How to Trim and Cut Audio on a Phone

How to trim audio on iPhone: open the recording in Voice Memos, enter editing mode, tap Trim, drag the yellow handles around the part you want, then tap Save. Everything outside the handles is deleted, so keep a copy first.

The same trimming idea carries over to free editors on iPhone and Android, and the later sections cover mid-clip cuts and exporting. For choosing a recorder before you edit, see the guide to the best audio recording app for iphone and the other tools in that hub.

Before you start

Trimming means shortening a clip from its start, its end or both. Cutting means removing a section from the middle. Both are quick on a phone, but they are destructive edits, so a little preparation saves a lot of re-recording.

• A recording ready to edit. The built-in route needs the clip to be in Voice Memos. Other editors work on an exported or imported copy.
• A safety copy of anything you cannot re-record. In Voice Memos, only the audio inside the trim slider remains and the rest is deleted, as this Voice Memos walkthrough explains. Editors that export a new file, covered under saving and exporting below, leave you a fallback.
• A clear idea of the edit. Decide whether you are shortening the ends or removing a middle section. That decision picks the tool.
• A reasonably clean clip. Hiss and room noise are easier to judge before you cut. If the clip is noisy, try the best app to remove background noise from audio first, then trim the cleaned version.

Trim and cut in Voice Memos on iPhone

Voice Memos is the quickest route because the recording is already there and no account or download is involved. It handles start-and-end trimming and the removal of a middle section.

Step 1: Open the recording in editing mode

Open Voice Memos, select the recording you want to shorten and switch it into editing mode. The controls described in the next steps appear only there, so if you cannot see a Trim button you are still in normal playback view.

Step 2: Tap the Trim button

In editing mode, tap the Trim button on the upper right of the recording. It is drawn as a square with extended lines and dots. According to the Voice Memos editing guide, a trim slider with yellow handles then appears at each end of the memo.

Step 3: Drag the yellow handles to the exact start and end

Move the left handle to where the clip should begin and the right handle to where it should finish. Play the selected section before you commit. Setting the start handle just before the first word, rather than right on it, avoids clipping the opening syllable. If a click or breath remains at either edge, nudge the handle a little further in.

The selection between the handles is what survives. Only the memo within the slider remains and the rest is deleted, so treat the handles as a keep zone, not a remove zone.

Step 4: Decide between trimming and deleting a section

Trimming and deleting a section are opposite selections. Trim keeps the part between the handles and discards the ends. Delete removes the selected stretch and keeps the rest of the memo, which is how you take a section out of the middle while keeping the material on both sides.

Use Trim for dead air at the start and end. Use Delete for a stumble, a cough or an interruption in the middle. If you need both, make the middle deletion first, listen back, then tidy the ends.

Step 5: Save, or cancel to undo

Tap Save at the upper right to keep the edited memo. Tapping Cancel at the upper left undoes the trim instead, according to the same guide. Make that choice only after listening to the whole shortened clip, because the trimmed-away audio is gone once you save.

Free apps for cuts Voice Memos cannot make

Voice Memos covers the basics. If you want an audio cutter app with more control, or you want a fresh exported file so the original stays untouched, these free options suit different situations.

GarageBand for mid-clip cuts

GarageBand is Apple’s free audio editing app for iPhone, per Cleanvoice’s iPhone editing guide. Drag the left or right edge of the track in the timeline to trim the beginning or end. Tap the track twice to open options such as Split, Cut, Copy and Delete. Split plus Delete is the most precise way to remove a section from the middle of a clip. It suits anyone who wants to cut several places in one recording and see the whole waveform while doing it.

Cleanvoice’s browser trimmer for exact timestamps

Cleanvoice offers a free audio trimmer that works directly in the iPhone browser with no account required. You can fine-tune a trim by adjusting the From and To timestamps, which is helpful when dragging with a fingertip is too coarse. Free use is limited: you get 30 minutes of free credits to try each feature. Choose MP3 or WAV as the export format, then select Export Audio to download the result.

iMovie when the audio belongs to a video project

On iOS, iMovie trims audio clips by dragging their edges in the timeline, as AnyMP4’s iMovie tutorial describes. The same page notes that iMovie on iPhone and iPad lacks the audio editing tools of the Mac version. Reach for it only when the sound is already part of a video; for audio-only jobs, Voice Memos or GarageBand is simpler.

Cutting part of a recording on Android

The Android route uses a downloadable audio cutter app from Google Play, because the iPhone tools above are Apple apps. Features vary by app, so judge each one against the same short checklist.

• Draggable start and end markers. These let you do the same start-and-end trim as the Voice Memos handles.
• A way to remove a middle region. Select the unwanted stretch and delete or cut it, rather than only shortening the ends.
• Export or save as a new file. This keeps the original recording available if the edit goes wrong.

Before you rely on an app, run a test cut on a throwaway recording and listen to the exported file. A browser-based trimmer such as Cleanvoice’s is a possible alternative if you would rather not install anything, though its free credits are limited.

Saving a copy and choosing an export format

Saving a copy is the simplest protection against an edit you regret. In Voice Memos, Save writes the trimmed result to the memo, so the safest habit is to keep the original somewhere else before you start.

Editors that export give you a separate file. In GarageBand, tap Share to export the audio and choose quality settings. In Cleanvoice’s trimmer, the export step downloads a new MP3 or WAV, and its export options also include formats compatible with Audacity, Adobe Audition or Reaper if you plan to keep editing on a computer. Desktop editors such as AnyMP4’s accept and export MP3, AAC, AC3, WAV and FLAC, plus more than 500 other formats, according to the AnyMP4 page cited above.

MP3 is the usual pick when the file needs to be small and widely playable, and WAV suits further editing. If your trimmed clip is still a memo and you want an MP3, follow how to convert voice memo to mp3.

Which tool fits which edit

The table draws on the Voice Memos editing walkthrough and Cleanvoice’s iPhone audio guide.

Frequently asked questions