An online audio recorder for your mic, a browser tab or your whole computer
The Audio Recorder records more than a microphone. Choose Microphone for narration and voice-overs, Browser tab to capture just the sound of one tab, such as a webinar or a live stream, System audio to capture everything your computer plays (Chrome and Edge on Windows and ChromeOS), or Mic + tab to record a browser-based call or webinar together with your own voice, each with its own gain and meter.
It is built for quality: the sound is taken from the browser’s audio engine as 32-bit floating-point samples and saved as lossless 16- or 24-bit WAV, or encoded to MP3, Opus or AAC. Test your levels first, drop markers at important moments and set an auto-stop timer for long sessions. For quick voice notes, the simpler Voice Recorder is enough.
Nothing is uploaded. Capture, mixing and encoding run in your browser; for MP3, Opus and M4A it downloads the open-source Mediabunny library (MPL-2.0), plus the LAME MP3 or libavcodec AAC encoder (LGPL) when needed, from a public CDN.
How to use the Audio Recorder
- Pick what to record: Microphone, Browser tab, System audio or Mic + tab.
- Choose the format under Save as, the bitrate, channels, sample rate and an optional Auto-stop after time.
- Press Test levels, allow the microphone or pick the tab in the sharing window, and set each gain slider so the loudest parts peak around −12 to −6 dB.
- Press Start recording. Use Add marker (or the M key) for moments you want to find later, and Pause to leave out breaks.
- Press Stop. The take appears in the list; click a marker to jump to it, then download the file and its marker list.
Audio Recorder features
Four sources, including a mixed call recording
Microphone, one browser tab, the whole system’s sound, or the microphone mixed with a tab, with separate gain sliders and meters.
Studio-grade WAV, or compact MP3, Opus and AAC
WAV is written straight from the float mix at 24-bit, or 16-bit with triangular dither. MP3 uses LAME; Opus and AAC use WebCodecs, with a WebAssembly AAC fallback.
Meters you can trust
Peak meters with a peak-hold line and dBFS readout, plus a clipping counter that tells you at once if a take is damaged.
Markers while you record
Saved as cue points inside WAV files, which editors such as Audition, Reaper and Sound Forge show, and as an Audacity label file for any format.
Auto-stop and test mode
Set a time limit for an unattended lecture, and check levels before anything is written.
Takes stay private
Recordings live only in this tab’s memory until you download them.
Which source works in which browser
The microphone works everywhere. Tab and system audio come through the screen-sharing window (the getDisplayMedia API), which only desktop browsers offer — and only Chromium-based ones share audio through it. Tab audio ignores everything else on your computer, so it is usually best for webinars and classes.
| Browser | Microphone | Browser tab | System audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome, Edge (Windows, ChromeOS) | Yes | Yes | Yes — choose “Entire screen” |
| Chrome, Edge (macOS, Linux) | Yes | Yes | No — record a tab instead |
| Firefox, Safari | Yes | No | No |
| Phones and tablets | Yes | No | No |
Noise suppression, echo cancellation and auto gain explained
These switches turn on the browser’s own call processing for the microphone. They are off by default here, because each one trades fidelity for convenience.
- Noise suppression removes steady background sound such as a fan or traffic. It helps in a noisy room but can make voices sound processed, and it treats music as noise.
- Echo cancellation removes the sound of your own speakers from the microphone. Use it when a call plays through speakers; with headphones you don’t need it, and it forces the microphone to mono.
- Auto gain keeps adjusting the microphone level. Useful if you move around; for controlled recordings, set the gain slider yourself.
Formats and file sizes
WAV size is sample rate × channels × bytes per sample × 60 — 48,000 × 2 × 3 × 60 = 17,280,000 bytes a minute for 24-bit stereo. A WAV file can’t exceed 4 GB (about 3.8 hours of 24-bit stereo), so the recorder stops before that. Trim takes afterwards with the Audio Cutter.
| Save as | Size per minute | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| WAV 24-bit, 48 kHz stereo | ≈ 17.3 MB (8.6 MB mono) | Editing, mixing, archiving |
| WAV 16-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo | ≈ 10.6 MB (5.3 MB mono) | CD-quality masters, transcription |
| MP3 192 kbit/s | ≈ 1.44 MB | Sharing — plays on every device |
| Opus 128 kbit/s (.ogg) | ≈ 0.96 MB | Smallest files at excellent quality |
| AAC 160 kbit/s (.m4a) | ≈ 1.2 MB | iPhone, Mac and Apple apps |
Record other people fairly
Tell everyone on a call that you are recording and ask for their agreement — in many countries and US states it is a legal requirement. Webinars, lectures, streams and music are usually protected by copyright: recording for your own study is one thing, but publishing needs the rights holder’s permission. To capture the picture too, use the Screen Recorder.
Audio Recorder FAQ
How do I record audio from a browser tab?
Choose Browser tab, press Start recording, pick the tab in the sharing window and keep “Also share tab audio” switched on. This works in Chrome and Edge on a computer, and only that tab’s sound is recorded.
Can this audio recorder capture my computer’s system sound?
Yes, in Chrome and Edge on Windows and ChromeOS: choose System audio, then “Entire screen” with “Also share system audio”. macOS and Linux don’t share system audio with browsers, so record a tab instead.
How do I record a Zoom, Teams or Google Meet call with my own voice?
If the call runs in a browser tab, choose Mic + tab and pick that tab. Wear headphones so other voices aren’t picked up twice, balance the two gain sliders, and tell everyone you are recording.
What is the best format for recording audio?
WAV 24-bit if you will edit the recording, because it is lossless. MP3 at 192 kbit/s or Opus at 128 kbit/s to share or listen — about a tenth of the size and transparent for speech.
Is the online audio recorder free and private?
Yes. It is free with no sign-up or watermark, and your audio never leaves your device until you download it.
Why is my recording silent or too quiet?
Check that the right microphone is selected, that you shared audio in the picker and that the meters move. Raise a quiet source’s gain; lower it if the meter reports clipping.