How to Record Audio from YouTube in 2026 [8 Methods]

Want to enjoy YouTube music offline or extract audio from your favorite videos? Sometimes the background track of a video is too good to miss, but it's not available elsewhere. The fastest way is to record audio from YouTube directly. In this guide, we'll show six reliable YouTube audio recorders and step-by-step methods to capture, download, and save YouTube audio for offline listening.

How to Record YouTube Audio to Computer with YouTube Audio Recorder

• Compatibility: Windows & Mac
• Best for: Students, creators, or casual listeners needing easy, high-quality recordings

If you want to record YouTube audio on Windows or Mac, EaseUS RecExperts makes it straightforward and reliable. It helps you record a YouTube video with audio or capture YouTube audio only. Once done, export recordings in popular formats such as MP3, WAV, or FLAC to ensure clear, high-quality audio.

The built-in AI noise reduction keeps your recordings clean, and the scheduled recording feature helps you capture videos without missing a moment. Whether you're saving music from a YouTube video, recording commentary, or recording YouTube live streams, this software makes it easy to get exactly the audio you need, ready for offline listening.

Here's how to record MP3 from YouTube on Windows and Mac:

Step 1. Launch the EaseUS audio recorder and choose the Audio recording mode.

Step 2. Click the Settings button to adjust audio settings like formats, bitrate, or sample rate.

Step 3. Play the YouTube video that you want to capture the audio track in your browser. When you are ready, click REC to start your audio recording.

Step 4. To finish it, you just click on the red square icon to stop the recording.

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How to Record YouTube Audio Free from Audacity

• Compatibility: Windows & Mac & Linux
• Best for: Content creators, educators, or hobbyists needing flexible, high-quality recordings

If you want to record YouTube audio without spending a dime, Audacity is a popular choice in community discussions. As a free, open-source audio recorder, it lets you capture system audio or microphone input, adjust formats and sampling rates, and refine recordings with trimming, normalization, and noise removal.

While it doesn't automate recording or offer AI noise reduction, Audacity gives you full control over the final audio, making it highly effective for musicians, educators, content creators, and hobbyists. It's ideal for extracting high-quality YouTube audio for personal projects, commentary, or archiving, as long as you're comfortable handling the manual setup and editing.

Here's a guide to capture songs from YouTube video with Audacity:

Note: The steps below are based on Audacity version 3.7.5. If you are using a different version, the interface or some options may vary slightly.

Step 1. Install Audacity

Download from the official website to ensure safety.

Step 2. Set up Audio Source

• On Windows: Click Audio Settings, and make sure that your settings match the ones in the following image so that Audacity knows to record the audio coming from your computer, not your microphone. 
• On Mac: Use a virtual audio device like BlackHole to route system audio into Audacity.

Step 3. Start Recording

• Open the YouTube video and click Record in Audacity.
• Monitor levels to avoid clipping and ensure clean capture.

Step 4. Export Audio

• After recording, go to File > Export > Export as MP3/WAV.
• Optionally, embed metadata such as title and artist for better organization.

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How to Capture Audio from YouTube Online via Chrome Audio Capture

• Compatibility: Windows & Mac & Linux
• Best for: Casual users, students, or creators needing quick, occasional recordings

If you're looking for a quick and easy way to record audio from a YouTube video online without installing any software, Chrome Audio Capture is a handy solution. This is a free browser extension for Google Chrome that allows users to capture the YouTube audio playing on a specific browser tab and save it in MP3 format.

However, it only works in Chrome, captures audio from the active tab only, and limits recordings to around 60 minutes—longer sessions risk being cut off if not saved promptly. Despite the limits, this online YouTube audio recorder still suits casual users, students, or creators needing occasional YouTube audio recordings.

Here's how to record YouTube audio to MP3 free online: 

Step 1. Go to the Chrome Web Store, search for "Chrome Audio Capture", and click "Add to Chrome" to install.

Step 2. Play the YouTube video you want to record, and make sure the YouTube video is playing in the active tab, as the plugin only captures audio from the current tab.

Step 3. Click the extension icon in the top-right corner of your browser and select "Start Capture" to begin recording.

Step 4. When done, click the icon again and choose "Save Capture" to export the audio file.

How to Extract Sound from YouTube Videos via YT-dl

• Compatibility: Windows & Mac & Linux
• Best for: users comfortable with the command line

For users comfortable with the command line, yt-dl or its fork yt-dlp offers a powerful and free way to extract audio from YouTube videos. These tools allow you to download YouTube content directly to your computer and save it in audio-only formats like MP3, WAV, or M4A, without extra software.

While this YouTube audio ripper requires some familiarity with terminal commands, it's highly flexible, fast, and supports batch downloads, making it ideal for advanced users, content creators, and archivists who want precise control over YouTube audio extraction.

Here's how to rip YouTube sound:

Step 1. Download and install youtube-dl. (According to our test, you need to install the Nightly version to make it work)

Step 2. Then, open your terminal or command prompt and run the command:

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3

Note: Replace [Video URL] with the YouTube video URL to get the audio.

Step 3. Access the downloaded audio in your designated output folder.

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How to Download YouTube Audio to MP3 with EaseUS Video Downloader

• Compatibility: Windows & Mac
• Best for: Users needing fast YouTube audio downloads for personal use

Another way to get songs from YouTube videos is by downloading the video to MP3. If you record on YouTube, you need to wait for as long as the audio is. However, a YouTube content downloader like EaseUS MobiMover can save the audio in a short time.

Of course, some content is banned from being downloaded. Therefore, EaseUS MobiMover can't save it without breaking the rules. Also, you need to make sure you won't use the downloaded audio for commercial or malicious purposes.

Step 1. Copy the YouTube video link and open EaseUS Video Downloader, then choose YouTube to MP3.

Step 2. (Optional) Adjust the output folder and audio quality in Settings.

Step 3. Click Paste Link and wait for the conversion to finish.

How to Record Songs from YouTube with Free Sound Recorder

Free Sound Recorder is an excellent audio recorder that can help you capture sound from social media platforms with ease. It allows you to record music from any online music site, like Grooveshark and YouTube.

It is a small program, and it won't take up too much space on your device. Most importantly, you need to pay nothing for tons of newly released songs and classic albums. Now, enjoy the recorded online music on your music player!

How to record music from YouTube with Free Sound Recorder:

Step 1. Download and Install Free Sound Recorder. Open it and perform your YouTube audio. 

Step 2. Click "Record" to activate the online music recorder. Hit "Show mixer window" to choose the sound source from "Recording Mixer."

Step 3. Then, select the proper recording device. Hit "Stereo Mix" from the "Recording Device" drop-down menu. Then, adjust the volume and balance.

Step 4. Go to "Options > "General Settings". Choose an output format for YouTube audio. Play the YouTube video you want to record. Click "Start recording" to start. 

Step 5. Once done, you can stop the recording and export it with information about the artist and the song.

Record Audio from YouTube on iPhone and Android

Recording audio from YouTube on mobile devices is slightly different from computers, but it's still possible with the right tools.

How to Record Audio from YouTube iPhone

You can use the built-in Screen Recording feature to capture YouTube audio on iPhone, then extract the audio using apps or shortcuts. Make sure to enable the microphone off if you only want the video's sound.

Step 1.  Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open Control Center, then tap the Screen Recording button. Press the microphone off to capture only the video's audio.

Step 2. Open YouTube video, and play the video you want to record.

Step 3. Tap the red status bar at the top and select Stop. The video is saved to Photos.

Step 4. (Optional) Use apps like iConv or Documents by Readdle, or use shortcuts, to convert the recorded video to MP3 for offline listening.

How to Record Audio from YouTube Android

There are apps that can record YouTube audio on Android, or you can use screen recorders with audio capture enabled. Some apps also allow exporting recordings as MP3 or other formats for offline listening.

Step 1. Choose a recording app: Apps like AZ Screen Recorder, Mobizen, or built-in screen recorder (on Samsung, Xiaomi, etc.) can capture internal audio.

Step 2. Open the recorder, enable internal audio (or system audio) capture.

Step 3. Launch the YT video you want to record audio from.

Step 4. Stop the recording once the video ends. The file is saved to your device storage.

Step 5. Use audio converter apps to extract audio from video for offline listening.

YouTube Audio Recording: Legal & Safe Practices

When recording audio from YouTube, please be aware of copyright considerations:

1. Fair use

Recording should be limited to educational purposes, commentary, personal study, or short excerpts. Whether fair use applies depends on the purpose, the length of the recording, and the degree of content modification.

2. Avoid Infringement

Using recorded content for distribution or commercial purposes may violate copyright law and YouTube's terms of service. It is important to use safe and reliable recording tools to minimize legal and security risks.

To Sum Up

You can always get help with the five efficient audio recording methods with the best free YouTube audio recorder. Or you can also download YouTube videos and convert them to the desired audio formats.

The easiest method to capture audio from YouTube is to use audio recording software. Try a helpful audio recorder like EaseUS RecExperts. It can help capture the internal audio on Windows and Mac. 

Record Audio from YouTube FAQs

Some frequently asked questions about capturing audio from YouTube are listed here. 

1.  Is it legal to record music from YouTube?

Recording copyrighted music from YouTube without permission is generally illegal and violates YouTube's Terms of Service. Personal use may be tolerated in some countries, but redistribution or commercial use is not allowed.

2. How to download songs from YouTube?

To download songs from YouTube, try an audio downloader. 

1. Launch EaseUS MobiMover. Go to Video Downloader and download YouTube videos to your computer.

2. Copy the URL of the YouTube video, paste it into the bar, and then tap the Download button.

3. Then MobiMover will quickly analyze the URL and download the YouTube video to your computer.

Then, convert the video to MP3 format with ease.

3. How to record a YouTube video?

You can use a professional YouTube video recorder, like EaseUS RecExperts, OBS Studio, etc. Then, play the YouTube video, launch the software, and click REC to start your recording.

4. How do I save audio from YouTube?

You can save audio from YouTube by using YouTube Premium for offline listening or by recording system audio with software like Audacity or EaseUS RecExperts. Downloading copyrighted music without permission is generally illegal.