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Sometimes, when you wish to use some audio files as background music for your videos, slideshows, or presentations, the audio track might turn out to be shorter than the video. In such a case, merging two or more audio tracks into a single one can save you time from switching the audio tracks manually. You can merge audio files both online (with the help of web-based services) and offline (using software installed on your PC). In this article, we provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to merge audio for free both online and offline.
Online: Audio Joiner by 123apps
Audio Joiner web service is a great and simple way to merge audio files of various formats. The whole process is very simple: upload the files, merge the audio files, and download the output audio.
Step 1. Add audio tracks for merging
Click the “Add tracks” button to open Windows Explorer and add the files from your computer for merging. Add as many audio files as needed.
Step 2. Customize the audio files
To remove a file, click the X symbol in the upper right-hand corner. You can set the timing of the beginning and ending of each audio track manually by toggling the blue markers in the beginning and the end of each audio track. You can also use the cross-fade effect between the tracks. To play the audio tracks, click the green “Play” button. Fade-out in the beginning and at the end of the output audio are automatically on; however, you may turn them off.
Step 3. Merge audio
Click the “Join” button to merge the added audio tracks according to the settings you have previously customized.
Step 4. Download the merged audio
Allow the program some time to merge the files. As soon as it’s complete, click the “Download” button to save the output audio file on your computer.
Offline: Merge MP3
Merge MP3 is a portable tool that is extremely easy to use and compact in size. The only shortcoming of this program is that it only supports MP3 audio format. As for the rest, it has simple tools that merge audio files hassle-free.
Step 1. Add audio tracks for merging
Click the “File” button to open the drop-down menu and select the “Add Files…” option to open Windows Explorer and manually select the audio files for merging. The program also supports drag and drop to easily add audio files.
Step 2. Merge the audio files
As soon as the audio files are added for merging, click the “File” button and select the “Merge” option from the drop-down list to start merging the files. Alternatively, you may use the Ctrl+M hotkey combination in the program. Type in a new name for your output file and save it to the required folder.
If you wish to know not only how to merge, but how to convert audio as well, check out our review of the best free audio converters for Windows.