M4A to MP4
Turn M4A to MP4 video with a cover picture while AAC audio stays untouched (ALAC becomes AAC). Free, no watermark. Your file is converted on your own device and is never uploaded to our servers.
- Free & unlimited
- No sign-up
- Files never uploaded
- No watermark
- Up to 2 GB per file
How to convert M4A to MP4 with a picture
Three steps, no account. The converter downloads once and then works on any recording you pick.
- 1
Pick the M4A file
Drop the .m4a, .mp4a or .aac file on the page, or browse for it. You see its size and duration, marked Audio only.
- 2
Keep the title card or choose an image
Under Cover image, the default is a 1280x720 card showing the file name. Click Choose image to use your own PNG, JPEG or WebP instead, or Use title card to go back.
- 3
Convert and save
Click Convert to MP4. The video is built on your device and saved under the same name, now ending in .mp4.
Why this M4A to MP4 converter keeps your audio as it was
Most M4A files already hold AAC audio that MP4 can carry, so nothing about the sound needs to change.
The AAC is copied, not re-encoded
We converted a 20-second AAC M4A and compared the streams: the audio in the MP4 was bit-for-bit the same as in the M4A.
A real picture track
Video sites reject files with sound and no picture. The output has an H.264 image track, so it uploads like any other video.
Your image keeps its shape
A square album cover makes a square video and a portrait photo a portrait one. Only pictures wider than 1920 px are scaled down.
Same length to the frame
The video ends exactly when the audio does, with no silent tail and no cut-off last word.
Very little video to make
The still image is encoded at 2 frames per second. Our 20-second test file was ready in a couple of seconds, and the picture adds little to the file size.
Ways to convert M4A to MP4, compared
These are the options people usually try, including the two shortcuts from forum threads.
| This converter | Upload-based converters | Renaming .m4a to .mp4 | FFmpeg -c:a copy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recording leaves your computer | No | Yes, kept on their servers | No | No |
| Has a picture, so YouTube accepts it | Yes, title card or your image | Only some sites add one | No, still audio only | No, unless you add image options |
| Audio quality | AAC copied unchanged | Varies by site | Unchanged | Unchanged |
| File limits | About 2 GB, any length | Depends on the service | None | None |
| Setup | None, runs in the browser | None | None | Install FFmpeg, use a terminal |
| Cost | Free, no sign-up | Depends on the service | Free | Free |
What people turn M4A recordings into
M4A is the default on Apple devices, which is why so much spoken audio ends up in this format.
iPhone Voice Memos
Every memo the Voice Memos app records is an M4A. Turn a talk, a meeting or a song idea into an MP4 you can post or send to people who only open videos.
Podcast episodes on YouTube
YouTube wants a video file. Pair the episode with your show art and upload the MP4, with the AAC master untouched.
Course and assignment uploads
Many learning platforms and forms have a video upload field and no audio one. A spoken assignment or a recorded lecture goes through as an MP4.
Family voices worth keeping
A grandparent telling a story on your iPhone becomes a video with their photo on it, easy to share in a family group chat.
Interviews and oral history
Recorded interviews are often private. Converting on your own machine means the raw tape never sits on someone else's server.
Apple Music and iTunes purchases
DRM-free songs bought from iTunes are M4A files and convert like any other. Protected M4P tracks don't; see the FAQ.
Before you convert an M4A to an MP4 video
- Get the memo onto your computer first, for example with Save to Files or AirDrop from the iPhone, or drag it out of Voice Memos on a Mac.
- Give the memo a real name first: a file called New Recording 14 puts exactly that on the title card.
- Trim dead air at the start and end in Voice Memos, since the video runs exactly as long as the audio.
- Check the extension: .m4a, .mp4a and .aac work, while .m4p is a protected purchase and won't open.
- Keep the original M4A if it is Apple Lossless, because the MP4 gets AAC 192 kbps instead.
Common M4A to MP4 mistakes
Mistake: Renaming song.m4a to song.mp4 and uploading it.
Do this instead: The file is still audio with no picture, and video sites turn it down. Convert it so a picture track is added.
Mistake: Uploading a private voice memo to a converter website.
Do this instead: Convert it here instead. The memo is read and turned into a video inside your browser tab.
Mistake: Using a tiny or blurry cover image.
Do this instead: The picture is shown at its own size for the whole video. Pick one at least 1280 px wide for a sharp result.
Mistake: Expecting Apple Lossless to stay lossless.
Do this instead: ALAC is converted to AAC 192 kbps for MP4 players. Keep the M4A as your archive copy.
Privacy, cost and limits
Recordings stay on your device
The recording is read and converted inside this browser tab. Your cover image stays local too, and closing the tab clears both from memory.
Free, unlimited conversions
No account, no watermark and no cap on how many recordings you convert. Files are done one at a time, not in a batch.
About 2 GB per file
That is the browser's memory ceiling for the converter, far above the size of a typical M4A. Only file size counts; there is no cap on minutes.
One 32 MB download
The first visit fetches FFmpeg 5.1.4, compiled to WebAssembly, from jsDelivr. After that it loads from your browser cache.