YTMP3 converter: YouTube to MP4 downloader, or just the MP3 — one link, one press

How to download a YouTube video with YTMP3

The tool is one field and two buttons, and the sequence is the same whether you want the video or only the audio. For an ordinary-length video the whole thing is usually over in well under a minute.

1. Copy the video's address. In the YouTube app, tap Share and then Copy link. In a desktop browser, click the address bar on the video page and copy the whole thing — timestamps and playlist tags attached to the end do no harm.
2. Paste it into the field at the top of this page. Press MP4 to save the video, or MP3 to save the audio by itself. Hitting Enter in the field is a shortcut for the MP4 download.
3. Watch the status line. It moves through checking video, extracting video and converting video while the bar underneath fills. When it reads ready, the file starts downloading by itself, and the video's title appears in that same line once the converter has read it.

You stay on this page the whole time. Nothing opens in a new tab, no second "download now" button appears, and there is nothing to dismiss before the file arrives. If you change your mind mid-conversion, press Esc or the × inside the field.

YouTube to MP4: saving the picture as well as the sound

MP4 is the format to reach for when the picture carries the meaning. It holds video and audio in one file that opens without extra codecs on iPhones, Android phones, Windows and macOS machines, smart televisions and every common video editor. Press MP4 and YTMP3 asks the source for the best video stream it offers, then gives you a single .mp4 at the end — no separate audio file to match up, no container to remux.

What resolution you get

YTMP3 saves video up to 1080p whenever the upload provides it, and 720p HD on most ordinary videos. 720p is the sensible default for a phone, a tablet or a laptop screen: it looks sharp while keeping the file a reasonable size to download and store. The downloader never upscales, so a video posted at 480p arrives at 480p — no converter can invent detail the uploader never included, and one that claims otherwise is padding the file rather than improving it.

When MP4 is the right button

Choose MP4 for a tutorial you want to follow away from a signal, a talk or lecture where the slides carry half the argument, a clip you need for a presentation, or footage you plan to cut and re-encode later. The test is simple: if you would want to look at it, you want the MP4. If you would happily listen with the screen off, the MP3 below is smaller and quicker.

YouTube to MP3: keeping only the sound

An MP3 holds the audio track and nothing else, which makes it a fraction of the size of the video and playable by essentially everything: phones, car stereos, smart speakers, music libraries, and players considerably older than the phone in your pocket. Press MP3 and YTMP3 converts to 192–320 kbps, taking the top of that range whenever the upload supports it.

What the bitrate number actually means

Bitrate is how much data the file spends per second of sound. 320 kbps is the highest MP3 setting: it preserves the most detail and produces the largest file. 192 kbps is roughly half the size and entirely adequate through earbuds, and speech — podcasts, interviews, audiobooks, lectures — stays clear well below either figure.

MP3 is a lossy format. Converting at 320 kbps preserves what the source contains; it cannot add detail that was never uploaded. For music you care about, the quality of the original upload matters far more than the bitrate printed on the result, so start from the best version you can find.

MP4 or MP3: which button should you press?

Both buttons take the same link from the same field, so the only question is what you want to end up holding. The table is the short version.

There is no penalty for taking both. Convert the video once as MP4, then paste the same link again and take the MP3 — the second run is quick, because the video has just been through the service and a copy of the result is held briefly.

YouTube link to MP4 or MP3: which addresses YTMP3 can read

Anything that points at one video. The converter picks the eleven-character video identifier out of the address, so the shape of the link around it does not matter:

• the standard desktop address, youtube.com/watch?v=…
• the short share link, youtu.be/…
• Shorts, youtube.com/shorts/… — a Short saves as a vertical MP4 or a very short MP3
• finished live streams, youtube.com/live/…
• embed addresses, youtube.com/embed/…
• mobile links beginning m.youtube.com
• YouTube Music links beginning music.youtube.com — a common route from a track on YouTube Music to a plain MP3 you can play anywhere

What does not work is any address that names a page rather than a single video: a playlist, a channel, a search result or your subscriptions feed. Open the video you actually want from that list and copy its own address instead. Extra parameters such as &t= timestamps or &list= tags are ignored, so there is no need to trim the link before pasting it.

Where the file lands on each device

YTMP3 is a website rather than an application, so it behaves the same in Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Edge. The only thing that differs between devices is where the browser puts the finished file.

When a conversion does not finish

Nearly every failure comes down to the link or the network. Work through the point at which the status line stopped.

The status line says the link is not a YouTube video

The address does not contain a video identifier. This is what happens when a playlist, channel or search page has been copied instead of a video, and it is by far the most common false alarm. Open the video itself and copy the address from there.

It stops right at the start, before any progress appears

The conversion service could not be reached. Usually that is a dropped connection, a VPN or an aggressive content blocker interfering with the request. Try again, and if the problem persists try a different network.

The progress bar moves and then reports an error code

The service accepted the link but could not retrieve the stream. Private, members-only and age-restricted videos cannot be fetched, and a live stream that has not finished yet has nothing published to convert. The code in the status line identifies which step failed, and quoting it is the quickest way to get a useful answer if you write to us.

The download never appears in the browser

The conversion succeeded but the hand-off was blocked — most often by a pop-up blocker, a download manager extension, or a browser set to ask before every download. Allow downloads from this site and run the conversion again.

Is YTMP3 safe to use?

This site is: there is nothing on the page except the converter, so there is nothing to be tricked by. The name is another matter. "YTMP3" is used by many unrelated sites, and the security write-ups about a "ytmp3 virus" describe what surrounds the converter on some of them — pop-up adverts with bad links, a fake download button that opens another site, a prompt to allow notifications that then follow you around, and browser extensions that hijack search. None of that is part of converting a video, and none of it is here.

Whatever converter you use, the check takes a minute:

• One download, started by the button you pressed — no second "download now" button and nothing in a new tab.
• No request to allow notifications, install an extension or add an app.
• No sign-in, no email field, no card form. A converter has no reason to ask for any of them.
• A real privacy page and a working takedown route.

YTMP3 at opinie-turystyczne.pl passes all four by design, and it is independent of every other site that uses the name. The safety guide goes through the warning signs one by one, and the troubleshooting guide explains every error code the status line can show.

Copyright, privacy and what YTMP3 will not do

YTMP3 is a technical tool and takes no view on what you point it at. Saving your own uploads, content published under a licence that allows reuse, and material in the public domain is normally straightforward. Downloading copyright material you have no rights to probably is not, and the responsibility for that decision rests with you rather than with the tool. If you want to keep something you did not make, the reliable route is permission from whoever owns it.

On the privacy side there is very little to describe, because the site has no accounts. There is no sign-in, no email address, no profile and no advertising script. The link you paste is used for the conversion and not attached to any record of you; the counters we keep are aggregated per site rather than per visitor. The privacy policy sets out exactly what passes through our servers and what does not.

Copyright holders who believe something reachable through this site infringes their rights can use the takedown page, which routes the request to the right place.

Frequently asked questions

Guides: the longer answers

The page above covers the essentials. These go further, each written from how this site actually works rather than from what a converter is supposed to promise.

All guides