Download YouTube audio — free online tool

Extract the soundtrack of a public YouTube video as MP3, M4A, Opus, WAV or FLAC, with the estimated file size shown for each bitrate.

What to know

This page lists only sound. Eleven profiles are offered: MP3 at 128, 192 and 320 kbps, M4A at the same three rates, Opus at 96, 128 and 192 kbps, and uncompressed WAV and lossless FLAC. MP3 192 kbps is preselected.

The estimated size is bitrate multiplied by duration and divided by eight. A 4-minute track at 192 kbps comes to about 5.5 MB, the same track as MP3 320 kbps is about 9.2 MB, and as WAV (estimated at 1,411 kbps) it is roughly 40 MB. A profile whose estimate exceeds the 750 MB default limit is not offered at all, which in practice removes WAV for videos longer than about 74 minutes.

Choose by destination. MP3 plays everywhere, M4A is the natural choice for Apple devices, and Opus gives the best speech quality at low rates, which suits lectures. WAV and FLAC are container choices for editing; the sound already passed through YouTube’s compression, so they will not restore quality that is not there.

A song, a podcast episode and a lecture have very different rights. Your own uploads and Creative Commons recordings can be kept, but extracting a commercial track to build a playlist or use as video background music breaks the copyright in both the recording and the composition.

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How to use Download YouTube audio — free online tool
  1. Copy the link of one finished video, such as https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ, and paste it on this audio page.
  2. Check the duration in the preview, for example 4:00, because the size of each row depends on it.
  3. Keep MP3 192 kbps for general listening, or pick Opus 96 kbps for a small speech file or FLAC for editing.
  4. Tick the rights box, press Prepare selected file, and save the resulting audio file.

Quick answers

Why is there no WAV option for my three-hour video?

The WAV estimate is about 10 MB per minute, so a three-hour video would exceed the 750 MB default limit. Choose a compressed profile such as MP3 192 kbps instead.

Is a WAV from YouTube better quality than the MP3?

It is larger, not better. The source audio is already compressed, so WAV only stores that sound without compression artifacts being added again.

Can I extract the audio of a video that has no music, only speech?

Yes, and Opus 96 kbps is a good fit because it keeps speech clear at a small size. If the video has no audio track at all, the page tells you so.