigate to "Organize" in the top-left corner.

Step 2. Under the "Organize" menu, hit "Options", and you'll see many different functions, like burning audio to CDs, ripping music, etc.

Step 3. Click "Rip Music", on the "Rip settings", select the "Format" as MP3. After that, hit "Apply" and "OK" to convert M4A to MP3 in Windows Media Player.

Convert M4A to MP3 on Windows/Mac Using Audacity

To convert M4A to MP3 on Windows/Mac in an easy way, Audacity is an ideal choice as well. As a free and open-source multi-track audio editing and recording software, Audacity can handle any audio project. While it does not support the M4A format natively, you can install the third-party FFmpeg library to get M4A to MP3 conversion. Detailed steps are listed in the following.

Step 1. Download and FFmpeg on your computer.

Step 2. Launch Audacity. Move to "Edit" > "Preferences" > "Libraries".

Step 3. Hit the "Locate" button to add the FFmpeg library.

Step 4. Drag and drop the M4A song into Audacity.

Step 5. Click "File" > "Export" > "Export as MP3" to start converting M4A to MP3 using Audacity.

Method 2. How to Convert M4A to MP3 with Online Tool

Unlike desktop solutions, online tools can convert M4A to MP3 online for free. While less powerful than desktop software, they are suitable for small, short-duration conversions. These tools often lack batch conversion, limit duration, provide lower quality, or have slower speeds. Here we take CloudConvert as an example.

Step 1. Go to CloudConvert. Hit the "Select File" button to choose your M4A files.

Step 2. Choose MP3 from the "Convert to" drop-down menu. Click the wrench icon to adjust the audio scale, audio bitrate, channels, and more based on your preference.

Step 3. Click "Convert" to start M4A to MP3 conversion. Finally, you can preview the output and download the converted file by clicking the "Download" button.

While CloudConvert offers a viable solution, free accounts can convert files up to 1GB in size with only no more than 25 audio files per day. For unlimited M4A to MP3 conversion, it is better to consider other options.

Method 3. How to Convert M4A to MP3 via All-in-One Music Converter

You may have already found that many M4A to MP3 converters contain limitations like low output quality, limited features, complex operations, etc. To ensure a better listening experience, why not take advantage of a professional music download tool to get your favorite audio in MP3 directly, instead of the conversion process?

TuneFab All-in-one Music Converter is an ideal option for both Windows and Mac computers. Supporting popular streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, etc, this software can effortlessly convert streaming music to MP3, WAV, M4A, and FLAC. Moreover, it can bypass DRM protection, enabling you to enjoy your favorite music on any device or player. This method can directly eliminate the steps of iTunes M4A to MP3 encoding, which makes this tool considered the best MP3 music downloader overall.

Step 1. Select Apple Music as the Source Service

Launch TuneFab All-in-one Music Converter, and then select Apple Music in the main interface. Next, log in to the built-in Apple Music web player with your account. Otherwise, you can't access the full library.

Step 2. Add Apple Music to Convert

Browse the Apple Music library to find your favorite songs, playlists, or albums. Then, drag and drop them to the conversion list on the right. Then, TuneFab will automatically fetch music information.

Step 3. Select MP3 as the Output Format

In the conversion list, you can simply customize the output format, sample rate, and bitrate of each song. Here, click on the "Convert all files to" menu on the upper right to select MP3 as the output format.

Step 4. Convert M4A to MP3

Hit the checkbox to select your wanted music tracks to convert. Then, simply click the "Convert All" button to start converting Apple Music to MP3. After that, you can move to the "Finished" tab and hit "View Output File" to locate all your downloads on your PC. Now, you successfully convert M4A to MP3 on Windows/Mac.

FAQs About Achieving M4A to MP3 Audio Conversion

Q1: M4A vs. MP3: Which One is Better?

M4A is the extension for standard MPEG-4 audio files, which typically contain digital audio streams encoded using the AAC or ALAC compression standards. MP3 is currently the most popular digital music file format. It uses lossy compression technology to reduce the size of audio files while maintaining the sound quality as much as possible.

Although M4A has a smaller size and better audio quality compared to MP3, MP3 is still the most popular audio format because it has better compatibility and can play music on most devices and players, while M4A is only suitable for playback on AAC-supported players.

Q2: What is the Free Program to Convert M4A to MP3?

There are many free M4A to MP3 converters for Windows and Mac available such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, Audacity, CloudConvert, and more. However, some of them require complex steps while some offer low output quality. For the best M4A to MP3 converter, TuneFab All-in-One Music Converter is worth considering.

Q3: Can I Convert M4A to MP3 on Mac QuickTime Player?

No. While QuickTime Player can be used for basic file format conversion, it only supports exporting media files to M4A format. If you need to convert M4A to MP3 on Mac, it is advisable to use other tools.

Conclusion

Overall, converting M4A to MP3 is a simple task. This guide offers effective solutions on how to convert M4A to MP3 on Windows and Mac, covering selections of software and online tools. You can choose the method that suits you best based on your needs and preferences.

If you need a more direct and full-featured MP3 downloader, TuneFab All-in-One Music Converter comes as your ideal choice. It eliminates the step of downloading M4A files and directly converts songs from streaming music to high-quality MP3, enabling you to enjoy your favorite music anytime, anywhere. Now, try it out and download it for trial!