There are times when you may want to keep the audio from a video for a future project, use it as a ringtone, or for any personal reason you can think of. While this often requires a third-party app, website, or secondary device, you don’t actually need one to extract audio.
Using the Shortcuts app on your iPhone, you can easily create a sequence of actions to extract audio with a single tap. Here’s how to set it up and use it.
Since we’ll be using the Shortcuts app to extract the audio, make sure it’s installed on your iPhone. If you can’t seem to find it, you may have deleted it. If that’s the case, all you need to do is reinstall Shortcuts for free from the App Store.
After opening the app, tap the plus icon (the “+”) in the top right corner to start creating your shortcut. This will open the sheet where you’ll enter each step.
Once opened, tap the shortcut name—titled “New Shortcut” by default—at the top and select “Rename.”
You can name the shortcut whatever fits best. For example, I titled mine “Extract Audio From a Video,” since that’s the name that will appear when selecting the shortcut later.
You can also edit the shortcut’s icon, which helps distinguish it from other apps in the share sheet.
Next, pull down the menu tab at the bottom of the screen to reveal the information icon (the “i”). Tap it, then make sure “Show in Share Sheet” is enabled, and tap “Done.” This will make the shortcut appear in the share sheet options for easy access.
A new shortcut task will appear once you toggle that option on. Tap “Apps and 18 more” next to “Receive” in the step, and turn off all options except “Media,” then tap “Done.” Instead of toggling each option off individually, it’s easier to tap “Clear” in the upper left corner to disable all options, then turn on only “Media.”
Enabling this option alone will cause the shortcut to accept media input, preventing it from appearing in irrelevant places.
Following that, create an action to encode the provided input media. Tap on “Add Action” and type “Encode” in the search bar, then select the “Encode Media” option.
Tap the arrow next to “Shortcut Input” to expand the options for the newly added task, then toggle on “Audio Only.” You can change the audio format if you want, but collapse the menu once you’re finished.
Finally, you’ll add one more action to save the extracted audio output. Tap on the search bar at the bottom, type “Save File,” and select the “Save File” option that appears. After that, tap “Done” to finish creating your shortcut.
Now that your shortcut is set up, play the video you want to extract audio from and let the shortcut do the rest. While the video is playing, tap the share icon in the bottom-right corner, then select the shortcut you created from the share sheet options.
Next, choose a location where you’d like to save the extracted audio and tap “Open.”
Wait a few seconds for a checkmark to appear at the top of the screen, indicating the shortcut ran successfully and the audio was extracted. Then, locate the file in the Files app and start enjoying your extracted audio.
What to do if the shortcut is not in the share sheet
If you don’t see the newly created shortcut in the share sheet, there are several options you can try to fix the issue.
One option is to review the shortcut that was just made to ensure it’s set up correctly, and make sure the “Show in Share Sheet” setting is toggled on. If everything looks good, restart your iPhone after creating the shortcut, especially if you’ve freshly installed the Shortcuts app.
Another option is to add the shortcut to your home screen, as some users report it helps the shortcut work more reliably. To do this, open the shortcut, tap its name, and select “Add to Home Screen.”
You’ll also want to ensure the video file is in a format supported by the iPhone. To check that, try extracting audio from a different video with the same format.
If the issue persists, it indicates a format problem. In that case, you should convert the video file to a format supported by the iPhone before extracting audio from it.
If all else fails, delete the shortcut and recreate it from scratch. Open the Shortcuts app, long-tap the shortcut, and tap “Delete.”
