So, you’re interested in recording audio from a YouTube video? Maybe you want to save a favorite podcast, workout routine, or song to your phone or computer for future listening. Or, you could be interested in saving a lecture or presentation from your coworker.
Regardless of the reason, learning how to record audio from YouTube is a great skill to have at the ready. In today’s piece, we’re sharing six different ways that you can go about recording audio from a YouTube video, including multiple ways to download audio from YouTube free.
Here are the 6 ways to record audio from a YouTube video that we’ll go over today:
Using Notta (Chrome, Website, and App)
Recording Audio from YouTube with Audacity
Recording Audio From YouTube with a Free Sound Recorder
Downloading a YouTube Video and Converting it to an MP3
Best Ways to Record Audio From a YouTube Video
Once you’ve found a YouTube video that you’d like to record audio from, you can use any of the following extensions and tools to record audio from YouTube.
3 Ways to Record YouTube Audio with Notta
Notta is a free speech to text service that supports 104 languages and completes real-time transcriptions. You can also use it to record and transcribe audio from YouTube videos in three different ways.
If you’re interested in using a Chrome extension to record audio from a YouTube video, we recommend using Notta’s Chrome extension.
Method 1: Using Notta Chrome Extension
Start by going to Notta’s Chrome download page in the Chrome web store. From there, you’ll click add to Chrome and click allow extension when prompted.
Once the Notta extension is downloaded on your computer, go to the YouTube video you wish to record audio from. In the upper right corner of your browser, you’ll see the Notta icon. Click on it.
After clicking on the Notta icon, the following screen will appear. Start by clicking on the ‘Start Recording’ button, then click the play button on your YouTube video of choice where you want it to begin recording. Make sure that the transcription language listed is the language you’d like your audio to be transcribed in if you’re also interested in a transcription of the audio.
Once you’ve clicked ‘Start Recording’ and started playing the YouTube video, you’ll notice that the sound detection appears on the Notta extension screen as it detects the audio. It’ll also show the length of the recording. Once you’ve finished recording the YouTube video, you can click the pause button to stop your recording.
Next, you’ll log into your Notta account, where your recordings are automatically saved. On your dashboard, you’ll see ‘Recent Records,’ where your YouTube recordings will appear under the exact title of the video itself.
Once you’ve found your YouTube recording, click on it, and Notta will bring up the following page. From there, you can replay the recording by pressing the play button, or you can use the settings bar to share, export, or move the audio recording to a folder, and much more.
Method 2: Using Notta Website
To record directly through Notta’s website, take the following steps:
Login to your Notta account. This will automatically take you to your Notta account dashboard. Then, click ‘Start Recording’ in the right-hand sidebar.
The following screen will appear on Notta, indicating that your recording has started. In another window or tab, play your YouTube video so that Notta can record the audio. When you are finished recording, click the red recording button.
The following screen will appear after you click the red recording button. Underneath the title, you can click options to share, export, share to Notion, and more.
Method 3: Using Notta App
The third way you can use Notta to record audio from a YouTube video is via the Notta app. The Notta app is available for both iOS and Android smartphones.
Start by going to your phone’s app store, such as the Google Play Store, and search Notta. Then, click download to install the Notta app onto your phone.
Once you’re logged into your Notta account on the Notta app, then click the ‘+’ button at the bottom of your dashboard. You’ll be given three options for audio recording. We recommend clicking ‘Record Now’ so that you can play the YouTube video aloud and record the audio using Notta.
Start playing your YouTube video aloud and click the record button at the bottom of the screen. You should see soundbars as the app picks up your audio. Once completed, click pause to end your recording.
Next, you’ll be prompted to name your recording. Name it whatever you’d like, then go to your Notta app dashboard.
The final step will be locating your recording on the dashboard page. Look for the file and click on it. Then, you can download, save, export, transcribe, or choose other options for the YouTube recording.
Other Ways to Record Audio From YouTube
Method 4: Record Audio from YouTube with Audacity
Audacity is a free, open-source, cross-platform that allows you to download, record, and edit audio from online sources, including YouTube.
To get started, begin by downloading Audacity on your computer. Audacity is compatible with windows, Mac, and much more. After you’ve clicked download, it will prompt you to select the type of computer you’re on to complete your download.
Once the download is complete, go to the YouTube video that you are interested in recording audio from and pull up Audacity on your screen. You’ll want to 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.
After these settings are updated, click the record button at the top of the screen and start playing the YouTube audio you want to record. You should immediately see sound bars appear on the Audacity screen, indicating that your audio is being picked up and recorded by Audacity. Once you’ve recorded your audio, click the stop button at the top of the screen to halt the recording.
Once you’ve finished recording, you can save your file as a project and edit the audio or simply click ‘Export’ to save it to your computer.
*For additional information on how to record with Audacity, please see the value editorial section below, which features a helpful step-by-step video tutorial on recording YouTube videos with Audacity.
Method 5: Record Sound from YouTube with Free Sound Recorder
Another great option for recording sound from YouTube is Streaming Audio Recording, a free sound recorder that works on Android, iOs, Mac, and Windows systems.
Go to Streaming Audio Recording and click download to install the sound recorder.
Once Streaming Audio Recording is fully downloaded, navigate to the YouTube video you want to record audio from and bring up the software on your screen.
At the bottom of the Streaming Audio Recording window, click the red recording button to start recording while the YouTube video is playing. While recording your YouTube audio, you’ll see soundbars where the arrow is pointing to. After you’ve finished recording, click the recording button again to halt the recording.
After you’ve finished recording, click library on the left sidebar. This will bring up your audio recording library. Locate your recording and click the check bar next to it, then use the options at the bottom of the window to do what you’d like with the recording. We recommend clicking the folder icon that is second to the right, which will show you where the download is located on your computer.
Method 6: Download a YouTube Video and Convert It to MP3
For downloading a YouTube video and converting it to an MP3, we recommend YTDownload.
Take the following steps to convert a YouTube video to an MP3:
Go to the YTDownload homepage. Then, paste the YouTube URL into the YouTube link bar to begin your download.
After the YouTube download is finished converting your file, you’ll be given multiple options for downloading the file, including MP4 and MP3 in different qualities. Click ‘Download’ next to the desired format and quality, and you’re done.
Valuable Resources
During our research for this piece, we came across several great resources for how to record audio from a YouTube video.
Here are some additional resources for recording audio from a YouTube video:
For additional information about using Audacity to record audio from a YouTube video, please watch the following 42 second YouTube video that quickly walks you through the steps to download YouTube audio:
For additional information on three different ways to record audio from YouTube (Windows Stereo Mix, Audacity, and Virtual Audio Cable), check out the following in-depth video:
FAQs About Recording YouTube Audio
How do I record music from YouTube on my phone?
There are several ways to record music from YouTube on your phone. We recommend using Notta’s phone app, which works on iOS and Android smartphones. Simply download the Notta app and use it to record the YouTube video as you play it aloud. Then, you can export the file onto your phone or replay it using the Notta app.
Is converting YouTube to MP3 illegal?
It’s illegal if you download a copyrighted video. We recommend checking to see if the video’s content is copyrighted first and consulting with YouTube and Google’s terms of services before converting a YouTube video.
How can I download YouTube audio on my iPad?
You can use several free sound recorders to download YouTube audio directly on your iPad, or use Notta in a web browser to simultaneously record the audio from a YouTube video while recording through Notta’s website. See the above sections in this article for further information on downloading YouTube audio on an iPad.
Conclusion
Overall, there are many ways to record audio from YouTube videos online. However, one of the quickest ways to download audio from YouTube videos online for free is through Notta. We recommend Notta because of its high-quality audio recording and versatility. You can use Notta’s website directly to record audio or use Notta’s phone app or Chrome extension to quickly download audio and store it in your account or export it onto your own device.