Reverse audio
Make a recording play backwards for sound effects, music edits and the famous backwards message, on your own device.
- Nothing is uploaded
- Works offline after first use
- Open source
- No sign-up, no watermark. The limit is your device’s memory (phones hold less).
Reverses an audio file so it plays from the end to the start, for one file or a batch. It is free, needs no account and adds no watermark, and your files are not uploaded: your browser reads the sound and writes the reversed copy in this tab. Save as WAV for an exact copy, or in the original format.
Done
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Open the network tab. Your files never appear in it.
Add files and run the tool to see every request this tab makes.
Your files are processed on this device and never sent to a server. Reload the page to clear everything from memory.
A reversed sound is one of the oldest tricks in music and sound design. Cymbals that swell into a downbeat, a reversed vocal that leads into a chorus, the eerie drone under a film scene and the "message hidden in a record" are all a sound played from its end to its start.
Drop a file and press Reverse. Every sample is put in the opposite order on your device, the left and right channels together, so a stereo recording keeps its stereo picture. Nothing is uploaded and there is no watermark.
Two small tips. First, trim before you reverse: a sound with a long quiet tail starts with a long silence once reversed, so cut the tail first with Trim audio. Second, save as WAV or FLAC if you will keep editing: those keep every sample, in reverse order, while MP3, M4A and OGG are encoded again.
To reverse a video clip, use Reverse video, which can reverse the sound with the picture.
How it works
- Drop one or more sound files, or tap to pick them.
- Keep the original format, or choose WAV for an exact copy.
- Press Reverse. Each file downloads when it is ready; several come as a zip.
In your browser, not on a server
Your browser decodes the sound with its own audio decoders into plain samples in your tab. Each channel is then copied from its last sample to its first, so left and right stay in step. The file is written again in your tab: MP3 by LAME in WebAssembly, WAV and FLAC by code in this site (at the original sample rate), M4A and OGG by the browser’s own encoders.
Compared with upload-based tools: Online audio reversers upload the recording, cap the length, and keep the file for a while. Here the reversing happens on your device and nothing leaves it.
Verify it yourself. Give the page a short while after your first run to save itself for offline use, then turn off Wi-Fi or switch to airplane mode and run the tool again. Or open your browser's developer tools (F12, or Cmd-Option-I on a Mac), pick the Network tab, and watch it while you convert. The panel above does the same count for you.
Questions
How do I reverse audio?
Drop the sound file on this page and press Reverse. Your browser reads the file, puts its samples in the opposite order and writes a new file with -reversed added to the name. It plays the same sound from the end to the start.
Can I reverse an MP3 without losing quality?
Not entirely. An MP3 has to be encoded again after it is reversed, which costs a little detail. Choose WAV or FLAC under Save as for a copy with every sample kept, then turn it into an MP3 once you are done editing.
Why does my reversed recording start with silence?
Most recordings end with a quiet tail, such as a room fading out after the last note. Played backwards, that tail comes first. Cut the end off with Trim audio and reverse the shorter file.
Does reversed speech say anything?
It sounds like gibberish, because the sounds of a word are pulled apart in time. It is a popular effect for creepy voices and for puzzles where a friend has to guess what was said.
Is the file uploaded anywhere?
No. The sound is decoded, reversed and written by code running in this tab, so the audio does not leave your device. Open the network tab while you run it and the file is not among the requests.
More video and audio tools
Audio reverser
Turn a sound file around so it plays from the end to the start. Done on this device; your files are not uploaded.
Speaker test
Check that both sides of your speakers or headphones play: send a tone to the left, the right or both, sweep up through the pitches, or play pink noise. It starts quiet, and nothing is uploaded.
Keyboard test
A free key tester: press any key and it lights up on an on-screen keyboard, in an ANSI or ISO layout, and stays marked so you can see which keys you have not tried yet. What you type stays in this tab.
Tone generator
Play a steady tone at any pitch from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, as a sine, square, triangle or sawtooth wave. It starts quiet, and nothing is uploaded.