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How to record YouTube audio on a Mac

Tested on macOS 26.4.1 (Tahoe), Apple M3 Max, 3 Sept 2026. Updated 2026-09-03.

You can record YouTube audio on a Mac by capturing what the Mac plays, or by downloading the audio track with a tool such as yt-dlp. Both give you a lossy source: on 3 Sept 2026 the highest audio-only stream YouTube served for a public music video was 130 kbps AAC, so a 24-bit WAV capture cannot sound better than that. YouTube's terms allow personal, non-commercial viewing and prohibit downloading except where YouTube permits it.

How do I record audio directly from YouTube on a Mac?

The clean way is a system-audio capture through Apple's ScreenCaptureKit. No virtual driver, nothing added to Audio MIDI Setup. The steps below are for AirCheck.

  1. Open the YouTube video in Safari or Chrome and pause it at the start.
  2. In the recorder, choose System Audio as the source. The first time, macOS asks for Screen & System Audio Recording permission under System Settings > Privacy & Security. Grant it once.
  3. Turn on a Focus (Do Not Disturb). System audio means everything the Mac plays, so a notification chime lands in the file.
  4. Press record, then press play on the video. Stop when it ends.
  5. Pick the export format before you stop: MP3 320 kbps for listening, WAV 16-bit if you plan to edit.

The volume slider on the Mac does not need to be up; ScreenCaptureKit receives the app's audio before it reaches the speakers, and AirCheck excludes its own playback from the capture.

Capture or download: which is better for YouTube audio?

A download copies the exact bytes YouTube streams. A capture decodes that stream, then re-encodes it into your chosen format. If you export to MP3, that is a second lossy generation; if you export to WAV there is no second loss, only a bigger file.

On the test Mac, yt-dlp -F on a public 3 min 33 s music video listed these audio-only streams: AAC (mp4a.40.2) at 130 kbps and 44.1 kHz, 3.29 MiB for the whole track, and Opus at 129 kbps and 48 kHz, 3.27 MiB. A downloaded file is therefore about 1 MB per minute. The same three and a half minutes captured as 24-bit 48 kHz WAV is roughly 58 MB (16.5 MB per minute, measured on 45 real AirCheck recordings).

Capture wins when the audio is not a plain video: a live premiere, a member-only stream, or when you want one continuous file of a long mix with your own start and stop points. Download wins for speed and for batches. Both are covered by the same YouTube terms, quoted below.

What quality do you actually get from YouTube?

YouTube tells uploaders to send AAC-LC or Opus at 48 kHz and 384 kbps for stereo. That is the upload side. What comes back to a viewer is the re-encoded stream measured above, 130 kbps AAC or 129 kbps Opus on the video we checked. Other videos or Premium accounts may get other tiers; we report only what we measured.

So the recording settings that matter are the ones that avoid adding loss, not the ones that add resolution:

A bought track beats both: the iTunes Store sells DRM-free 256 kbps AAC (Apple's own figure), roughly double the YouTube stream. See WAV vs AIFF vs MP3 for the export decision.

Can you screen record YouTube with sound on a Mac?

Yes, but you get a video file. The built-in screenshot toolbar (Shift-Command-5) and QuickTime Player record the screen to a .mov and can add your microphone; QuickTime cannot record system audio by itself, so the YouTube sound is missing unless a virtual driver is involved. Details in does QuickTime record system audio.

If you already have a screen recording with the sound in it, you do not need to record again. Open it in QuickTime Player, choose File > Export As > Audio Only, and you get an M4A with an AAC track. Command-line options are in how to extract audio from a video file.

For audio only, a screen recording is the wrong shape; an audio-only MP3 320 capture is about 24 MB for 10 minutes, while a 1080p .mov of the same is far larger.

This is not legal advice. Two layers apply. The first is YouTube's Terms of Service, which is a contract with YouTube. It lets you "view or listen to Content for your personal, non-commercial use" and says you may not "access, reproduce, download, distribute, transmit, display, sell, license, alter, adapt or otherwise use any parts of the Service or Content" except as YouTube or the rights holder allows. YouTube's own offline feature is the route it does allow.

The second layer is copyright in the music or speech itself, which belongs to the creator or label regardless of YouTube's terms. Private copying rules differ by country. Recording your own uploads, Creative Commons material, or public-domain recordings is a different position from recording a label's release.

Do not record to redistribute or publish; if you need a track for a set, buy it.

Ways to get YouTube audio on a Mac, compared

MethodOutputReal time?Adds a lossy generation?Needs a virtual driver?Cost
yt-dlp downloadM4A (AAC) or WebM (Opus), exact streamNoNoNoFree
System audio capture (AirCheck)WAV 16/24-bit or MP3 320YesNo for WAV, yes for MP3No$39
BlackHole + AudacityWAV, MP3YesNo for WAVYes, plus a Multi-Output DeviceFree
Shift-Command-5 screen recording, then export audio.mov, then M4AYesYesNo, but system audio is missing without oneFree

Source stream measured at 130 kbps AAC / 129 kbps Opus with yt-dlp -F on 3 Sept 2026. File sizes per minute from 45 real AirCheck recordings.

Where AirCheck fits

AirCheck ($39 one-off, macOS 14 or newer) fits the cases where a download does not: a live premiere you want as one continuous file, a long mix where you want your own start and stop points, or a Mac where you would rather not install a virtual driver. It captures system audio through ScreenCaptureKit, excludes its own playback, and exports to WAV or MP3 320 when the take stops. Its watchdog restarts capture into the same file if the browser stalls for 5 seconds, which matters on hour-long streams.

When you do not need it: If you just want the file of a normal video, yt-dlp gets the exact stream faster and for free. If you already have a screen recording, export its audio from QuickTime instead of recording again.

AirCheck records what your Mac plays, or any input, to one file. $39 once.

Buy AirCheck for $39

macOS 14 or newer. One-off payment. Fourteen-day refund, no questions asked.

Questions people ask

Can you record audio from YouTube on a Mac?

Yes. Any recorder that captures system audio through ScreenCaptureKit records YouTube playback from Safari or Chrome. QuickTime Player alone cannot, because it records only the microphone. The result is a real-time copy of a stream that measured 130 kbps AAC, so use WAV 16-bit or MP3 320 rather than 24-bit.

How do I record audio from YouTube using Audacity on a Mac?

Audacity cannot see system audio on macOS by itself. You need a virtual driver such as BlackHole, a Multi-Output Device so you still hear the sound, then BlackHole as Audacity's input. See recording Mac audio without BlackHole for the driver-free route.

How do I rip YouTube audio on a Mac?

Ripping usually means downloading the stream. yt-dlp lists the audio-only formats with -F and downloads the one you pick; the top tier measured 130 kbps AAC. Capture is the alternative when the content is live. Both fall under YouTube's terms, which prohibit downloading except where YouTube allows it.

Does recording YouTube at 24-bit make it sound better?

No. The stream arrives at about 130 kbps AAC or Opus; a 24-bit 48 kHz capture stores that same signal in 16.5 MB per minute instead of 2.4 MB for MP3 320. Choose 24-bit only for sources that are actually high resolution, such as an audio interface.

Sources

Hannes Hennerbichler builds AirCheck and records his own DJ sets with it through a Focusrite Scarlett 8i6. Every step on this page was run on the macOS version stated above. Drafted with AI assistance, checked and edited by the author. About