MotionShineShort answer: If the music sits on its own track in your editor, mute or delete that track and you are done. If it is mixed into the same sound as the voice, which is the case for almost every finished video, you need a tool that separates voices from music. The free remove music from video tool does this in your browser: drop the video, click Remove the music, listen, and download the same picture with the voices only. It is not for you if the song has a singer you also want gone, because a sung voice is still a voice.
Facts about Apple and YouTube come from their own help pages, checked on 7 November 2026. The browser tool is made by the maker of MotionShine, and what I say about it comes from its own page. This is not a hands-on test of every app.
First, find out which kind of music you have
| Your video | What to do | Tool |
|---|---|---|
| Music is a separate clip in your editor project | Mute or delete that clip | Any editor |
| Music is mixed into the finished file | Split voices from music, keep the voices | A separation tool (methods 1 and 2) |
| You only want silence | Remove all the sound | Remove audio from video |
| It is your YouTube video with a song claim | Erase song in YouTube Studio | Method 3 |
| The music should stay, only quieter | Split, then bring the music back at a low level | Method 1 |
A finished MP4 or MOV has one mixed sound track. You cannot cut the music out by time, because the voice is in the same seconds. The tool has to sort the sound by type: voice on one side, everything else on the other.
Method 1: A free browser tool, no upload
MotionShine's free remove music from video tool runs an open separation model called HTDemucs in your browser tab. According to its page, the video is never uploaded, there is no sign-up and no watermark. The first time, the page downloads the model, which it lists at 181 MB, and your browser keeps it for next time.
- Drop the video on the box, or click to choose it. MOV, MP4, M4V, WebM and MKV work. Press play to check it.
- On a long video, click Try 30 seconds first to hear the result on a short part before you wait for the whole file.
- Click Remove the music and leave the tab open while the bar fills. The status line shows the part it is on and, after a few parts, about how long is left.
- Press play. The video plays with the music off. Listen to the quiet moments between sentences as well as the speech.
- If it sounds too empty, click Music turned down. The page says this brings the music and other sounds back at 15%, and you can set each track's level yourself.
- Click Download the video. The file keeps your video's name with -voices added. Download the voices only saves the sound alone as MP3 or WAV.
Two settings are worth knowing. Best quality runs the model twice and averages the result, which the page says takes twice as long. Only part of the video lets you type a From and a To time; the page says up to 15 minutes are separated at a time, and a longer video opens with the first 15 minutes chosen.
What comes back
The page says the picture is copied into the new file without being encoded again, so it looks exactly as it did, and the new sound is timed against the picture so lips and words stay together.
| Your video | New file | Picture | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| MP4, MOV or M4V | MP4 | Copied as it was | AAC, 192 kbps, stereo |
| WebM or MKV | WebM | Copied as it was | Opus, 192 kbps, stereo |
How long it takes depends on your computer. The page says it is much faster with WebGPU, which uses the graphics card, than with the processor alone.
Use it if you have a vlog, a talk or a screen recording with a song under clear speech.
Skip it if you need the sound effects to stay at full level. Read the limits below first.
Method 2: Final Cut Pro's Voice Isolation
If you already edit in Final Cut Pro on a Mac, you can stay in your project. Apple's Final Cut Pro guide says Voice Isolation "prioritizes human voices over other parts of the audio signal". The steps from that guide:
- Select the clip in the timeline.
- Open the inspector and click the Audio button at the top.
- In Audio Enhancements, turn on Voice Isolation.
- Drag the Amount slider to set how much it isolates the voice.
Apple's guide also warns that turning on Voice Isolation for several audio parts that play at the same time can give garbled sound, and suggests turning it off for one or more of them. Final Cut Pro is a paid app. For other editors, see best video editing software for Mac.
Method 3: YouTube's Erase song, for a claimed video
If the video is already on YouTube and has a copyright claim for a song, YouTube Studio has its own fix. According to YouTube Help:
- In YouTube Studio, open Content and select the video.
- Open the copyright notice and choose View details.
- Choose the action for the claim, then Erase song or Mute all sound. You can adjust the start and end times, preview, and save.
YouTube's page says Erase song mutes just the claimed song, and dialogue or sound effects are not muted. It also says the edit might not work if the song is hard to remove, that Mute all sound is usually faster and more likely to remove the claim, and that you cannot revert the changes after you save. A channel outside the YouTube Partner Program may not be able to save changes on a video with over 100,000 views. Erase song works only on that YouTube video. It does not give you a clean file to post elsewhere.
What a music split cannot remove
Separation is a strong tool, but it sorts sound into "voice" and "everything else". That rule explains every limit.
- A singer stays. The tool's page says singing is kept, because a singing voice is still a voice. If the song has lyrics, you will hear the sung words without the instruments under them.
- Sound effects can go with the music. Traffic, footsteps, applause, a door or room tone are not voices, so they can be removed too. The clip can feel very quiet between sentences. Music turned down brings them back quietly, with the music.
- Traces can remain. The page says a trace of the music can stay, most often drums or loud parts. Watch the result before you save it.
- Distant voices are harder. Echoey speech or a voice far from the mic is harder to tell apart from the music around it.
- It does not clear copyright for sure. The tool's page says platforms match more than sound, so traces can still be found. YouTube's own page says Erase song might not work on a hard song. Use music you have the rights to when you can.
If the voice still has a hiss or hum once the music is gone, run it through the steps in how to remove background noise from a video.
Tips for a cleaner result
- Start from the original file. The tool's page says the original from your camera or phone beats a copy that has been downloaded and compressed many times.
- Try 30 seconds first on long videos, so you know the result is good before you wait.
- Keep the room sound quietly with Music turned down when a fully silent background feels odd.
- Add new music after. Once the old track is gone, the add music to video tool lays a licensed track under your voice.
- Record without music next time. If you make screen recordings, close the tab or app playing music before you press record. How to edit a screen recording on Mac covers the rest of the cleanup.
FAQ
How do I remove background music from a video but keep the voice?
Use a tool that separates voices from music, such as the free remove music from video tool or Final Cut Pro's Voice Isolation. Muting the track removes the voice too, because a finished video has one mixed sound track.
Can I remove music from a video for free?
Yes. The browser tool is free with no sign-up and no watermark, according to its page. The only cost is a one-time model download of 181 MB. YouTube's Erase song is also free, but only for claimed videos on your own channel.
Will removing the music lower the video quality?
Not with the browser tool. Its page says the picture is copied without being encoded again, so only the sound is new. A MOV comes back as an MP4, with the same picture inside.
Can I keep the music but make it quieter?
Yes. In the browser tool, click Music turned down for 15%, or set the Music and sounds level yourself, then download. The voices stay at full level.
Will this stop a copyright claim?
Not for sure. Traces of the song can remain, and YouTube says Erase song might not work if the song is hard to remove. Mute all sound is the option YouTube calls more likely to remove a claim.
Can I remove the voice and keep the music instead?
Yes. In the browser tool, turn Voices down to 0% and Music and sounds up to 100%, then download. For a song file, the vocal remover saves the instrumental as audio.
