How to Trim YouTube Audio and Download a Clip

By Side A · Published 1 November 2026

Sometimes you need a short excerpt rather than a whole recording. Side A lets you select part of a permitted YouTube video’s audio, listen to the selection, and save it as an MP3 or WAV clip.

What you need before trimming

Start with a link to a public YouTube video you own or have permission to download and edit. Side A processes one video at a time, up to 20 minutes long. It prepares the audio first; the trim controls appear when the track is ready. A playlist link does not create a batch download.

1. Prepare the audio

Open Side A, paste your video link, and choose Get my audio. Keep the page open until the result appears. Preparation time depends on the source and service availability; repeated submissions will not make it faster.

2. Open the trim editor

Choose the orange Trim audio button beneath the track title. It opens the editor and brings the waveform into view. The highlighted area is the section your clip will contain. The waveform represents changes in the audio’s amplitude, helping you spot pauses and stronger passages.

3. Set the start and end

Drag the left handle to choose where the clip begins and the right handle to choose where it ends. Drag the highlighted middle to move the whole clip without changing its length. Release an edge or the selection to hear the adjusted clip automatically. On a small screen, the Start and End fields provide another way to adjust the selection.

For example, to keep a 15-second passage beginning one minute into your recording, enter 1:00 for the start and 1:15 for the end. Use Zoom to clip to enlarge a small selection, or the −1s / +1s buttons to fine-tune either end. The selection length updates below the fields. The end must be after the start and within the track.

4. Listen before downloading

Choose Play clip to hear the selected section. Turn on Loop to repeat it while checking the boundaries. Listen for words cut in half or a musical phrase that ends too early, then adjust the times. Full track resets the selection to the whole recording.

5. Name and save your clip

Enter a useful Clip filename, choose MP3 or WAV under Clip format, and select Download clip. MP3 is smaller; WAV is useful when your next editing step requires uncompressed PCM audio. See our MP3 vs WAV comparison before choosing.

The clip export does not replace the full track. You can adjust the selection and save another clip while the result remains available. Side A does not provide a saved history, so download your files before leaving the page.

Questions about trimming

Will an MP3 clip start at exactly the entered millisecond?

MP3 clips preserve the existing compressed audio rather than encoding it again. Because MP3 is stored in frames, cut points may differ by a small fraction of a second. Preview your exported file if the boundary matters for an editing project.

Does WAV improve the clip’s sound?

No. Side A creates WAV from the prepared MP3. It does not recover detail already lost in the source or during compression. The WAV download guide explains the output settings.

Can I trim an uploaded file?

Not currently. This workflow starts with a supported YouTube video link; Side A does not offer local audio uploads.