How to Download YouTube Video to Audio on Computer and Mobile Phone

Do you want to download YouTube video as audio? While YouTube is a video platform, it’s packed with a wealth of audio resources. Image some scenarios, say, you’d like to:

• Use royalty-free background music and meme sound effects from YouTube in your Vlogs, TikTok, etc.
• Listen to YouTube public domain motivational speeches, podcasts, interviews, etc. to improve language skills or pass the time
• Play YouTube hypnotic songs to lull kids to sleep

How to take just the audio? Here are 6 easy ways for YouTube video to audio download on your computer or mobile device.

 

How to Download YouTube Video to Audio with YouTube Premium

YouTube Premium is a subscription service that allows you to access YouTube videos without ads and download them for on-the-go viewing, similar to Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video. It costs US$11.99/month or US$119.99/year. Students are better off at US$6.99/month.

Non-members can download their own YouTube videos for free, but the maximum resolution is limited to 720p, and you can’t convert them to audio.

1. Go to https://www.youtube.com/premium. Choose a subscription plan and buy it.
2. Find the YouTube video that you want to download as audio.
3. Click the "DOWNLOAD" button at the bottom of the video.
4. There will be a menu with different downloading options. Click "Audio only" or "MP3" and begin the download.

It is, however, expensive and only lets you download video and audio files from YouTube. Consequently, I tested 5 other tools that are more affordable or support more download sites.

 

How to Download YouTube Video to Audio on Computer or Laptop

#1 Use Desktop Software

Cisdem Video Converter makes it extremely simple to download YouTube video to audio and download YouTube video to video. It is able to output any audio and video format without sacrificing quality. There is also a setting option that can be used to modify its quality.

Other than YouTube, Cisdem Video Converter grants permission to more than 1000 webpages for audio file downloading, e.g., Bandcamp, SoundCloud, Audiomack, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, etc. Additionally, it facilitates audio extraction from DVDs and Blu-rays.

Steps:

1. Download Cisdem YouTube video to audio downloader and install it.

   Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7 Free Download macOS 10.13 or later

2. Find a YouTube video that provides the audio you want and copy its URL.
3. Open Cisdem and navigate to the "Download" interface by clicking the 3rd icon on the top.
4. Paste the copied URL into the bottom text box. Click the “+” button to analyze the link.
5. Choose one of its audio formats, such as "m4a (mp4a) - 129k".
6. Click the down arrow “⬇”icon or the Start button to save YouTube video to audio.

Tips:

• Download multiple YouTube videos or YouTube playlist to audio

You can paste the link of a YouTube playlist or channel, and Cisdem Video Converter will process all videos in the playlist. You can input more than one YouTube video link by clicking the  icon at bottom left corner, input URLs into the pop-up box, and load them in bulk.

• Convert YouTube audio to any audio format

Click the "√" button, which signifies that the download is complete, to quickly find the YouTube audio files you downloaded. Drag-n-drop them into Cisdem Video Converter’s “Convert” interface. Choose any other output audio format you like, like MP3.

• Re-configure the YouTube audio parameters

Click on the gear icon next to the audio format of your choice to reveal the "Settings" dialog. Change the codec, quality, sample rate, and channel of the audio.

 

#2 Use Browser Extension

YouTube has a policy in place that prohibits unauthorized downloads, so most browser video downloader plugins can’t be used to download YouTube video to audio. But you can install Tampermonkey to modify the JavaScript code on the web page to enable YouTube audio downloading.

Tampermonkey is only a user script manager and does not provide downloading functionality directly. You need to write user scripts to change the way the web page works, so that YouTube downloads are allowed in particular conditions. If you don’t know how to write custom JavaScript code, you can also install a user script to help you out.

Steps:

1. Install Tampermonkey to your Chrome (or Firefox), you can find it in Chrome Web Store (or addons.mozilla.org).
2. Visit https://greasyfork.org/, search for a user script for YouTube video to audio downloading, such as YubeMP3.to, and install it.
3. Open the YouTube video, and a "Download" button will appear below the title. Click it to redirect to https://tubemp3.to/.
4. Click “Download MP3”.
5. Choose a bitrate value you want, and YouTube MP3 audio download will be started.

 

#3 Use Online Service

Online services give you the ability to download YouTube video to audio without needing any software or plug-ins. Pop-up ads may appear during use, just close them.

ToMP3.cc is a straightforward YouTube video to audio ripper that supports downloading YouTube videos to MP3, MP4 and 3GP, with several bitrate options.

But unfortunately, most online services can only download audio song from YouTube, not from popular sources like Vimeo, and they can only convert YouTube video to MP3 audio, not to other audio formats.

Steps:

1. Go to the website https://tomp3.cc/.
2. Search the YouTube video in text box. Click on the video retrieved by tomp3.cc. Alternatively, copy the video link from YouTube and paste it into tomp3.cc, then click “START”.
3. Choose an output audio option. Click “Convert”.
4. Hit “Download” to save YouTube video to MP3 audio online.

How to download YouTube video in audio format to Google Drive:

1. First, sign into your Google account.
2. In Chrome, navigate to the Save to Google Drive extension page, and click on “Add to Chrome”.
3. Follow steps 1 to 3 on "how to download YouTube videos as audio via ToMP3.cc" above.
4. Right-click the “Download” button, and choose “Save link to Google Drive”. The YouTube audio will be saved to Google Drive.
5. Go to your Google Drive > “Recent” to find the latest audio track.

 

How to Download YouTube Video to Audio on Mobile Phone

On iPhone and iPad

YouTube++ IPA, also known as YouTube Plus Plus, is an iOS app that lets you download YouTube video to audio. Moreover, it supports blocking ads and promotions, customizing the back and forward buttons' seconds, etc. YouTube++ needs to be installed after the original YouTube app is removed from your iOS device. Note that since the app has not been updated for a long time, it may occasionally fail to convert YouTube videos to audio.

Steps:

1. Open “Settings”. Scroll down and select Safari. Clear Safari history and website data.
2. Visit https://next.tweakboxapp.com/ using Safari.
3. Go to “TWEAKBOX” > “APPS” > “Tweaked Apps”. Locate YouTube++ and install it.
4. Initiate YouTube++. Open the YouTube video from which you would like to extract audio.
5. Tap the “Download” button, which will display the outputs. Choose “Audio”.
6. Head to YouTube++ settings, tap “Downloads”, you can see your YouTube audio download is added to the list.

 

On Android

Finding a YouTube video to audio downloader on Android is not easy. I tested 5 apps. TubeBus by Vidus Technology, which has high ratings on Softonic, Uptodown, APKPure, etc., was ultimately incapable of detecting YouTube audio. 2 out of 5 apps that can download video to audio from Facebook, Instagram, etc., but do not from YouTube. 1 out of 5 apps doesn't open. TubeMate, provided by Devian Studio, finally helped me rip YouTube videos to audio on Android.

TubeMate enables you to download videos to audio from YouTube, Facebook, Youku, Metacafe, Naver TV, Kakao TV, Mango TV, etc. Sometimes, "*" marked videos might not be downloadable. It supports 5 types of audio output, which are:

• M4A/AAC, 128k - when you choose this format, TubeMate will ask you to install MP3 Video Converter plugin.
• OGG, 48k and OGG, 128k
• MP3, 256k and MP3, 128k - TubeMate will push you toward M4A/AAC for better quality and compatibility, since this option is more compatible with old MP3 players.

Steps:

1. Go to https://tubemate.net/, the official website of TubeMate to download and install the app.
2. Launch TubeMate. The YouTube page is the default opening page.
3. Looking for the YouTube audio content you intend to download. Once opened, a download icon will appear below the video, tap it to parsing the video.
4. Select an audio format and tap the download icon.
5. Check or rename the title, artist, and album. Tap “OK” to save audio from YouTube video.
6. Tap on the gray download icon at the bottom of the screen to check the downloading progress.

 

How to Download Certain Part of Audio of YouTube Video

When you right-click on the YouTube video, it will provide a "Copy video URL at current time" option. This URL won’t work to download the audio part of a YouTube video with dedicated programs or online tools, only the whole thing. So how? All you need to do is to cut audio from YouTube. There are 2 ways can help you:

#1 Use YouTube “Clip” feature

1. Open a YouTube video. Click “Clip” in the bar beneath the video.
2. Select a section of the video. Note: It is limited to cutting video from 5 seconds to 60 seconds.
3. Name the clip and hit “Share Clip”.
4. Copy the YouTube link and download part of audio with this link.

#2 Use Cisdem Video Converter “Edit” feature

1. After downloading YouTube video in audio with Cisdem, add the audio to Cisdem's "Convert" interface.
2. Click the pencil icon to call out the editing panel.
3. Under the “Trim” tab, drag the left and right sliders to choose the section from the audio, or straightly set the start and end time.
4. Save and extract the audio.

 

Can I Download YouTube Video to Audio for YouTube or TikTok Upload?

Many video creators have the same question. Incorporating free copyrighted music from YouTube for the background music of your videos is allowed. But, if you use unauthorized audio, YouTube and TikTok will review the copyright of your uploaded content and remove this audio when you upload. Despite any success in uploading, the platform will impose a penalty afterward and delete your video directly.

 

Which Method is the Best to Rip YouTube Videos to Audio?

In addition to purchasing YouTube Premium, this article introduces 5 YouTube video to audio downloaders, 3 for computers and 2 for mobile phones. Based on my personal testing experience, it is most convenient to use an online service since it doesn't require the installation of software or plugin, but not the best, as it is deficient in safety and output quality.

I would like to use a desktop downloader, which is both powerful and easy to use, and also better than mobile apps. If you want to download YouTube videos to audio for use on iPhone or Android, you can finish the download via desktop software and then transfer the audio to mobile.