4 Methods to Download YouTube Playlist to MP3/M4A [Free & Online]

We’ve all been there - found a YouTube playlist full of songs that we love, and wish to download these tracks for a workout, a road trip or whatever. Download playlist from YouTube to MP3 not only saves space and battery without data, but also allows us to enjoy music offline without ad breaks.

In this article, I’ll cover 4 reliable ways to download YouTube music playlist to MP3 or M4A audio files. Follow the step-by-step guides with pictures to download the complete YouTube playlist to MP3 in high quality on your computer or mobile phone.

YouTube Playlist to MP3 Download Summary

Types of YouTube Playlist & Best Way to Download

There are different types of playlists you may want to download from YouTube, and the methods to download them can vary.

Download YouTube playlist to MP3 or M4A, which is better?

A simple fact is that YouTube doesn’t provide MP3, but M4A and WebM (OPUS) as audio formats.

So, converting a YouTube playlist to M4A extracts the original audio from the YouTube videos, while converting a YouTube playlist to MP3 involves a second conversion from M4A and results in quality loss.

In terms of audio quality, M4A is better than MP3 while also being more compact in size. In addition, M4A and MP3 are both widely supported by computers, mobile devices, and audio players. M4A can also be easily converted to MP3 if you are on a M4A non-compatible device. Ultimately, consider the audio quality and compatibility requirements, and choose the format that suits your needs.

 

Method 1: Download Any YouTube Playlist in Bulk in One Click 

The most reliable way to download YouTube playlist to computer MP3 is to use a professional YouTube playlist downloader. iFunia YouTube Downloader is such a specified software available for both Windows and Mac. 

It has long been my go-to option to batch download any YouTube playlist in high quality. Let’s take a look at how this powerful YouTube downloader provides a hassle-free solution for downloading YouTube playlists.

[Tutorial] How to download a YouTube music playlist on your computer:

Step 1: Download and run iFunia YouTube Downloader.

Step 2: View full playlist of the YouTube playlist you want to download and copy the URL.

Step 3: Paste the YouTube playlist link into iFunia, and click the "＋" button at the right to start loading all the tracks. It will take a few minutes to load the entire playlist. In my case, it took 2 minutes to load all the 17 videos.

Step 4: Choose a desired output format. To download YouTube to M4A or other formats, expand the Format drop-down list and scroll down to select. The higher the audio bitrate, the better the sound quality. In addition, for videos, there are subtitle options in multiple languages.

Step 5: Finally, choose an output folder and click the Start button at the lower right to start the YouTube playlist download.

Tips:

1. For YouTube playlist download in batches, click the "＋" at the lower left corner to input as many video links as you like.
2. You can uncheck any videos in the playlist that you do not need to download.
3. After the download is complete, click the Play button to play and verify the audio tracks. Click the icon ✓ to quickly locate the destination folder where the downloaded files are saved.

 

Method 2: Download YouTube Playlist to MP3 Online (2 Options)

Can I download YouTube playlists to MP3 without software?

Yes, but with limitations. There’re a lot of YouTube playlist to MP3 downloader online websites when you search on Google, however, most of them are unstable, slow, and cannot download an entire YouTube playlist.

After trying dozens of online YouTube playlist to MP3 converters, I found the following relatively capable, safe, and ad-free options for you.

2.1. SaveMP3.net

SaveMP3 is a web-based YouTube playlist downloader that allows you to download playlists from YouTube to MP3 online. It can display all the tracks of a playlist and download them one by one conveniently.

YouTube to MP3 playlist download online via SaveMP3:

1. Copy the URL of the YouTube playlist you want to download
2. Go to savemp3.net and paste the URL into the box. It will automatically start parsing the link.
3. Click the Settings icon to adjust MP3 output quality - 128, 256, or 320kbps.
4. Click the arrow-down icon to download YouTube playlist MP3 online. When the conversion is finished, the downloaded MP3 files will be saved into your device.

Tip: Install Savemp3 Extension

Savemp3 also offers a browser extension version that allows you to download YouTube playlist 320kbps without leaving the YouTube page.

How it works? Simply visit the site and add the extension to your browser following the instructions. It’s compatible with Chrome, Firefox, and other major browsers, and will add a download button under any YouTube video.

However, this YouTube playlist to MP3 extension still doesn’t support YouTube playlist to MP3 batch download. Besides, recently I found it always shows errors, hence try other methods if it doesn’t work.

2.2 YouTubePlaylist.cc

YouTubePlaylist.cc is another popular online service for YouTube playlists to MP3 or MP4 download. However, unlike savemp3, registration and login are required to use it.

Free users can download up to 15 YouTube tracks per day. If you want unlimited downloads and higher quality, you'll need to pay for a premium account, which ranges from $3.99 for 5 days to $84 per year.

How to download a YouTube music playlist to MP3 via YouTubePlaylist.cc:

1. Visit youtubeplaylist.cc and enter the YouTube playlist URL.
2. Check “All Title Video” to select all videos. Hit the adjustment icon to cut the video/audio and rename the file. Here’s a trick: press Ctrl on the keyboard and click the ones you want to download if you don’t want the whole playlist.
3. Click “Set Quality” to select MP3 as the output format.
4. Hit the “Download All” button for YouTube to MP3 download playlist.
5. Click the “Downloader” tab to see the conversion process. Wait until the conversion is ready, then download YouTube playlist to MP3 free.

 

Method 3: Download YouTube Playlist to MP3/M4A with Command-line tools

Wanna download full playlist from YouTube to MP3 for free with no restrictions? Then you must try yt-dlp, which can be a YouTube playlist downloader for free. Yt-dlp is a command-line tool used in Command Prompt (Windows) or Terminal (Mac). It allows to bulk convert YouTube to M4A files or convert them to MP3 with FFmpeg and FFprobe.

Guide on how to download YouTube music playlists to MP3/M4A with yt-dlp:

Step 1: Install yt-dlp on your Windows or Mac computer. Visit the official installation site to download it. If you need to convert YouTube playlist to MP3, also download FFmpeg and put them in the same folder.

Step 2: Open the folder with all the extensions and directly open Command Prompts (Or Terminal on Mac) in the Explorer.

Step 3: Type the following command lines to download YouTube playlists as you like, replacing the “URL” in the lines with the actual YouTube playlist link:

1. To download entire YouTube playlist to MP3, type:
   yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 “URL”
2. To download part of the playlist using the “-I” command, for example, to download the videos 1,2,3,7,11,12,13 in a playlist, type:
   yt-dlp -I 1:3,7,11:13 “URL”
3. To specify the audio quality, type “--audio-quality” plus a specific bitrate like 320K, for instance: 
   yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 320K “URL”

Note:

The audio format currently supported: best (default), aac, alac, flac, m4a, mp3, opus, vorbis, wav;

yt-dlp will try to download the highest quality it can find if you don’t specify a certain quality and format;

Plus, you can learn more commands on how to use this free playlist downloader by typing -h (help) in the Command Prompt or visiting GitHub site.

 

Method 4: Download YouTube Playlist to MP3/M4A on Android and iOS 

If you want to download YouTube playlist to audio on Android and iOS devices, there’re different options to choose from like on desktop:

Option 1: Use a YouTube Playlist Downloader App (Android)

There are many popular YouTube downloader apps with playlist download features for Androids, such as commercial apps like iTubeGo and free tools like Videoder and Snaptube. They are either paid or ad-supported.

So, here I’d like to recommend a lesser-known but free and safe application called Seal. Seal is a YouTube video and audio downloader based on yt-dlp, so it can download YouTube playlist to original M4A audio files at once.

How to use Seal to download YouTube playlist on Android:

1. Download the APK package of Seal from here to your phone and install it.
2. Copy and paste the YouTube playlist link to the search box in the app.
3. Tap the download button and modify configurations, select “Download playlist” and set output format and quality.
4. Select videos to download from the playlist and tap “Download” to start the process.

Option 2: Use YouTube Playlist Downloader on PC (Android and iPhone)

Downloading the YouTube playlist to MP3 with software on your Mac/Windows and then transferring them to your smartphone is also a good choice due to a faster download speed and easier file management.

Option 3: Use Online Tools (Android and iPhone)

Most online YouTube downloaders are web-based and can also be used on mobile platforms with Safari, Chrome, or other browsers.

 

Final Thoughts

To sum up, whether you want to download full albums, music playlists, or mixes from YouTube, a dedicated software in the first method like iFunia YouTube Downloader is always a reliable and efficient option when online tools fail. Besides, yt-dlp is also a powerful program if you prefer open-source tools.

With the right tools presented above, you can download any YouTube playlist to MP3 or M4A regardless of your technical skills and operating systems. Now dive into the world of YouTube playlist conversion and enjoy listening to your favorite playlists offline anytime, anywhere.

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

 

FAQs on YouTube Playlist Download

1. How can I download a full YouTube playlist in one go?

You can use a dedicated playlist downloader like iFunia YouTube Downloader or yt-dlp. These tools allow you to download all the tracks from a YouTube playlist with a single URL.

2. Can I download YouTube playlists with a browser extension?

As I mentioned before, browser extensions like SaveMP3 extension can only convert the YouTube video you’re playing to MP3, it cannot do batch downloads.

3. Can I download YouTube playlist to MP3/M4A with IDM?

Yes, it’s possible, but not recommended. IDM is a popular download manager software available for Windows only. It can download YouTube playlists to MP3/M4A with the help of YoutubePlaylist.cc which provides download links. It will block all YouTube videos that contain copyrighted music and is not suitable for downloading personal playlists or YouTube mixes in bulk.

If you're interested, here's how it works:

1. Go to https://youtubeplaylist.cc/, paste the playlist link and it will start parsing the link automatically. Select the videos you want to download.
2. Choose a quality and click Download.
3. Wait for the videos to be ready and hit on Export Link to generate the download link. Then, copy the links to Clipboard.
4.  Open IDM, go to “Tasks” at the top and select “Add batch download from clipboard” option.
5. In the pop-up window, check all titles or select the tracks you need. Choose a save destination and then click “OK".
6. Head to “Download” to start batch-downloading the entire YouTube playlist.