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

We’ve all been there - you curated or found a YouTube playlist full of songs you love, and wish to download these tracks for a workout, a road trip or whatever. Converting your favorite YouTube playlist to MP3 files not only saves space, it’s also easy to transfer to any device and listen to it offline, ad-free.

In this article, we’ll cover four reliable ways to download YouTube playlists to MP3 or M4A audio files. Follow the step-by-step guides to preserve complete YouTube playlists in high quality on your computer or smartphone.

YouTube Playlist to MP3 Summary

1. What’s YouTube Playlist and How to Download

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

2. 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 YouTube playlist to M4A is to extract the original audio from the YouTube videos, while converting 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. M4A and MP3 are both widely supported by computers, mobile devices and audio players. M4A can also be easily converted to MP3 if you need to listen to your playlist on a non-compatible device. Ultimately, consider the audio quality and compatibility requirements, and choose the format that suits your needs.

 

Download YouTube Playlists in Bulk with One Click 

The most reliable way to download YouTube playlist videos is to use a professional YouTube playlist downloader. iFunia YouTube Downloader is a specified YouTube download software available for both Windows and Mac. It has long been my go-to option for downloading any YouTube playlist in high quality audio and video formats.

Highlight features:

• Download entire YouTube playlist or select specific videos and save them as M4A and OPUS files
• Bulk download YouTube videos at once with a single playlist link or multiple URLs
• Convert YouTube playlist to lossless audio quality
• Also Download YouTube videos to MP4 in various resolutions up to 1080P, 4K and 8K.
• Support downloading videos and playlists from over 1,000 YouTube-like websites, including SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Tumblr, Facebook, Dailymotion and more.

Overall, this powerful YouTube downloader provides a hassle-free solution for downloading YouTube playlists.

[Guide] Download complete YouTube playlists at once on your computer:

Step 1: Download and run iFunia YouTube Downloader.

Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7 Free Download macOS 10.11 or later

Step 2: Visit the YouTube playlist you want to download and copy the URL.

Step 3: Paste the YouTube playlist link to iFunia, and click the “+” button to start loading all the tracks.

Step 4: Choose a desired output format. To download YouTube playlist in M4A or other audio formats, expand the Format drop-down list and scroll down to select. The higher the audio bitrate, the better the sound quality.

Step 5: Finally, click download  button at the lower right to start the YouTube playlist download.

Tips:

1. You can uncheck any videos in the playlist that you do not need to convert.
2. After the download is complete, click the Play button to play and verify the audio tracks.
3. Click the checkmark icon to quickly locate the save folder where the downloaded files are saved.

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 websites when you search on Google, and most of them cannot download an entire YouTube playlist and contains malicious ads. But after trying dozens of online YouTube playlist to MP3 converters, I found following capable, safe and ad-free options for you.

1. SaveMP3.net

SaveMP3 is a web-based YouTube playlist downloader that allows you to convert YouTube playlists to MP3 files. It can display all the tracks in a playlist with a single click and lets you download them one by one conveniently. Here are the steps to convert YouTube playlist to MP3 using 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 convert your wanted track to MP3 format. When the conversion finished, the converted MP3 files will be saved to your device.

Tip: Install Savemp3 Extension

Savemp3 also offers a browser extension that allows you to convert YouTube playlist videos to MP3 without leaving the YouTube page.

How it works? Simply visit the site and add this 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. But this YouTube playlist to MP3 extension still can’t download entire playlists at once.

2. YouTubePlaylist.cc

YouTubePlaylist.cc is another popular online service for downloading YouTube playlists to MP3 or MP4. However, unlike savemp3, registration and login are required to use it. Free users can download up to 15 YouTube tracks per day, with audio quality is limited to MP3 128kbps. 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.

Here is how to download a YouTube playlist online using YouTubePlaylist.cc:

1. Visit youtubeplaylist.cc and enter the YouTube playlist URL.
2. Check “All Title Video” to select all videos or tick the ones you want to download.
3. Click “Set Quality” to select MP3 as the output format.
4. Hit the “Download All” button to start converting YouTube playlist to MP3.
5. Click “Downloader” tab to see the conversion process. Wait until the conversion is finished, then download converted MP3 files to your device.

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

Wanna download full YouTube playlists for free with no restrictions? Then you must try yt-dlp, a free YouTube playlist downloader. Yt-dlp is a command-line tool that you need to use it in Command Prompt (Windows) or Terminal(Mac). It allows you bulk download YouTube playlists to M4A files or convert them to MP3 with FFmpeg.

Here is a guide on how to download YouTube 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 Command Prompts (Or Terminal on Mac), and drag the yt-dlp file to the interface to use it.

Step 3. Type following command lines to download YouTube playlists as you like, replacing the URL 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: yt-dlp -I 1-5,10-20 “URL”. 
3. To specify the audio quality with “--audio-quality”, for instance: yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 256k “URL”.

Note: yt-dlp will try to download the highest quality media it can find if you don’t specify a certain quality and format. And you can learn more commands on how to use this free playlist downloader from github forum.

Download YouTube Playlist to MP3/M4A on Android and iOS

If you want to download YouTube playlist to audio files 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 app called Seal. Seal is a YouTube video and audio downloader based on yt-dlp, so it can download YouTube playlist videos 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. Open the app, paste the YouTube playlist link to the box from clipboard.
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 Online YouTube Playlist Downloader (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

With the right tools presented above, you can download any YouTube playlist to MP3 or M4A regardless of your technical skills and operating systems. To sum up, whether you want to download full albums, music playlists or mixes from YouTube, a dedicated software like iFunia YouTube Downloader is always a reliable and efficient option when online tools fail. And yt-dlp is also a powerful YouTube playlist downloader if you prefer open source tools. Now you can 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 10.11 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 M4A with the help of an online tool that provides direct download links. It will block all YouTube videos that contain copyright 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 www.youtubemultidownloader.net/playlists.html and choose the “Quality” as M4A first. Check “Auto reduce quality if not exist”.
2. Paste the YouTube playlist link into the box and it will start parsing the link automatically.
3. Copy all the links generated in the box. 
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.
6. Choose a save destination and then click “OK” to start batch downloading YouTube playlist videos to M4A.