Reverse audio and hear any sound backwards
This free reverse audio tool plays a recording backwards: the last sample becomes the first and the first becomes the last. Drop in a song, a voice note or a sound effect, choose whether to reverse the whole file or only a part of it, and download the result as MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC or Ogg.
Reversed sound is a classic production effect — the swelling “reverse cymbal” before a drop, ghostly reversed vocals, or a backwards guitar solo. It is also a party game (sing a phrase backwards and reverse it to hear it forwards), a way to check a song for hidden backmasked messages, and a quick source of strange sound effects for videos and games. The boomerang option plays the audio forwards and then backwards, like a looping video clip.
All of it happens in your browser: the file is decoded and reversed on your own device and never uploaded. Decoding and encoding use the open-source Mediabunny library (MPL-2.0); MP3 and FLAC files are written with LAME (LGPL) and libFLAC (BSD).
How to use the Reverse Audio
- Drop an audio file on the box or click to choose one. Its format, length, sample rate, channels and bitrate are shown with a waveform.
- Choose Whole file, or Only a selection and drag the two handles — or type the start and end times — around the part to flip.
- Tick Boomerang to hear the audio forwards first and then backwards.
- Pick an output format, or keep Same as input, and press Reverse audio.
- Compare the original and the result in the two players, then press Download reversed audio.
Reverse Audio features
Exact reversal
Samples are written in exactly the opposite order — nothing is resampled or time-stretched, so a WAV or FLAC result is a perfect mirror of the original.
Reverse only a part
Flip one word, a cymbal hit or a chorus while the rest plays normally; tiny 5 ms fades at the edges stop clicks where the reversed part meets the rest.
Boomerang
Forwards then backwards in one file — the audio version of a boomerang video — for the whole file or the selected part.
Waveform with zoom and touch handles
Zoom in to place the selection exactly on a beat or between two words, with handles you can drag with a finger.
Any common format in and out
MP3, WAV, M4A/AAC, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis and Opus files open; save as MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC or Ogg.
What happens when audio is reversed?
Digital audio is a long list of numbers — 44,100 or 48,000 per second for each channel. Reversing simply reads that list from the end to the start. Pitch and speed stay the same, but everything that changes over time runs the other way: a piano note that normally starts with a sharp attack and fades out now swells up from nothing and stops abruptly, reverb tails turn into “reverse reverb” build-ups, and speech becomes an alien-sounding language.
Because every sound is mirrored in time, a reversed file has exactly the same length as the original. A boomerang file is twice as long, and reversing a selection keeps the length unchanged.
Ideas for reversed audio
- Reverse cymbal or swell: select one crash cymbal or piano chord, reverse it and place it just before the beat it leads into.
- Backwards singing challenge: record yourself with the Voice Recorder saying a phrase backwards, reverse it here and see how close you got.
- Spooky effects: reversed whispers or bells make good horror and Halloween sounds; soften the start with Audio Fade In.
- Video: to play a whole clip backwards, picture and sound together, use Reverse Video.
Reverse Audio FAQ
How do I reverse an MP3?
Drop the MP3 on this page, keep “Whole file” selected and press Reverse audio. Keep the output format on Same as input to get an MP3 back, then download it.
Can I reverse just part of a song?
Yes. Choose “Only a selection”, drag the handles around the part you want, or type the start and end times, and only that part will play backwards.
Does reversing change the pitch or speed?
No. The samples are only put in the opposite order, so the pitch, tempo and length stay exactly the same.
Is this audio reverser free and private?
Yes. It is free, needs no account and adds no watermark, and your file is processed in your browser — it is never uploaded.
How long can the file be?
Reversing needs the whole decoded file in memory. Files up to about an hour of stereo audio work on most computers; very long recordings may fail on phones.
What is backmasking?
Backmasking is recording a sound or message backwards onto a track so it can only be understood when the track is played in reverse. Reversing the audio here lets you listen for it.