YouTube is a huge source of music, podcasts and other audio content in addition to videos. Sometimes you may want to extract the audio from a YouTube video and save it as an MP3 file for offline listening anytime, anywhere. For Windows users, there are many downloader software and online tools to get the audio tracks - but which are the best and safest ones? In this guide, we'll explore 5 awsome ways to easily convert YouTube videos to MP3 on your Windows computer.
For Windows laptop and PC users, there's no better way than to use a dedicated YouTube to MP3 converter software. Through numerous strict tests, the one we highly recommend is Cisdem Video Converter.
This powerful YouTube converter can download YouTube videos, music, and live in audio-only formats at original quality, and convert the downloaded audio to various formats including MP3, FLAC, WAV, OGG, M4A and more, no additional tools or plugins needed.
What's more, Cisdem Video Converter is an all-in-one tool that allows you to download audio/video from many other sites such as SoundCloud, Vimeo, Mixcloud, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Step 1. Download and install the program
Free download and install Cisdem YouTube to MP3 converter for Windows.
Double-click to launch it after installing, move to the download interface by clicking the middle tab at the top of the window.
Step 2. Copy and paste the URL
Head to YouTube, find the video containing the audio you want and copy the URL.
Go back to the program, paste the URL into the bottom box and hit“Enter” to analyze it. You can repeat the copy-n-paste process to add more videos to the download queue.
Step 3. Download YouTube videos directly
When all videos are added, you can click the Format box to choose an audio-only download format at the end of list. The higher the Kbps, the better the quality.
Click the down arrow or the "Start" button to begin downloading them quickly.
Once the download is finished, click the check icon to the locate the downloaded files in folder instantly.
Step 4. Convert YouTube to MP3 on Windows
Drag and drop the downloaded YouTube audio to the first interface of Cisdem.
Click the drop-down icon of “Convert all tasks to” box at the bottom left to open the format list. Then click “Audio > MP3" and determine a quality level.
Finally, click the Start button again to convert YouTube to MP3 on your computer.
Before conversion, you can click the edit symbol to trim the audio, adjust volume and add fade-in/out effects if necessary.
Notes:
1. It's necessary to know that YouTube uses AAC (.m4a) or Opus (.webm) audio codecs for video and music streaming, which provide better sound quality than MP3 format with smaller size. That's why Cisdem doesn't offer MP3 as direct YouTube download format.
2. Converting from YouTube original format to MP3 may result in some loss of quality. In Step 4, choose the Medium or High Quality option to better preserve the sound quality and keep a good bitrate up to 320K. Advanced users can also click the "Setting" button to adjust the sample rate, audio channel, encoder and more settings.
Audacity is a cross-platform audio editor and recorder that can record any computer playback and export to audio formats including MP3, WAV, AIFF, AU and OGG. It’s a reliable tool to record YouTube video to MP3 on windows without paying. You can also use it to preview the recorded file, trim the audio, and enhance the sound if necessary.
The interface may look complex with many buttons for beginners, so we offered a detailed guide below.
If you long for a way to convert YouTube video to MP3 on Windows without installing software, it is recommended to use a browser extension.
Addoncrop YouTube Downloader is third-party extension that works on over 10 browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Edge and more. It can help you download YouTube video to MP3 without leaving the page, but it limits length/size of the video. It can also be used to download YouTube videos, save subtitles and thumbnails.
Online converters is another easy way to convert YouTube music to MP3 on Windows. There are a wealth of online YouTube video to MP3 converters for you to choose from, but many contain viruses and limit size or length of YouTube video. After testing, we have selected 2 totally free online converters that work well without size or length limitations.
As the name indicates, YTmp3 is created to change YouTube video to MP3. It can help to convert YouTube videos quickly without registeration, but it doesn’t provide quality options and the download speed is a bit slow.
Onlinevideoconverter is a useful online YouTube to MP3 converter that contains less ads. Like YTmp3, it can only save MP3 file in lower bitrate level. You can also use it to download YouTube to MP4 in up to 720p HD.
If the sites don’t work, you can find more options here: Top Online YouTube to MP3 Converters.
The command-line tool yt-dlp is a powerful way to download and convert YouTube videos to MP3 on Windows. It can download and convert YouTube videos and playlists to MP3 smoothly. However, it's more of a geek way compared to other tools, and you have to tell it what to do with accurate command options.
Step 1. Install yt-dlp on Windows OS.
Step 2. Download YouTube to MP3 via command line.
Tips:
1. You can add multiple URLs to the command line and yt-dlp should download them one by one.
2. Use --audio-quality to specify the MP3 audio quality level, such as --audio-quality 256K
Hope you have found the most suitable way for you to download and convert YouTube video to MP3 on Windows. For fast and high-quality conversion, a professional YouTube video to MP3 converter or command-line tool is always the top choice, especially for long YouTube video over 2 hours.
Web-based tools are convenient, but they can struggle with large files and transcode YouTube to MP3 with quality loss. On the contrary, dedicated software like Cisdem Video Converter offers more hassle-free experience with enhanced functions, high-bitrate results and more stable performance.
Feel free to leave a comment if you have more questions!
Emily is a girl who loves to review various multimedia software. She enjoys exploring cutting edge technology and writing how-to guides. Hopefully her articles will help you solve your audio, video, DVD and Blu-ray issues.