Youtube to Mp3— How to convert & download for free
This is the ultimate guide to download and convert YouTube to MP3 on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS-based devices. Now, download your favorite YouTube videos to MP3 online on any smartphone or laptop.
Wandering around YouTube, you have found a beautiful cover of your favorite song and would like to download it to your computer or mobile phone as an MP3 file? Nothing could be easier! There is plenty of software, online services, and apps that allow you to do this task quickly and easily.
All you have to do is choose the solution for converting YouTube videos into MP3s that you think is best for you, feed it the address of the video you want to save as a music track, and wait a few seconds for the conversion to start and finish. As you can see for yourself, you won’t have to do any particularly complex procedure!
So what? Why are you still standing there? Sit down comfortably, take a few minutes only for you and start immediately to concentrate on reading this tutorial of mine focused specifically on the subject. You’ll see, in the end, you’ll be happy and satisfied with the result. Have fun!
YouTube Music- A suggested paid solution
The first system I suggest you consider in order to download YouTube videos into MP3 format is YouTube Music. In case you’ve never heard of it, it’s a music streaming service officially offered by Google, which, in exchange for a small monthly fee, allows you to download music offline and play all the songs on the famous portal for watching and sharing videos, even in the background and in audio-only mode (so as not to waste data traffic).
Subscription to YouTube Music costs €9.99/month (or €14.99/month, opting for the family plan for 6 people) after an initial three-month free trial, with no obligation to renew. The service can be used both from a computer, via the browser, and from smartphones and tablets, via the official app available for Android and iOS/iPadOS. The download of songs is only allowed from mobile.
Taking into account what has just been said, in order to download YouTube videos as music files, the first thing you need to do is to download the YouTube Music app to your mobile device, using the links I have just provided or performing a quick search in Play Store/App Store.
Once installed, open the app on your smartphone or tablet and start the free trial of YouTube Music, following the instructions on the screen (if you’ve already used it in the past, you’ll have to subscribe directly).
At this point, to start downloading playlists and albums, select the relevant cover and tap on the button with the downward arrow at the top. In the case of individual songs, however, tap on the (…) button and select the Download item from the menu that is shown on the screen.
Once the download is complete, you’ll find all the content you’ve chosen to enable for offline listening in the Download section of the app, which you can access by first selecting the Collection item at the bottom.
Also see:
- How to activate YouTube using YouTube.com/activate
- List of Most Common YouTube App Issues And Solutions
How to convert YouTube to MP3 for free
Let’s now move on to YouTube videos into MP3s converters: here are the ones that, in my humble opinion, are the best in the category.
1# Use 4K YouTube to MP3 Converter (Windows/MacOS)
The first program to transform YouTube videos to MP3 that I recommend you to try is 4K YouTube to MP3. It is an application available for both Windows and macOS that allows you to download YouTube videos and turn them into MP3, M4A, and OGG audio files at the highest possible quality (up to 320 kbps). It has some limitations regarding playlists and channel subscription function, which can be circumvented by purchasing the appropriate license (at a cost of €12.14).
To download the program to your PC, visit its website and click on the Download 4K YouTube to MP3 button. Once the download is complete if you are using Windows, open the.msi file and in the window that appears on the screen click on the Run and Next buttons. Then check the box next to the item I accept the terms in the License Agreement and finish the setup by pressing the Next button (twice in a row) and the Install, Yes, and Finish buttons. After that, launch the program by selecting its shortcut that has been added to the Start menu.
If you are using macOS, on the other hand, open the.dmg package obtained and drag the 4K YouTube to MP3 icon to your computer’s Applications folder. Then right-click on it and choose the Open option twice to start the program and bypass the restrictions imposed by Apple on non-certified developers (this should be done only on the first startup).
In the software window that appears on the screen, click the Preferences button at the top and set the MP3 option from the Format section and the bitrate you prefer from the Quality section. If you want, you can also change the output folder (which by default is the Music folder) by going to the Folder section.
Once the changes are done, copy to the clipboard of your computer the URL of the YouTube movie from which you want to extract the MP3 and paste it into the 4K YouTube to MP3 window by clicking the Paste link button in the upper left corner. Then wait for the conversion and downloading process to start and complete and you are done.
2# The MediaHuman YouTube Converter (Windows/MacOS)
MediaHuman YouTube to MP3 Converter is a program for Windows and macOS that allows you to download YouTube videos and extract audio from them to get MP3, OGG, or M4A at bitrates up to 320 kbps. It’s very easy to use and it’s free, but by subscribing to it (at a cost of $9.99 per year) you can activate an extra service, called TurboBoost, which allows you to get songs from YouTube without having to download the whole movie first.
To download the program to your computer, connect to its website and click on the logo of the operating system you are using on the left. Once the download is complete if you are using Windows, open the.exe file and click the Run and Yes buttons in the window that appears on the screen. Then check the I accept the terms of the license agreement box and click the Next (four times in a row), Install and Finish buttons to complete the setup.
If you are using macOS, instead, open the.dmg package and drag the program’s icon to the Applications folder of your computer, then right-click on it, choose Open from the contextual menu and, in the window that appears on the desktop, press the Open button, so that you can start the program and circumvent Apple’s restrictions on non-certified developers (this should only be done on the first startup).
Now that you see the program window on the screen, regardless of the operating system you are using, copy the URL of the video you are interested into the clipboard and click on the Paste link button at the top, so as to give the program the video you want to transform into MP3.
Next, click on the gearwheel icon at the bottom left corner of the screen, select the Preferences item from the menu that opens, and, in the additional window that appears, choose the Audio Output tab. At this point, choose the MP3 format from the Convert to the drop-down menu and adjust the bitrate using the Bitrate drop-down menu.
After changing your preferences, return to the main program window, click the arrow in the upper right corner and wait for the audio extraction and downloading process to start and complete.
By default, downloads are saved in the Music folder of your computer but, if you want, you can change the output path by accessing the program’s preferences, as I explained earlier, and clicking the Choose button next to the Download folder item.
3# Use youTube-dl command to download YouTube videos in music format (Windows/MacOS/Linux)
Another tool that can be useful to carry out the operation object of the tutorial and that, in my humble opinion, you would do well to test is youtube-dl. This is a free and open-source solution through which, precisely, you can download YouTube videos in various formats and which also offers the possibility of extracting only the audio track. It is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, but does not have a graphical interface, which is why it can only be used from the command line.
In order to download it to your computer, if you are using Windows, go to the program’s website and click on the Windows exe link at the top. When the download is complete, move the.exe file to a folder of your choice.
Now, you also need to download FFMPEG, which is indispensable for video conversion. To do so, visit their website, click on the Windows logo under the More downloading options section and select the link under the Windows EXE Files heading. On the newly opened page, click on the Download Build button. Once the download is complete, extract the ZIP archive to any location and copy the files in the bin folder to the same folder where the youtube-dl executable is located.
Then, open the Command Prompt by selecting the Command Prompt shortcut in the Start menu and navigate to the folder where the youtube-dl.exe file is located by entering the cd command before entering the path and pressing the Enter key on your keyboard.
Then enter the command youtube-dl –extract-audio –audio-format mp3 (instead of you have to type the video URL), press the Enter key again and wait for the MP3 download to start and finish. You will then find the output MP3 file in the same folder where you chose to save the executable of the program.
If you’re using macOS, however, to use youtube-dl you have to rely on Homebrew, a free and open source package manager that allows you to install various software using the Terminal. So, for starters, open the Terminal by selecting its icon (the one with the black window and the line of code) that you find in the Launchpad and, in the window that appears on the desktop, type the string /usr/bin/ruby -e “$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)”, then press the Enter key on your Mac keyboard and, when prompted, enter the password for computer administration.
After completing the above steps, also install youtube-dl by entering the string brew install youtube-dl in the Terminal window and then pressing the Enter key on your computer’s keyboard.
Then install FFMPEG as well. To do this, type the string brew install ffmpeg –with-fdk-aac –with-tools –with-freetype –with-libass –with-libvorbis –with-libvpx –with-x265 in the Terminal window and press the Enter key on your keyboard.
With that done as well, you can finally get down to the real action. So, issue the command youtube-dl –extract-audio –audio-format mp3 (instead of you have to type the video URL) and hit the Enter key on your Mac keyboard. The output audio file will be saved in the Start folder of your computer.
4# How to download YouTube videos online in Mp3 format
You don’t want to or can’t download new programs to your computer and would like me to explain to you how to turn YouTube videos into MP3s using online services? Well, it’s done. Below, therefore, you’ll find what I consider to be the most reliable tools of this type, usable directly from your browser.
noTube
noTube is an excellent web service you can rely on to download YouTube videos as audio files. It’s free, works from any browser and operating system, doesn’t require registration, and lets you choose from various output formats, including MP3, to save the videos on Google’s famous video viewing and sharing service.
To use it, copy the URL of the movie you are interested into the clipboard, then go to the noTube home page and paste the link to the video in the text field located in the center.
After that, select the MP3 format from the adjacent drop-down menu, click the OK button, wait for the video to be processed and press the Download button you will see on the screen to proceed to download the music to your computer.
Other services to convert YouTube videos into Mp3 format online
Looking for other online services useful for downloading YouTube videos as MP3s? I’ll satisfy you right away. In the list below, in fact, you’ll find other useful tools you can consider using. Give them a look, I am sure they will satisfy you.
- Mp3Convert.cc – a web service that allows you to extract audio from YouTube videos and save them to your computer in MP3 (but also in other formats) with maximum quality of 320 kbps. It is free, works from any browser and operating system, and does not require registration.
- Loader.to – another useful service for extracting audio from YouTube videos, as well as saving videos in their entirety. It supports various output formats, including MP3, does not require registration, is free of charge, and works from any browser.
- VIDO – yet another online service useful for accomplishing the task at hand in this guide. It is incredibly easy to use, completely free of charge, and allows you to save YouTube videos or just their audio track, choosing from different formats, including MP3.
5# How to convert YouTube videos to MP3 on Android
If you don’t have a computer at hand, you can also convert YouTube videos to MP3 with Android, using one of the many applications designed for this purpose, such as TubeMate. TubeMate is an easy-to-use, free app that allows you to download audio and video from YouTube in various formats.
Note, however, that it’s not available on the Google Play Store, which is why you have to download it from the developer’s website and install it on your device after enabling unknown origin support. To do so, if you’re using Android 8.0 or later, go to the Settings > Apps and Notifications section of your device, select the entry for the browser from which you want to download the APK package, tap on the Install unknown apps heading, and turn on the switch next to the Allow from this source option.
If you are using an older version of Android, instead, you have to go to the Settings > Security section (or the Lock & Security Screen) of the device and turn ON the switch next to the Unknown Sources item. If necessary, confirm the operation by pressing the OK button in response to the warning that appears on the screen. For more details, you can read my specific post on how to install APKs.
After completing the above steps, you can download the Tubemate APK file from here and, finally, tap on the Install APK button. If you are asked with which app you intend to download TubeMate, choose the browser you are currently using and respond to the warnings you see on the screen by tapping on OK or Download.
When you’re done downloading, expand the Android Notification Center and tap on the name of the.apk file obtained, so as to start installing the app. On the next screen, you will see, tap on Install and Open and wait a few moments for the app to start.
Now that you’re viewing the main TubeMate screen, check the I agree box to accept the terms of use, grant the app the necessary permissions to work, and close the release notes screen. Then specify whether you want to use TubeMate by displaying targeted ads or not (I suggest not).
Next, start using the application to download MP3s of your interest from YouTube. To do so, tap on the button with the magnifying glass at the top and enter the title of the video you are interested in in the field that appears, then start playing it and tap on the button with the downward arrow at the bottom of the screen.
Using the menu that opens, select one of the MP3 audio formats for output, press the down arrow button on the right again and wait for the download process to start. When it’s done, the resulting MP3s can be accessed by tapping on the music note icon at the top of the TubeMate menu.
Please note that you may be asked to download MP3 Video Converter, a free application required for TubeMate to work properly. If this is the case, press the Install button, choose to open the link to the Play Store, and tap the Install button again to complete the installation.
6# How to Convert YouTube Videos to MP3 with iPhone and iPad
Now let’s find out how to convert YouTube videos to MP3 using iPhone and iPad. To do so, you can do everything through the Shortcuts app. In case you’re not aware of it, it’s an application included in iOS/iPadOS (if removed, it can be downloaded again from the App Store), through which you can run scripts to perform various operations, without having to install additional apps.
Having said that, in order to use the Shortcuts app for your purpose, you need to make use of a special script, as in the case of YouTube Video & Audio. To get it, visit its webpage with Safari directly from your device and tap on the Get Shortcuts and Add this Untrusted Shortcuts button.
If you get a message that the command cannot be opened because the security settings of the Shortcuts app do not allow it, to solve this problem go to Settings > Shortcuts on iOS/iPadOS and turn ON the switch next to Untrusted Shortcuts, then tap the Allow button and enter the device unlock code.
Next, open the YouTube app on your iPhone or iPad, search for the video you want to save as an MP3 file, start playing it and tap on the arrow icon in the top right corner. From the sharing menu that is shown to you, tap on the heading More and select the YouTube Video & Audio option.
Then wait for the Shortcuts app to open and the script to run, and choose the Save as an MP3 option from the menu that appears, type the name you want to assign to the final file in the appropriate text field, and tap the Finish button. Then tap on the share icon (the one with the square and the arrow) located at the bottom left corner and indicate the location or the app where you want to save the resulting MP3.
Attention
Downloading copyrighted songs from YouTube is a crime. This guide is made for illustration purposes only. It is absolutely not my intention to encourage piracy. Therefore, I do not assume any responsibility for the use you will make of the information contained in the tutorial.
Thanks for these converters and this guide. It is really helpful.
Cheers!
Thanks, Marv for your comment.
This guide is really thorough. Thank you.
It is good to hear that this guide helped you!
Cheers!