How to Download a Whole YouTube Playlist as MP3 (Free, No Software)
Grabbing one track from YouTube is easy. Grabbing forty is where most tools fall apart - they either want you to install a desktop app, sign up for a "pro" plan, or they choke halfway through and you lose track of what you already have. This guide shows how to pull an entire playlist in your browser, in whatever format you actually need, without installing anything.
The short version
- Open the playlist on YouTube and copy the address bar link - it contains
list=. - Paste it into beatdl.net/playlist and press Load. Every track appears in a list.
- Pick a format - MP3 320 kbps, WAV, FLAC, AIFF, OGG or AAC. It applies to the whole playlist.
- Press Download all. BeatDL works down the list on its own, one track at a time.
Where to find the playlist link
Two links look similar on YouTube but behave differently:
| Link | What it is |
|---|---|
youtube.com/playlist?list=PL… | The playlist itself. This is the one you want. |
youtube.com/watch?v=…&list=PL… | One video opened from inside a playlist. |
Both work - paste either one. If you paste the second kind on the BeatDL home page, it downloads that single video as usual and shows a small note offering the full playlist instead, so you never end up with forty files when you wanted one.
Choosing a format
The format is set once and used for every track, so it is worth a moment's thought before you start a long list:
| Format | Best for |
|---|---|
| MP3 (320 kbps) | Phones, DJ software, sharing. Smallest files, plays everywhere. |
| WAV | Dropping straight into a DAW. Large files, zero decoding overhead. |
| FLAC | Archiving. Same audio as WAV at roughly half the size. |
| AIFF | Logic Pro and older Mac workflows. |
| OGG / AAC | Niche cases where a specific app demands them. |
One thing worth being honest about: YouTube's audio is already compressed before it reaches you. Saving as WAV or FLAC gives you a lossless container, not lossless audio - nothing further is lost, but nothing is recovered either. For a DAW that insists on uncompressed input, that is still exactly what you want.
Getting BPM and key on every file
If you are pulling a playlist of beats or samples, filenames like type beat 2026 (FREE).mp3 are close to useless a week later. Tick Detect BPM & key for all files before you start and each track is saved as something you can actually sort:
Dark Trap Loop 140bpm Amin.mp3
The detection runs in your browser using the same engine as the BPM finder and key finder. It adds a few seconds per track, which is why it is switched off by default - on a fifty-track playlist those seconds add up.
Why the page reloads between tracks
This surprises people, so it is worth explaining. Browsers deliberately block pages that try to save a pile of files in one go - Chrome shows an "allow multiple downloads?" prompt, and some browsers simply refuse. By reloading between tracks, each file becomes a separate single download from a fresh page, which every browser permits without complaint.
The queue survives the reload, so you can leave it running. A progress line tells you which track is in flight, and Stop ends the batch at any point without losing what you already have.
Limits worth knowing
- 50 tracks per playlist. Longer playlists are trimmed to the first 50 entries.
- 10 minutes per video. Longer videos are listed but skipped - this is a tool for tracks, not for hour-long mixes.
- Private and deleted videos in the playlist are skipped automatically.
- Keep the tab open. Everything runs on your device, so closing the tab stops the batch.
Is this legal?
It depends entirely on what is in the playlist. Royalty-free beats, Creative Commons tracks, public-domain recordings and your own uploads are generally fine to download. Copyrighted music is not, and downloading it without permission may breach YouTube's Terms of Service as well as copyright law where you live. BeatDL does not host or redistribute anything - the audio passes through to your browser and is never stored on our servers - but the responsibility for what you download is yours. See our Terms of Service for the full picture.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an account?
No. There is no signup, no email, no paywall, and no track limit per day.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes, in any modern mobile browser. Bulk downloads are smoother on a desktop, since mobile browsers handle repeated file saves less predictably and the tab has to stay open throughout.
Can I download a YouTube Mix or radio playlist?
Usually yes. Auto-generated mixes (links starting with RD) work as long as you paste the full link from the address bar rather than just the playlist ID.
What if one track fails?
The batch skips it and carries on. Failed rows get a Retry button so you can pick them up afterwards without starting over.
Where do the files go?
Wherever your browser normally saves downloads. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is stored on our side.
Paste a playlist link and download the whole thing - MP3, WAV, FLAC and more.
Open the playlist downloader →