Convert m4a (aac) to mp3

I used iTunes to copy songs off the VBS CD, which encoded them in AAC format (M4A container). My video editor doesn’t accept that format, so I needed to convert them to mp3. After trying lots of programs that Google offered me, many of which claimed to be “free” but were really just “free trials”, I finally found the solution in a forum post. It turns out that you can do the conversion right in iTunes, totally free and totally cool.

1. Go into iTunes Preferences, and change the importing mode back to the MP3 mode you like

2. Now select the tracks that you want to change back, and go to the Advanced menu. There is an item called “convert selection to MP3“.

This menu item lists whatever the current setting is in the importing prefs.

Now, this might not be good for the audio quality, but I don’t really care: I don’t listen to music that carefully. Thanks, Hannah W!

120 Responses to “Convert m4a (aac) to mp3”

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  2. jul says:

    holly crap U ROCK!!!!

  3. andrea says:

    thanks so much! this was REALLY helpful! i had been trying to figure it out for a good bit, too! (:

  4. DawnMaree says:

    Thanks so much! It was driving me crazy not having an mp3 format for my slideshow.

  5. Marcus says:

    This was the most helpful out of them all. Thanks a bunch

  6. Heidi says:

    OMG thank you!!! I have been trying to figure that out for months!

  7. John says:

    Doesn’t work and cannot work. Ipod wont convert protected files

  8. Chris Smith says:

    Really useful as my HiFi only plays mp3s – thanks for the tip!

  9. Rin says:

    Thank you SO so much, you’re a lifesaver!

  10. shulato says:

    hey! thanks for sharing this!

  11. Carlos FROM BRAZIL says:

    YOU ARE THE KING!!!!! THANKS DUDE!!!! FROM BRAZIL

  12. jay says:

    . . . huh . . am i the only one who can’t see a ‘convert selection to mp3’ option in the itunes advanced prefs tab?

    help? anyone?

  13. gulmohar says:

    I have done it. Its cool.
    But now when I tried to convert all my songs to mp3 in the itunes library , thos eare getting converted , yes, BUT the problem is there are duplication of the song.

    Now I’m lost which one to dlt & which to keep. this is a HUGE task.
    Is there any simpler way?
    Pls HELP!!

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