If you want to download or capture the audio of a YouTube video, you have several options. You can use a third-party online service to download the audio and convert it to mp3, or capture the audio with software on your computer.
NoteThe steps below are for saving the audio portion of a video only. To download video, see how to save a YouTube video to your computer.
Audio: MP3 (recommended). MP3 is the most well-supported audio format, which compatible with almost all the devices and software. Compressed with better audio quality in a smaller size than MP3 file, mainly applied to Apple devices.
Use an online service
One of the easiest methods for saving audio from a YouTube video to an MP3 file is using an online service. Below are steps on how to record sound in a YouTube video using an online YouTube to MP3 conversion service.
TipWe have found the steps below to work best using the Chrome or Firefox browser. If you are using Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer and have trouble downloading the MP3 file, try Chrome or Firefox instead.
- Go to the YouTube video page and copy the URL of the video you want to save as an MP3 audio file.
- Once the URL is copied, access the OnlineVideoConverter site.
The OnlineVideoConverter service is free to use. The site may display ads to pay for their service, but you are not required to pay any money to use it.
- Paste the copied YouTube video URL into the text field near the top of the site.
- Below the text field, make sure Format: .mp3 is selected in the drop-down list.
- Click the orange Start button below the text field and drop-down list.
- When the progress meter reaches 100%, you'll see a page with a Download button. Click the Download button to download the MP3 audio file.
- If a page opens in a new tab, stating you need to download and install an add-on or extension, do NOT install the add-on or extension. Instead, close that tab and click the Download button again on the main OnlineVideoConverter web page. The MP3 audio file should be downloaded at that point.
After clicking the Download button, if nothing happens or a blank page opens and then closes, click the Download button again to download the MP3 audio file.
Capture audio with Audacity
If you want to manually record the audio, or only need a segment of the video's sound, you can use the free software Audacity to capture the audio. To proceed, follow the steps below.
NoteIf your computer has an integrated sound card, you'll not be able to download streaming audio. Therefore, the steps in this section will not work for you. It's best to use an online service, as discussed above, to download audio from a YouTube video.
- Download Audacity from the Audacity official website.
- Once the download is complete, run the setup program and follow the steps to install Audacity on your computer.
- Open Audacity using the shortcut on your desktop, or run it from your Start menu.
- In the menu bar at the top of the Audacity window, click Edit, then Preferences.
- In the Preferences window, in the Devices section, locate the Recording section.
- Under Device: look for the Stereo Mix option. If Stereo Mix is not available, it is likely disabled. To enable it:
- Open the Control Panel on your computer and click on Hardware and sound, then the Sound icon in the Control Panel window.
- In the Sound window, click on the Recording tab, right-click in a blank space in that tab, and select Show Disabled Devices from the drop-down menu.
- The Stereo Mix device should now be visible. Right-click on that device and select Enable.
If the Stereo Mix option is still not available, it is likely because your computer has an integrated sound card. Stereo Mix is not available with integrated sound cards and you cannot download streaming audio from a YouTube video. It's recommended that you try one of the solutions in the sections above.
- Click OK to save the sound settings change.
- If Audacity was open when you enabled Stereo Mix, close and re-open the program. Stereo Mix should now be available in the Recording Device list.
You can select the settings in steps four and five in the main Audacity program window as well. There are four drop-down lists located above the middle of the program window. The second drop-down list from the left is for the Recording Device (has a microphone icon to the left of it). Select Stereo Mix in this drop-down list.
- While still in Preferences, select 2 (Stereo) in the Channels drop-down list to enable stereo sound.
- Click OK when you are satisfied with your settings.
- Open the YouTube video you want to record. Unless you have a fast connection, we suggest getting the video fully loaded before recording.
- Once your video is loaded, click the record button (red circle) in Audacity, then switch back to the YouTube video and click play. As the video is playing, you should see action in the sound wave section in Audacity. When done recording, click the stop button (dark gray square) in Audacity.
![Download Download](/uploads/1/2/6/3/126360099/492578475.jpg)
Doing it this way causes a section at the beginning of the sound file to be blank. To remove this section of blank audio, highlight it by clicking and dragging your mouse, and then press the delete key on your keyboard to remove the blank segment. You can also enable the Sound-based Recording option in Audacity to eliminate the blank section of audio.
- When you have completed your recording, click File, select Export, then select Export as MP3. Make sure MP3 Files in selected in the Save as type drop-down list. Choose a location to save the MP3 file, enter a file name, and click Save.
![Music Music](/uploads/1/2/6/3/126360099/941801699.png)
For older versions of Audacity, you may need to install LAME MP3 file support to save the recorded audio as an MP3 file. See the section below for additional information.
Getting MP3 support for Audacity
- To save the file in MP3 format, you need to get LAME for Audacity from the LAME download site. LAME is available for both the Windows and macOS X operating system.
- Once downloaded, install LAME on the computer.
- When you have completed your recording, click File and choose Export. Select MP3 Files in the Save as type drop-down list. Enter a File name and click Save.
- After selecting the MP3 Files type, you may be prompted for the location of the LAME file. Point to the lame_enc.dll file, located at C:Program FilesLame for Audacity if you used the default install location. If you extracted from a compressed file, it is in the extracted folder.
Download audio with YouTube-dl
If you use the Windows command line, you can download the audio component of a YouTube video with YouTube-dl, a free, open-source program that downloads streaming audio and video.
For example, you can download the audio in m4a format with the command:
Where url is a web address in the form https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID.
Convert to mp3 with FFmpeg
To convert the m4a file to an mp3 file, you can use the open-source program FFmpeg. For example, this command:
Would convert the file named Input file.mp3 to a new mp3 file called Output file.mp3. In the command above, the file names are enclosed in double-quotes because the they contain spaces.
Running these commands look similar to the following picture. In this screenshot, we use the dir command to verify that the mp3 was created.
For more information, see Downloading audio with YouTube-dl.
Additional information
- See the YouTube definition for further information and related links.
Download Video or Audio from YouTube
With Listenvid youtube to mp3 converter, you can easily download youtube videos or audio in many formats in less than thirty seconds. Our video converter does not use your device's resources for conversion, all the job is done on our powerful dedicated servers. So download youtube immediately and fast!
Listenvid Converter Works on Every Platform
You can use our YouTube downloader on your everday use devices. Our converter perfectly works on PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android phones or tablets, Smart TVs etc meaning you can enjoy the ultimate listening experience with Listenvid anywhere.
File formats supported on Listenvid
You can convert youtube to mp4 and youtube to avi with the highest quality possible, usually in mp4 HD or avi HD formats. Whats more, we have the option to convert youtube to webm format. Also you can convert youtube music to audio effortlessly. Listenvid supports youtube to mp3 320 kbps, youtube to mp3 256 kbps and 128 kbps for all other platforms. Moreover, you have the option to convert vimeo and youtube to aac as well.
Download and Convert from other Sources
Listenvid can also convert or download Facebook videos, Instagram videos, Dailymotion videos, Vimeo videos and VKontakte videos. Don't get stuck with one site find your favorite videos and download them with our other sources as well.
How to use Listenvid YouTube Converter?
1. Copy the url of the video you want to convert
2. Paste the url in the conversion box
3. Select a format type
4. Click on Convert button
5. Wait for conversion to complete,
6. Click on 'Download your converted file' button
With Listenvid youtube to mp3 converter, you can easily download youtube videos or audio in many formats in less than thirty seconds. Our video converter does not use your device's resources for conversion, all the job is done on our powerful dedicated servers. So download youtube immediately and fast!
Listenvid Converter Works on Every Platform
You can use our YouTube downloader on your everday use devices. Our converter perfectly works on PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android phones or tablets, Smart TVs etc meaning you can enjoy the ultimate listening experience with Listenvid anywhere.
File formats supported on Listenvid
You can convert youtube to mp4 and youtube to avi with the highest quality possible, usually in mp4 HD or avi HD formats. Whats more, we have the option to convert youtube to webm format. Also you can convert youtube music to audio effortlessly. Listenvid supports youtube to mp3 320 kbps, youtube to mp3 256 kbps and 128 kbps for all other platforms. Moreover, you have the option to convert vimeo and youtube to aac as well.
Download and Convert from other Sources
Listenvid can also convert or download Facebook videos, Instagram videos, Dailymotion videos, Vimeo videos and VKontakte videos. Don't get stuck with one site find your favorite videos and download them with our other sources as well.
How to use Listenvid YouTube Converter?
1. Copy the url of the video you want to convert
2. Paste the url in the conversion box
3. Select a format type
4. Click on Convert button
5. Wait for conversion to complete,
6. Click on 'Download your converted file' button