HOW TO CONVERT M4A TO MP3 FREE With iTunes | Best M4A to MP3 Converter [Easy Windows Tutorial]

[@TinkerForward]

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[@LeMortJoyeux]

For all the friends who have issues with the "convert to mp3" being greyed out make sure you download the songs normally first and than select them and than it should work and you should be able to convert them to mp3!

[@nunyabuisness9658]

I have over 130 albums in iTunes and this video was of awesome help. I changed the directory where the new mp3 would go then copied and pasted to a flash drive. Now I have my entire library to play in my car. Thank you!

[@TinkerForward]

I'm glad the video was helpful! Thanks for watching! Have fun listening to all the music in your car!

[@jimace9185]

@ nunya buisness. So when you say you changed the directory where the mp3 would go…. You mean when you open up iTunes are both versions in there? Or just the original (m4a, acc, etc) and the mp3 that you created is in its own place . My issue is I have 10k plus songs in my iTunes. My vehicles head unit plays sd cards but just mp3 not the other files. I’d hate to convert all of them and have 20k songs on my iTunes half just been duplicated. Thanks hope this makes sense

[@nunyabuisness9658]

@@jimace9185 Itunes only stores one version of the song in m4a. When you convert that song/album to mp3, it allows you to name a new directory where that new version of the song/album is placed. I created a folder on my desktop called mp3 and directed the mp3 versions to that folder as I converted them. Once I had all my tunes converted, I just copied that mp3 folder to a flash drive. It takes some time to go through an entire Itunes library but it's the only way I've been able to find to do it. There's no way that I know of to convert an entire Itunes with just one action. You have to do it song by song or album by album. Hope that helps.

[@nunyabuisness9658]

Let me add that when you burn a cd to itunes, you can burn it in the mp3 format. Itunes just automatically defaults to m4a

[@cbstars9]

Thank you. My headache is gone now. I kept making mp3s and it wasn't showing up anywhere on my iTunes. I realized my original file was under my downloads on my computer and not my iTunes. Once I moved it over to my iTunes library, it made all the difference. I also found all my mp3s I had kept making not knowing they were actually being converted. You made my day. :)

[@TinkerForward]

Great to hear! I'm glad I could help! Thanks for watching!

[@d.mac-6193]

Good video! I have used iTunes to fill my iPod with music for years, but I have grown to hate Apple products, so I'm going to try to use this to convert all my music to MP3's. Ditching Apple forever! Thank you!

[@TinkerForward]

Ha ha, glad I could be of help!

[@rebblekrew7527]

Great way to display honesty, no click bate no gimmicks, this the real deal,, thanks for the help

[@TinkerForward]

Glad to hear the video helped! Thanks for watching!

[@rafaeljimenez-rebollar3239]

Very helpful! I do have one question though. I did every step to convert it to MP3 but it hit me with a "Could not be convert because protected files cannot be converted to other formats," Where did I go wrong?

[@RyanMonoxide]

You are unable to convert protected files. You can only convert files for instance that you imported from a cd. Anything purchased on the iTunes Store or any other online store with copyright or drm protection can not be converted.

[@haze61151]

This worked great for me. I had nearly 500 songs to convert, most I know had been bought and downloaded, some from itunes. I think what helped was I'd already transferred them from Ipod to PC. Thank you.

[@TinkerForward]

Glad I could help

[@billybobs1705]

@@TinkerForward we dont what your history just show us the answer

[@iruninnj]

This does not work for me. Everything is fine until after I click MP3 version in which a message pops up saying "Unable to convert "protected" songs from itunes. Which is my original problem.

[@MotherP_1Ruby]

Your tutorial is so easy to follow! Thanks for the help!

[@InspiRation780]

Thank you so much! Your instructions were easy to follow and I learned from them. I have subscribed to your channel. Thank you.

[@TinkerForward]

Awesome to hear! Thanks so much for the sub!

[@DubZer020]

Worked like a charm!!! Thank you!!!!

[@TinkerForward]

You're welcome!

[@ArcticCustomProps]

Brilliant! This was exactly what I needed. Thank you very much!

[@bestcloud9887]

Great video! Thank you. I notice that my recordings end up in my iTunes music. How do I separate these files from the music that I buy in iTunes? I just want a separate file for these recordings. I don’t want them mixed in with my music

[@RPGPersona]

I just want to say thanks for making this video. I recently bought a single album from itunes and for whatever reason the m4a file could not be seen by my portable music player. It played just fine on my PC, and every other m4a song I have put on the player worked fine. This trick allowed me to create a copy of the music file that my player could see and play.

[@TinkerForward]

You're welcome! Great to hear! Thanks for watching!

[@anaa9042]

thank you this was helpful. some of the things were in different locations on my computer but i managed to piece it together and figure it out

[@cbstars9]

that was my problem too

[@kevinjohnson4377]

That is great. Avdshare Audio Converter also helps to convert between M4A, FLAC, MP3, AAC, AIFF, WAV, DTS, OGG, etc audio format

[@TinkerForward]

I will have to check that out as well. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@ck610]

Thank you, by far the most informative and precise tutorial on how to accomplish this! Thank you again !!!!

[@TheChamberRoomExperience]

In my edit section it does not give a tab for converting. I did everything else you said and it still won't let me convert. I have an iMac. I got instructions from someone who did a video in 2012...that did not work either.

[@fourolives142]

Thank you for this video. Very easy to follow.

[@theresaernst5712]

This was such a helpful video! Thank you so much!

[@TinkerForward]

Glad to hear it was helpful! You're welcome!

[@juliequates9529]

Is there anyway to do this in bulk? By album perhaps? Or a less tedious way? I have many playlists created that I'm trying to transfer over to a cheap Mp3 player but so many are M4A. Can I do it from the playlists or album? Thank so much this was great!

[@idealshare]

That is great. Another method is to use Avdshare Audio Converter which can convert between M4A, MP3, WAV, FLAC, WMA, AAC, AIFF, etc audio format. It also can extract audio from video.

[@fondawarren4171]

Is this nothing you have to download to your computer?

[@trini-mikeali3829]

Thanks Tinker, great video. worked like a charm. keep up the good work.

[@keisayag426]

Hi Jeff Will you happen to know how to download KZbin video into Itunes? Thank you.

[@noreensmith6196]

Thank you for the informative step by step instructions. Easy to follow

[@RyanMonoxide]

Another easy way to find out which version is mp3 or aac is to enable the “Kind” view in the tab bar in the “songs” view. It will show the file type.

[@benborn2luvmusicnely510]

Just thought I would let you know, that it does work. But for some reason, it put all of the converted songs into a different file, and not on the Itunes page. I had to search, but I finally found the path to them. Thanks, your video really did help.

[@chirinlimbaugh4489]

thanks so much! that did the trick:)

[@sofiamas5378]

This was very helpful Thank you so much

[@TinkerForward]

You're welcome!

[@chriscash2664]

Help !! I converted all my itune purchases to mp3 format. I go to the appropriate folder and select the mp3 version of a song and click "send to" and send it to my "e" drive where my mp3 player is connected (not apple product). It shows the file being sent there. However, when I select the file on my mp3 player, nothing happens. No music. What's wrong?

[@MysticFiddler1]

Thanks so much! Using Office 360. Found the mp3s in the itunes file folder and was able to import into Audacity.

[@myonedog]

Hello how can I convert youtube music into a cd to listen in the car?

[@Akuma_draws5460]

Thank you so much!! I was trying to import an audio into my animation and this helped so thanks!

[@michaelschaeffer5308]

Doesn't work. On my version of iTunes 'import settings' is not under General, it is under Files and this process doesn't work. When I go to Convert the MP3 option is not available.

[@ronraffignone8685]

Listened to your video but when I click on a song I got from apple it tells me can't convert protected files.

[@persaudfamily924]

great music jeff

[@TinkerForward]

Thanks! Thanks for watching!

[@ronraffignone8685]

I watched your video and got everything changed but when I bring up the song and go to where you are to convert to mp3 this isn't highlighted likee it was for you thus I can't convert to mp 3

[@JEST3R_]

I'd have never realized to change my input preferences! I couldn't figure out why it wanted to convert to AAC instead of MP3

[@TinkerForward]

Cool, now you know. Thanks for watching!

[@viswanathvadla1618]

This is excellent trick. Thanks brother. Your explanation is excellent , super. I understood very well. I tried it it's 100%.

[@talisem1453]

Thank you this was so helpful!! I recorded some voice memos and wanted to convert them and this was surprisingly new and useful information. Thanks again

[@djcrazicee3304]

Thank you very much for posting this video it help me out big time :)

[@TinkerForward]

Glad to hear it!

[@tomm.w.d.3824]

5:28 put me in that hall of fame my guy

[@TinkerForward]

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[@alexschar8573]

Excellent video! Really appreciate it

[@TinkerForward]

Glad it was helpful! My pleasure!

[@cacerescpaulina]

Does it also work for videos that I bought from iTunes that I want to convert to mp3? Thanks

[@Deadpool-jy2pv]

its showing protected files cannot be converted to mp3

[@tracirudolph7037]

Thanks! It worked in 2024!

[@TinkerForward]

Awesome 👍

[@artdeltanino9566]

I saw the blue cutetie!!! 5:26 it's cute, I like this game. And Thank you, Now I can do my speedpaint and add my commentary!!!!!

[@TinkerForward]

Congrats! You were the first one to spot Tinker, our hidden robot in this video! You’ve been added you to our Tinker Forward Hall of Fame at www.tinkerforward.com Awesome to hear! Thanks for watching!

[@benborn2luvmusicnely510]

Ok, it says that it is converting the song, even makes the completion noise. But when I check it, it still says aac. Why?

[@marvinsampson4862]

Great instruction thanks

[@TinkerForward]

Thanks!

[@sbl2051]

I followed your steps, but when I got to convert, my convert to MP3 is gray not black. What did I do wrong?

[@sarablowers6066]

Thank you!!

[@SledgeNE]

Thank you so much.

[@5stringsolutions506]

Followed but when I went to convert, the MP3 option was grey and not black and therefore not executable. What am I doing wrong?

[@inspirationalfactss]

Same

[@haruna6941]

Because the protected file cannot be converted to another format

[@diakanos]

Told me right off what I needed to know. Thanks.

[@TinkerForward]

Glad to hear it! Thanks for watching!

[@luchalibrepromotions]

Awesome video, thanks so much for the content

[@TinkerForward]

You are very welcome! Thanks so much for watching!

[@ainigma100]

Thank you for your video. I receive an error saying: "song name" could not be converted because protected files cannot be converted to other formats.

[@willlennox6973]

If it says file is protected then it probably means it is downloaded from apple music and not paid for on the iTunes store

[@lexycourneya4261]

This was really helpful!!

[@TinkerForward]

I'm glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@RussellKukla]

Dear Tinker, I was able 2 follow your great directions and convert several iTune Songs from M4A to MP3 but I'm not able to convert many other iTune Songs that I purchased. I can see and play in iTunes but Not Able to Convert. Any Solution? Thank You, Russell

[@RussellKukla]

I Figured It Out! Even though iTunes Files on my laptop, for some reason many of my iTune Songs are displaying in the Cloud. So, I had to Re Download and then Convert. Weird?

[@theincompleteskeptic8079]

It worked. Thank you.

[@TinkerForward]

Glad to hear it helped! Thanks for watching!

[@sensai3988]

It says that it can't be found.

[@terrymcorder2137]

I did all that but when i go to convert the convert to mp3 is disabled

[@emmalouis7817]

I finally turn to Sidify Apple Music Converter Free to convert my Apple Music to MP3.

[@Tabirus1661]

Thanks!

[@vivekagarwal8711]

I did all the steps but I keep getting an error message "None of the selected files were converted because they could not be found" What is the problem? Can anyone help?

[@MarkoKastellon]

Excellent.

[@andrewmarkov1649]

You the best!!! Really!!

[@philipf7532]

Thank you

[@12LbBaby]

Didn't work for me. I got "unknown error -42017" which I can't even find what it means

[@nugget1757]

how do i import the m4a i created to itunes

[@Tiffany-qf6sj]

If this was the best video, it wouldn’t be 10:11 minutes.

[@saucybeats3003]

thanks mate only that works vlc sucks

[@Kawa-Yuki]

Thank you so much!

[@TinkerForward]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@jimlytleworks]

Thank you!

[@travisray7456]

Thank You!!

[@dean6757]

Thank you

[@JSBvids]

Thank you!

[@TinkerForward]

You're welcome!

[@LLCoolMama]

Thank you!

[@Darkstardance]

Thank you!