How to remove a video and keep the audio only in iMovie

The iMovie app is robust enough to let you create some amazing movies and videos. And if you are working with a video that has both sound and visuals, there may be a time when you want to separate the two.

We’ve covered how you can remove sound from a video, but what if you want to do the opposite? This tutorial shows you how to remove the video and keep only the audio in iMovie on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Remove Video Keep Audio iMovie iPhone

Remove video and keep audio on Mac

Open the video you want to use in iMovie on Mac and then follow these steps:

Detach the audio clip

1) Select the clip in your movie Timeline that contains the video and audio.

2) Right-click or hold Control and click the clip.

3) Choose Detach Audio in the shortcut menu. You can also select Modify > Detach Audio from the menu bar.

Detach Audio iMovie Mac

You’ll then see the audio from that clip appear as its own “clip” in green below the video. However, the small line on the left shows that the video and audio are still linked to each other. This means that if you delete the video, the audio will go with it.

So, you’ll need to either move the audio clip elsewhere in your movie or plop it into the Background Music Well at the bottom of the Timeline.

Background Music Well iMovie Mac

To move the green audio clip, just select, drag, and drop where you want it. If you put it in the Background Music Well, it will be in the background of all other sounds in your movie.

Move to Background Music Well iMovie Mac

Delete the video

Once you detach the audio and unlink it from the video, you can remove the video by clicking it and using one of these methods:

  • Select the video and hit the delete key.
  • Select Edit > Delete from the menu bar.
  • Right-click and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.
  • Hold Control and click and choose Delete.
Delete Video iMovie Mac

Remove video and keep audio on iPhone and iPad

Open your video for editing in iMovie on iPhone or iPad and then do the following:

Detach the audio

1) Tap the clip in your movie Timeline that contains the video and audio.

2) Select the Actions button (scissors icon) at the bottom and tap Detach.

3) The audio will appear in blue below the video clip. But, like on Mac, they are still linked to one another.

With the options still open, using the Actions button at the bottom, tap Background. This will turn the audio clip green, and like on Mac, move this clip to the background of your movie.

Detach Audio iMovie iPhone

Delete the video

1) After you detach the audio and make it the background sound, tap the video clip in the Timeline.

2) Select the Actions button at the bottom.

3) Tap Delete.

Delete Video iMovie iPhone

If you have sound, music, or voices in a video clip that you want to keep but get rid of the visuals, it’s easy in iMovie. Are you going to remove the video but keep audio in one of your iMovie creations? Let us know!

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