How to Download Audio from YouTube

This wikiHow teaches you how to download an audio version of a YouTube video. The most reliable way to do this is by using the free program 4K Video Downloader, though you can also use websites like Dirty or Motionbox if you're trying to download a video that doesn't contain copyrighted music or content. Keep in mind that you cannot use either of these services to download audio from YouTube videos which aren't available in your country.

Things You Should Know

You can download audio using apps like 4K Video Downloader or Youtube-dl.
If you don't want to install an app, use a download website like Dirpy or Motionbox.
YouTube Music lets you download music and videos for offline use as long as you have a Premium subscription.

Method 1

Method 1 of 5:

Using 4K Video Downloader

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1
Download the 4K Video Downloader setup file. 4K Video Downloader is a desktop app that allows you to download videos and audio from YouTube. Use the following steps to download the 4K Video Downloader setup file:
- Go to https://www.4kdownload.com/products/product-videodownloader in your computer's web browser.
- Click Get 4K Video Downloader on the left side of the page.
- You can also use 4K Video Downloader to download video and audio from other video website.
2
Install 4K Video Downloader. By default, you can find the setup file downloaded to your Downloads folder or you can open it from within your web browser. Use one of the following steps to install 4K Video Downloader.
- Windows — Double-click the setup file. Click Yes when prompted, and follow the on-screen setup instructions.
- Mac — Double-click the setup file, verify the installation if necessary, click and drag the 4K Video Downloader app icon onto the "Applications" folder. Follow any on-screen instructions.
3
Copy your YouTube video's address. Go to the video you want to download, then select the whole address in the URL bar at the top of your browser's window. Press Ctrl + C on Windows or Command + C on Mac to copy the address. You can also right-click the highlighted URL and click Copy.
- Make sure you're selecting a single video and not a playlist (or a video from a playlist's list of videos).
If it didn't open automatically, click or double-click the 4K Video Downloader app icon. It's a green icon with a white cloud in the middle.
It's the button that has an icon that resembles a light-bulb. The Smart Mode menu allows you to select which format you want to extract and download from the video.
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Select "MP3 • Audio" from the "Format" menu. Click the drop-down menu next to "Format" and select the option to extract an MP3 from the video.
- Alternatively, you can select "M4A" or "OGG" as the audio format.
Use the drop-down menu next to "Quality" to select the quality. "Best Quality" is already selected by default. You can also select "High • 320 Kbps", "Medium • 256 Kbps", or "Low • 128 Kbps". Higher-quality files will take up more space but will sound better.
8
Click Paste Link. It's in the top-left corner of the 4K Video Downloader window. This will paste in the copied YouTube video address and automatically start downloading the audio clip from the video. Allow a few minutes for the app to parse the audio and download it.
- If you receive an error that says the video can't be downloaded, try downloading another video's audio through 4K Video Downloader without clearing your downloads. This will usually fix the error.
- If your video won't download due to copyright issues, wait for a few hours, and then try again. 4K Video Downloader typically patches copyright issues within a day.
Once the audio file finishes downloading, click the icon with three vertical dots to the right of the file, then click Show in Folder. This opens the folder with the mp3s and video files that have been extracted by 4K Video Downloader. Click an mp3 file to play it in your default audio player program.

Method 2

Method 2 of 5:

Using Motionbox

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1
Go to https://www.youtube.com in your computer's web browser. You can use any web browser on your PC or Mac.
- You don't need to be signed into your YouTube account unless you're downloading an age-restricted video.
2
Select a YouTube video. Use the search bar at the top to search for the video from which you want to download the audio. Then click the video's title to open it.
- Make sure you're selecting a single video and not a playlist (or a video from a playlist's list of videos).
Select the whole address in the URL bar at the top of your browser's window. Then press Ctrl + C on a Windows PC or Command + C on Mac to copy the address. Alternatively, you can right-click the highlighted URL and click Copy.
4
Go to https://motionbox.io/tools/youtube-to-mp3 in a web browser. This is a website that allows you to download YouTube videos in a variety of formats, including audio formats like MP3.
- YouTube download websites operate in a legal grey area and are often taken down and replaced by other websites. If Motionbox isn't available, you can try a different website, like Dirpy, TubeRipper, or Online Video Converter. You can also use Google to search "Download audio from YouTube" to find other websites that offer this service.
- Be wary of malicious sites. Many online download and conversion sites are buggy or may even try to infect your computer with viruses and malware. Make sure you install a reliable antivirus program and that you have it updated before using one of these websites.
Click the bar that says "Paste an image or video URL" in the middle of the page. Then right-click the cursor and click Paste. This pastes the YouTube link in the search bar. The website will automatically start parsing the video from the YouTube URL.
6
Click the YouTube logo. It's the icon with the red logo with the play triangle. It's to the left of the bar where you paste the URL This will immediately start processing your video download. It may take a few minutes for your download to process.
- Videos that have copyright protection won't allow you to download them. If you get an error message while trying to download a song, try searching for an unofficial video on YouTube.
Once your download is finished processing, you should see a play bar in the center of the screen where you can click the play triangle to hear the audio. Click the icon with three dots to the right of the play bar., then choose Download to save the audio to your computer in the MP3 format.^{[1]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 5:

Using Dirpy

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1
Go to the YouTube video you want to download. Use the search bar at the top of YouTube to search for the video from which you want to download the audio. Then click the video's title to open it.
- Make sure you're selecting a single video and not a playlist (or a video from a playlist's list of videos).
- You don't need to be signed into your YouTube account unless you're downloading an age-restricted video.
Select the whole address in the URL bar at the top of your browser's window. Then press Ctrl + C on a Windows PC or Command + C on Mac to copy the address. Alternatively, you can right-click the highlighted URL and click Copy.
3
Go to https://dirpy.com in a web browser. You can use any web browser on your PC or Mac. Dirpy is a website that allows you to download YouTube videos in a variety of formats, including audio formats like MP3.
- YouTube download websites operate in a legal grey area and are often taken down and replaced with other websites. If Dirpy isn't available, you can try a different website, like Motionbox, TubeRipper, or Online Video Converter. You can also use Google to search "Download audio from YouTube" to find other websites that offer this service.
- Be wary of malicious sites. Many online download and conversion sites are buggy or may even try to infect your computer with viruses and malware. Make sure you install a reliable antivirus program and that you have it updated before using one of these websites.
Right-click where it says "Enter Video URL or Search Term" in the center of the screen. Then click Paste to paste the video URL into the bar in the center of the screen.
5
Click dirpy!. It's the blue button to the right of the bar where you paste the URL. This processes the video and takes you to a different page.
- Videos that have copyright protection won't allow you to download them. If you get an error message while trying to download a song, try searching for an unofficial video on YouTube.
6
Enter the video information (optional). Dirpy gives you the option to edit the following information.
- Filename: Use the bar below this heading to enter a filename for your download.
- Edit ID3 Tag Data: Use the bars below this heading to enter the metadata for your file download. You can enter information such as the Title, Artist, Album, Genre, Year, Track Number, and more.
7
Select the file format. Use the two drop-down menus below "Record Audio" to your file format. They are as follows:
- Use the first drop-down menu to select the bitrate. The higher the bitrate, the better quality the audio will be, but the larger the file will be as well.
- Use the second drop-down menu to select the file format. MP3 is the most common file format, but you can also select ".m4a," ".flac," ".aac," and ".wav" formats.
8
Click Record Audio. This will download your video file in audio format. It may take a few minutes before your download is read.
- You need a premium subscription to Dirpy to download audio files longer than 20 minutes.

Method 4

Method 4 of 5:

Using YouTube-DL

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1
Install Microsoft Visual Studio C++ Redistribution Package (Windows Only). If you are using a Windows computer you need to download and install Microsoft Visual Studio C++ Redistribution Package. You can download and install it from the following website.
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-US/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170
2
Download and install YouTube-dl. YouTube-dl is an open-source program you can use to download videos from YouTube using the command line on Windows or the Terminal on Mac and Linux. It takes a little more computer know-how to use this tool properly, but it is reliable. Use one of the following steps to download and install YouTube-dl.
- Windows: Go to youtube-dl.org/ in a web browser and click YouTube.exe at the top of the page. Copy and paste the YouTube.exe file to whichever folder you want to download your videos and audio from YouTube too. Additionally, you can add the YouTube-dl.exe file to your PATH Environment Variable so that you can access YouTube-dl from any folder location in the command line.
- Mac: First you need to install Homebrew on your Mac. To do so, open the Terminal and type /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)%22 " and press Enter. Then type sudo brew install youtube-dl and press Enter to install YouTube-dl.
- Linux: Open the Terminal and type sudo apt install youtube-dl and press Enter.
3
Open the Terminal or command line. Use one of the following steps to open the command line on WIndows or the Terminal on Mac and Linux.
- Windows: Click the Windows Start button and type CMD. Click the command prompt, which resembles a black screen with a white cursor.
- Mac: Click the magnifying glass icon in the upper-right corner and type Terminal. Then click the Terminal icon, which resembles a black screen with a white cursor in the search results.
- Linux: Press Ctrl + Alt + T to open the Terminal on Linux.
4
Change the directory to the location you want to download your audio files. To do so, type cd followed by the location of the folder you want to download your audio files to (i.e, cd C:\Users\Username\Music) and press Enter.
- If you are using Windows and you didn't add the YouTube-dl.exe file to your PATH variable environment, you will need to change the directory to the folder you copied and pasted the YouTube-dl.exe file in. It won't work in any other folder.
- If you want to change the directory to a folder on another hard drive, change drives before changing directories. To do so, type the drive letter (i.e, D:) and press Enter.
5
Go to https://www.youtube.com/ in your computer's web browser. You can use any web browser on your PC or Mac.
- You don't need to be signed into your YouTube account unless you're downloading an age-restricted video.
6
Select a YouTube video. Use the search bar at the top to search for the video from which you want to download the audio. Then click the video's title to open it.
- Make sure you're selecting a single video and not a playlist (or a video from a playlist's list of videos).
Select the whole address in the URL bar at the top of your browser's window. Then press Ctrl + C on a Windows PC or Command + C on Mac to copy the address. Alternatively, you can right-click the highlighted URL and click Copy.
This is the starting command to download videos in a specific format using YouTube-dl. Don't press Enter just yet. There's still more to this command.
9
Enter the format code. The format code is the file extension for the file type you want to download. This specifies what audio format you want to download the audio file in. Your options are as follows:
- mp3: This downloads the file in MP3 format.
- wav: This downloads the file in wave format.
- aac: This downloads the file in Advanced Audio Coding format.
- ogg: This downloads the file in OGG format.
- m4a: This downloads the file in M4A format.
You can paste in the command line or Terminal by pressing Ctrl + V on Windows and Linux, or Command + V on Mac. Then press Enter. This will download the audio file to whichever folder you are currently using the Command Line or Terminal in.

Method 5

Method 5 of 5:

Using YouTube Music

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The YouTube Music app allows you to listen to music from YouTube. If you have a subscription to YouTube Music, you can download audio from music videos to your phone. You can download YouTube Music from the App Store on iPhone and iPad, or the Google Play Store on Android.
2
Subscribe to YouTube Music Premium. A Premium subscription is required to download audio on YouTube Music. YouTube Music Premium starts at $9.99 a month for an individual plan or $14.99 a month for a family plan. A free trial is available. You can also pay annually. Use the following steps to subscribe to YouTube Music:^{[2]
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- Open the YouTube Music app.
- Sign in to your YouTube or Google account if needed.
- Tap your Profile icon in the upper-right corner.
- Tap Get Premium or Start free trial.
- Follow the instructions to select a plan and complete your transaction.
It has a round red icon with a white triangle in the middle. Tap the YouTube Music icon on your Home screen or Apps menu to open YouTube Music.
To search for music, tap the magnifying glass icon in the upper-right corner. Enter the name of a song or artist in the search bar.
YouTube Music allows you to download music or videos. Songs are listed below "Songs" in the search results. Videos are listed below "Videos." Tap a song or video to play it.
It's the icon with three dots in the upper-right corner. This displays a menu.
7
Tap Download. It's in the menu that appears when you tap the icon with three dots. It's next to an icon that resembles an arrow pointing down. This downloads the song or video to your phone.
- To access your downloaded music and videos, open the YouTube Music app and tap your profile icon in the upper-right corner. Then tap Downloads. Tap one of the songs or videos you downloaded.
- You can only access your downloaded music and videos from within the YouTube app. However, you can listen to them without an internet connection.

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Always double-check copyright legislature before uploading or using YouTube audio in any capacity other than private.

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Warnings

Downloading audio from YouTube might be against your ISP's terms of use.

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It is illegal to download copyright audio that you do not own.

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