Remove audio from video
Removing audio from a video is one of the simplest video operations - drop the audio track from the container, keep the video stream untouched. No re-encoding, no quality loss, seconds to run. Here's the exact command and what Wave currently handles.
What actually changes
The operation "remove audio" (also called mute video, strip audio, or drop audio track) is a container-level edit. Every video file has one or more media tracks - the video track carries compressed video samples, one or more audio tracks carry compressed audio samples. Removing audio means writing a new container with only the video track: same encoded video bytes, no audio bytes, updated header. Nothing is decoded, nothing is re-encoded, and the video quality is bit-for-bit identical to the source. Runs in seconds regardless of source length because there's no CPU-heavy encode step.
The size drop is proportional to the audio bitrate over total bitrate. For a typical 1080p H.264 video with 128 kbps AAC audio at 6 Mbps total, removing audio drops the file by about 2% (audio was 128/6128 of the total). For a 720p video with heavy audio (music-focused content at 320 kbps), the drop is larger - maybe 8-10%. For a compressed-video-heavy file (screen recording at 500 kbps with 128 kbps audio), audio was closer to 20% of the total, so the file shrinks noticeably.
The ffmpeg one-liner runs the operation in a single command: `ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c copy -an output.mp4`. The `-c copy` flag tells ffmpeg to copy all streams without re-encoding; the `-an` flag drops audio streams. On a 1 GB file this takes about 10-30 seconds regardless of source length - the operation is bounded by disk read/write speed, not encoding. The output is a valid MP4 that plays in every video player as a silent video.
Wave's current build doesn't expose a "remove audio only" button in the UI - the two conversion targets are MP4 (with audio) and MP3 (audio-only extract). A dedicated stream-drop UI is on the roadmap. Until then: for an MP4 that already needs a container conversion (from MOV, MKV, WebM), Wave produces a normal MP4 with audio preserved; run the ffmpeg command above on the output to silence it. For an MP4 that only needs audio removed and nothing else, ffmpeg locally is the fastest path today - two seconds of typing beats installing HandBrake, and HandBrake's audio-remove is buried three menus deep.
Three steps.
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Step 1
Open Terminal (macOS/Linux) or Command Prompt / PowerShell (Windows) in the folder containing your video.
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Step 2
Run: ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c copy -an output.mp4. Substitute your actual filenames.
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Step 3
The output.mp4 is the same video with no audio track. Takes seconds regardless of source length.
Answers, specifically.
Is this a re-encode?
No. The video track is copied byte-for-byte from the source; only the audio track is dropped. No decoding, no re-encoding, no visible quality change. The operation is bounded by disk speed, not CPU.
What size reduction should I expect?
Proportional to how much of the file was audio. For a typical H.264 + AAC MP4 with 6 Mbps video and 128 kbps audio, the reduction is about 2%. For music-heavy content with 320 kbps audio and a compressed video track, maybe 8-15%. For a screen recording with 500 kbps video and 128 kbps audio, the reduction can hit 20%.
Does Wave have a "remove audio" button?
Not currently. Wave's UI exposes two conversion targets: MP4 (video + audio) and MP3 (audio-only extract from a video). A dedicated stream-drop button is on the roadmap. For today, ffmpeg locally is the fastest path: `ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c copy -an output.mp4`.
What if I don't have ffmpeg installed?
On macOS: `brew install ffmpeg` (needs Homebrew). On Windows: download the essentials build from https://gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/ or install via winget: `winget install ffmpeg`. On Linux: `apt install ffmpeg` (Debian/Ubuntu) or `dnf install ffmpeg` (Fedora). Install takes 2-5 minutes; conversion runs instantly afterward.
HandBrake to remove audio?
Yes but buried. HandBrake → Load source → Audio tab → Remove all tracks (select each, click Remove). Then Start Encode. Works but takes 6 clicks vs. one ffmpeg command. The ffmpeg way is faster once you have ffmpeg installed.
VLC to remove audio?
VLC → Media → Convert / Save → Add file → Convert → Profile: "Video - H.264 + MP3 (MP4)" → Edit selected profile → Audio codec tab → uncheck "Audio" → Save. Also possible but slower than ffmpeg. VLC re-encodes the video by default; for a copy-only pass, edit the profile's Video codec tab too and set to "Keep original video track".
Multi-track audio - drop just one?
Yes. `ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -map 0:v -map 0:a:1 -c copy output.mp4` keeps the video track and only the second audio track (a:1 - zero-indexed). Add or remove `-map 0:a:N` entries to pick specific audio tracks.