Why convert FLAC to MP3
FLAC stores music losslessly: perfect copies of CDs or studio masters, at about half the size of WAV. But FLAC files are still large, around 25–35 MB per song, and some devices can’t play them, including many car stereos, older MP3 players and some smart speakers. MP3 plays everywhere and takes about a quarter to an eighth of the space.
Good reasons to convert:
- fitting a large collection onto a phone or USB stick
- playing music in a car or on a device without FLAC support
- sharing tracks with someone whose player doesn’t support FLAC
- uploading to a platform that only accepts MP3
How to use it
- Choose the MP3 quality. For music from FLAC, 256 or 320 kbps is the common choice.
- Choose your FLAC files or drop them on the box above. A whole album at once is fine.
- Download the MP3s individually or as a ZIP.
Size comparison
| Format | 4-minute song |
|---|---|
| FLAC (CD quality) | about 25–30 MB |
| MP3 at 320 kbps | about 9.6 MB |
| MP3 at 192 kbps | about 5.8 MB |
What changes in the conversion
- Sample rate is 44.1 kHz. High-resolution FLAC (48–192 kHz) is resampled.
- Bit depth no longer applies; MP3 doesn’t store it.
- Channels: stereo stays stereo. Multichannel FLAC keeps the front left and right channels.
- Tags and cover art are not copied.
Browser support
FLAC decoding is built into Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, so no extra download is needed. Very long files, such as a whole album saved as one track, work best on a computer, since the full recording is decoded in memory before encoding.
Privacy
Your music never leaves your device: the FLAC is decoded by your browser and encoded with the LAME MP3 encoder locally.
Questions
Which bitrate should I choose for FLAC music?
256 or 320 kbps keeps as much of the FLAC's quality as MP3 allows and is the usual choice for music collections. 192 kbps saves more space and still sounds very good.
What happens to high-resolution FLAC files?
24-bit and 96 or 192 kHz files are converted to standard 44.1 kHz MP3, which is what MP3 players and car stereos expect.
Should I delete my FLAC files after converting?
Keep them if you can. FLAC is lossless, so it's the perfect master copy. You can always make new MP3s from it, but you can't turn an MP3 back into lossless audio.
Are album art and tags copied?
No. Tags and cover art aren't carried over, so re-tag the MP3s in your music app if needed.
Last reviewed 31 October 2026