ParrotNotes

Computer Audio Recorder

Record the sound playing on your computer, from a browser tab or the whole system, with or without your microphone, and download it as MP3 or WAV. It runs in Chrome and Edge on a computer, there is nothing to install, and the recording is not uploaded.

Time

0:00

Level: –

Press the button, pick a tab or the entire screen in the browser's dialog, and switch on its audio option before you press Share.

Works in Chrome and Edge on a computer. On a Mac, choose a Chrome tab. Up to 60 minutes or 100 MB per take.

Recording a call or a meeting can need the consent of the other people, depending on where you and they are. Ask first, and only record what you are allowed to record.

The recording stays in your browser and is not uploaded. The page runs ordinary analytics tags, as every page on this site does; they do not carry audio.

How to record computer audio in three steps

No driver, no virtual cable, no account. The browser's own share dialog hands the sound to this page.

  1. 1

    Press the button and share with audio

    The browser opens its share dialog. Pick the tab that plays the sound, or the entire screen for sound from any app, and switch on the audio option in the dialog before you press Share. Without that option there is nothing to record, and the page tells you so.

  2. 2

    Play the sound and watch the level

    Start the video, call or song. Chrome may jump to the tab you shared; the recording keeps running, and you come back to this tab to pause or stop. The level bar moves when sound arrives. The clock counts recorded time only.

  3. 3

    Stop, listen back, download

    Press Stop here or Stop sharing in the browser's bar; both end the take. Play it on the page, then choose MP3 (small, plays anywhere) or WAV (uncompressed, for editing) and download.

Too much at the start or the end? Cut it with the Audio Trimmer.

Tab, window or entire screen: what to pick

The share dialog offers three kinds of source. Only two of them usually come with sound.

What you pickDoes it come with sound?Pick it for
A browser tabYes, in Chrome and Edge. Switch on the tab's audio option.A video, a webinar, a web meeting or music that plays in a tab. Only that tab is recorded, so other tabs and system sounds stay out.
A windowUsually not. A single window is normally shared without sound.Nothing on this page. Choose the tab or the entire screen instead.
The entire screenOn Windows and ChromeOS: yes, switch on system audio. On a Mac the option is often missing.Sound from apps outside the browser, such as a desktop meeting app or a media player. Everything the computer plays is recorded, alerts included.
The wording in the dialog changes between browser versions. Current Chrome calls the options "Also share tab audio" and "Also share system audio". On a Mac, choose a Chrome tab.

Record with or without your microphone

The page records the computer's sound by default. Your voice is an option, not a requirement.

  • Computer sound only

    Leave the box unticked and the page never asks for the microphone. Typing, the room and your own voice stay out of the take. This is the setting for a lecture stream, a song or the other side of a call.

  • Computer sound plus your voice

    Tick Also record my microphone before you start. The browser asks for the microphone after the share dialog, and both sources are mixed into one recording. The slider sets how loud your voice is, also while the take runs.

  • Wear headphones when the mic is on

    With speakers, the microphone hears the computer's sound a second time and the take gets an echo. Headphones keep the two sources apart until the page mixes them.

  • One mixed file, not two tracks

    The download is a single file with both sources in it, and they cannot be pulled apart later. If you need your voice on its own, record it separately with the Online Voice Recorder.

When there is no sound in the recording

Nearly every silent take comes from one of these. The first two stop the recorder before it starts, so you do not lose a take to them.

  • The audio option in the dialog was off

    The browser then shares the picture without sound. The page checks for this, stops the share and asks you to try again with the option switched on.

  • You shared a window

    A single window normally comes without sound, whatever plays inside it. Share the tab if the sound comes from the browser, or the entire screen with system audio on Windows and ChromeOS.

  • The source was paused or muted

    The page records what the tab or the system actually plays. If the level bar stays flat for five seconds, the page says so: press play in the source and check that its own player is not muted.

  • You shared a tab, but the sound comes from an app

    A shared tab carries that tab's sound and nothing else. For a desktop app, share the entire screen with system audio, or open the web version of the app in a tab.

  • The dialog shows no audio option at all

    Then this browser or system does not share sound for that source. Use Chrome or Edge on a computer and choose a tab; that is the combination this page is built for.

Want to record from the microphone only? Use the Online Voice Recorder.

MP3 or WAV: which download to choose

Browsers do not record to MP3 or WAV. They write their own container, which many players and editors refuse. This page decodes the take once it is finished and writes the format you pick, so the download opens anywhere.

Choose MP3 when you want to keep, send or transcribe the recording. At 128 kbps it takes about 1 MB a minute, which is plenty for speech; for music, 192 or 320 kbps keeps more detail. Choose WAV when you plan to edit the sound: it is uncompressed 16-bit audio and takes roughly 10 to 12 MB a minute in stereo. The size estimate under the format switch shows the real number for your take.

One take can run up to 60 minutes or 100 MB of recorded data, whichever comes first. The recorder stops on its own at the limit and keeps the take. Long takes need a lot of memory when they are prepared for download, so close heavy tabs first.

Related guides: How to record audio on Windows, How to record audio on a Mac, How to record a Zoom meeting, How to record Google Meet, How to record a Teams meeting.

This page records your computer. The app records your meetings.

This page records what plays on this computer and gives you an audio file. The ParrotNotes app records meetings, calls and voice notes on your phone and writes the transcript and summary for you, free for 100 minutes a month.

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Related tools

Computer Audio Recorder FAQ

Sources