A YouTube to MP3 converter lets you download a YouTube video as an MP3 file, a perfect solution if all you want out of a video is the audio. You can then make a ringtone out of the YouTube video, add the MP3 to your music collection, etc.
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of these free converters out there that you can pick from, but not all are created equal. Some YouTube converters are really slow at converting and downloading and others are full of ads or confusing to use.
The list we’ve compiled below includes only the best YouTube to MP3 converters, each with their own set of unique features, plus a few other ways to get audio out of a YouTube video that you might not have seen before.
Is It Legal to Convert YouTube Videos to MP3?
Frankly: yes and no. Downloading videos from YouTube or extracting audio from YouTube videos is 100 percent safe and legal only if it's your original content that you’re downloading (you're the original creator and uploader of the video) or you have written permission from the person or group that owns the right to the video.
Another way you can get free content from YouTube is if the uploader includes an official download link or if the content is in the public domain.
What this means, of course, is that you cannot legally use YouTube as your own personal music collection source, freely downloading songs without permission from videos uploaded by others, even if they're for your own personal use and you don't plan on sharing them with friends.
YouTube Downloader Website
There are several websites you can use to convert YouTube videos to MP3. Some examples include Mp3Skull, GenYouTube, Ytmp3.cc, and Y2mate.com.
Depending on the tool, you might have more options than just MP3, including 3GP, WEBM, MP4, and M4A.
For most of you, this is simply the easiest way to extract audio from a YouTube video.
MediaHuman YouTube to MP3 Converter
If you want a full-fledged desktop program to extract and convert YouTube videos to MP3, MediaHuman YouTube to MP3 Converter is the very best option for Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu.
There are several exceptional features that no other program or service in this list has, and lots of really specific options you can fiddle with to personalize the program and make it work exactly how you like.
Batch downloads and multi-link importing are supported so that you can queue up and download more than one MP3 file at once. Pair that with the "Start download automatically" option and you'll be downloading tons of YouTube MP3s in no time.
MediaHuman's YouTube MP3 downloader also supports playlist downloads so that you can instantly grab all the videos from a playlist and convert each video to a separate MP3. It can even track a playlist for new videos and then automatically download the MP3s.
This YouTube to MP3 converter also lets you set up iTunes importing so that MP3s will automatically load in iTunes, which is perfect if you plan on keeping your downloaded MP3s in sync with your iPhone or iPad.
Here are some other notable features: bandwidth control, custom bitrate settings, M4A and OGG output, auto shutdown option once files are finished downloading, YouTube login for accessing private videos, renaming the title and other info before downloading, and support for downloading MP3s from other websites like SoundCloud, Facebook, and Vimeo.
Documents iPhone App
Downloading music and other audio files directly to an iPhone isn't quite as easy as it is on Android because iPhones aren't built in a way to allow this kind of thing.
Instead, you have to do two things: use a specific app that supports downloading files and then download the MP3 to your phone with an online YouTube to MP3 converter.
Install Documents by Readdle on your phone.
Open Documents and tap the small browser icon on the bottom corner.
Visit Mp3Skull (or any other YouTube audio downloader) and find the video you want to download as an MP3. You can also paste the link to the video if you already copied a direct link from an email, a text message, the YouTube app, your web browser, etc.
Use the download option to save the MP3 to your device.
When asked, enter a name for the MP3 and then choose a folder to save it in, or use the default one.
Select Done to download the MP3 to your iPhone.
You can play the MP3 file from whatever folder you chose in Step 5. Use the button on the bottom left-hand corner of the Documents app to return to your folders and open the MP3.
Audacity
Although it's not quite as easy to use as MediaHuman's tool mentioned above, Audacity is another popular option for Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Audacity is a free audio recording and editing program, so the way it works for YouTube conversions is pretty simple: record whatever sounds the computer is making and then save it to an MP3 file!
To do this, you have to change a few settings in Audacity and make sure no other sounds are playing on your computer since it will record anything sent to the speakers.
Download Audacity and install it to your computer.
Go to Edit > Preferences to open the settings.
Select Devices on the left.
From the Interface section at the top, change the Host: option to Windows WASAPI.
From the same window, in the Recording section at the bottom, change the Device: option to be the output device, like your speakers or headphones.
Choose OK to save and exit.
From a web browser (doesn't matter which one), open the video you want to “convert” to MP3, and then be ready to hit the record button in Audacity as quickly as you can.
Hit the stop button in Audacity to stop recording.
To save the recording to MP3, go to File > Export > Export as MP3, and save the MP3 somewhere you can find later.
MACOS
Download Audacity and Soundflower—which will let us route the audio from YouTube to Audacity—and then install them both.
From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences and then Sound.
In the Output tab of the Sound screen, select Soundflower (2ch) as the output device.
In Audacity's Preferences screen, via Audacity > Preferences, open the Devices tab on the left.
Under the Recording section, choose Soundflower (2ch) as the Device: option.
Open the Recording tab on the left and enable Software Playthrough of input so that you can hear the video as it's playing.
Choose OK to save the changes.
Open a web browser to the YouTube video that you want to ultimately save to MP3. Be ready to press play on that video but also be prepared to hit the record button in Audacity.
You can do either one first (i.e., play the video and then hit the record button or vice versa) but you might miss a little of the beginning of the video if you start it before you begin recording.
Use the stop button in Audacity to quit recording.
Go to File > Export > Export as MP3 to save the recording to an MP3 file.
To make sure your computer will play sounds normally again, repeat Step 3 but choose Internal Speakers this time.
If the MP3 has some other noises like an ad that played at the beginning of the video, some silence, or some talking at the end, it’s easy to clip those out with Audacity.
Other noises like email alerts or error sounds that are mixed in with the audio are a bit harder to fix. If that happens, close down whatever made the noise and try the recording again for a cleaner MP3.
VLC Media Player
VLC is a free, incredibly versatile video and audio file player, and it works great for downloading YouTube videos to the MP4 format in Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Once the video is in the MP4 format, you can convert it to MP3 in the same way that you can when using the web browser method you just read about above.
Here's how to get the MP4 with VLC:
Download VLC.
Open the network options:
Paste the YouTube video's URL in the text box located in that Network tab.
Choose Play in Windows or Open in macOS to start playing the video within the program.
After it starts (you can pause it if you like), copy the real URL that VLC is streaming:
Paste that URL into your web browser, be it Chrome, Edge, Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.
Once it starts to load, right-click, or tap-and-hold the video and choose the save option from that menu. You can also hit the Ctrl+S or Command+S shortcut to save the MP4, or select the Download button if you see one.
Now convert that MP4 to an MP3 file to effectively extract the audio from the YouTube video.