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Troubleshooting, save an audio or video file directly from the media viewer in safari.

Save an audio or video file from Safari in Mac OS X

Many Safari users have noticed that when trying to save a raw audio file or video file that is loaded directly from the web within Safaris media viewer tab or window, the “Save As” default option will bring about a ‘.webarchive’ file – not exactly the multimedia file that users are looking to save. This has led some users to believe that Safari doesn’t support downloading of mp3, m4a, mpg, mov, and other files, but that is not the case. There’s two easy solutions to this nuisance, both of which will allow you to actually save the media document to your local hard drive from a media viewing window in Safari.

While this works in all versions of Mac OS X and just about all versions of Safari, at the moment this doesn’t work in iOS, so iPad and iPhone users will need to rely on another option to save audio/video to their devices.

Option 1: Switch the Save Format to Page Source

The default “Save As” formatting option in Safari is ‘Web Archive’, which aims to download an entire embedded webpage, text, HTML source, images, media, and all. That’s fine if you want to save a webpage locally, but that’s pretty useless if you’re wanting to save a video file or audio file that you’ve got in the web browser. The solution? Easy, just change the save format to “Page Source”

From Safari with an audio or video file loaded directly from the URL…

  • Choose “Save As” from the File menu as usual (or hit Command+Shift+S)
  • At the Export As menu, name the file whatever you’re looking to call the video / audio document when saved
  • Choose the “Format” option, preset to Web Archive, and change it to “Page Source”
  • Now choose ‘Save’ as normal to save the actual media file

Save an audio or video file directly from Safari by downloading the Page Source of the media file

I know you’re thinking “Page Source? Isn’t that for saving source code and used by developers?” Well, no not always, in this case “page source” is the actual media file, like an mp3 or m4a document.

If for some reason you can’t get that to work, you can use option 2 which directly downloads the video file (or audio) as it’s loaded within a browser tab or window.

Option 2: Use “Download Video As”

The other option is somewhat hidden and certainly not obvious, but it lets you download whatever multimedia file is loaded into a web browser window, whether it’s an MP3, MPG, m4a, mov, MKV, wav, whatever you’re looking to save. To access the hidden “Download Video As” feature here’s all you need to do:

  • Right-click somewhere in the media play timeline (or Control+Click)
  • Choose the “Download Video As…” option from the popup menu

Download Video As option in Safari will save audio or video files in their raw format

Now just save the file as normal, putting it somewhere you can easily find. The default location will be the ~/Downloads/ folder that Safari will choose.

Either trick works, so if you’ve been frustrated by the ‘webarchive’ files saving rather than the music or movie files in familiar formats that you intended to download, that’s all you need to do.

It’s also worth remembering that you can always use the OS X encoder tools to convert the media file format to something else later, like a ringtone , if you decide that the file type you downloaded isn’t what you’d rather be working with.

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Related articles:

  • How to Save Audio Messages on iPhone & iPad
  • How to Save Audio Attachments from Messages on iPhone & iPad
  • How to Play MP3 or Audio Without Adding to iTunes Library on Mac
  • How to Remove Audio from Video with iMovie on iPhone & iPad

11 Comments

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A tip like this should have example audio and video files on the page to actually try the tip.

This doesn’t appear to work for flash video…

Or just put the cursor in the URL bar (Command-L), hold down the Option key, and press the Return key.

Ooh that’s a good one, thanks DCJ001!

That worked brilliantly. Thanks!!

Media Viewer Tab, sorry

I’m sorry I must not be understanding correctly. Media Player Tab? I have not seen this, how do I open this tab? Thankyou.

It should probably be clarified further, but any media viewed directly by it’s URL within a window or tab. For example, a link like this directly to a media file: http://www.stephaniequinn.com/Music/Allegro%20from%20Duet%20in%20C%20Major.mp3

Thanks that helps

I’ve always thought that was frustrating with Safari. You can also download media through the Activity Monitor (or at least you used to) but what’s the point when you can use Firefox or Safari? Save As saves the file you expected to download every time with either other browser. No tweaking necessary.

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  • Downloading Music

How to Save Music from Websites

Last Updated: February 16, 2022 Tested

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Jack Lloyd . Jack Lloyd is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. He has over two years of experience writing and editing technology-related articles. He is technology enthusiast and an English teacher. The wikiHow Tech Team also followed the article's instructions and verified that they work. This article has been viewed 954,513 times. Learn more...

This wikiHow teaches you how to download music from virtually any website. If your music is hosted as a video on YouTube, Facebook, or a similar streaming site, you can use a free app called 4K Video Downloader to rip the audio from the video; you can also use this app to download music files directly from SoundCloud. To download music from any site that plays on your computer, you can use a feedback loop in Audacity to record, edit, and export an MP3 file without recording background noise. Finally, you can download some background music from eligible websites by using your web browser's source code viewer.

Ripping Audio from Videos on Streaming Sites

Step 1 Know which sites this method covers.

  • Dailymotion
  • Although 4K Video Downloader's FAQ page mentions support for Metacafe videos as well, it is currently not possible to download audio from Metacafe with 4K Video Downloader.

Step 2 Download the 4K Video Downloader app.

  • Go to https://www.4kdownload.com/download in your computer's web browser.
  • Click 4K Video Downloader .
  • Click Download to the right of your operating system.
  • Select a save location and/or confirm the download if prompted.

Step 3 Install 4K Video Downloader.

  • If you're using a Mac, you'll need to click and drag the 4K Video Downloader icon onto the "Applications" icon before following the installation prompts. You may also need to verify the installation .

Step 4 Open your preferred site.

  • For example, if you want to download music from a VEVO video, you would go to YouTube.

Step 5 Go to the video you want to use.

  • If you're downloading from SoundCloud, you'll find the song you want to download and then open its page by clicking the song title.

Step 6 Copy the video's address.

  • If you're using Facebook, you must right-click the video, click Show video URL , and then copy the URL that displays. 4K Video Downloader cannot download private videos.

Step 7 Open 4K Video Downloader.

  • Skip this step if it opened automatically after installing.

Step 8 Click Paste Link.

  • Skip this step and the next one if you're downloading from SoundCloud.

Step 10 Click Extract Audio.

  • On a Mac, you'll click ⋯ to the right of the download path instead of Browse .

Step 14 Click Extract.

  • If 4K Video Downloader says that it's unable to download a file, try downloading again, or download another file on top of it. If the problem persists, just wait a day—4K Video Downloader typically resolves disputes around downloading copyrighted music within a few hours to a day's time.

Using Audacity

Step 1 Install SoundFlower if you're on a Mac.

  • Click the Soundflower-2.0b2.dmg link.
  • Double-click the downloaded file, then follow any on-screen prompts (including verifying the software ).

Mac Apple

  • Click Sound , then click the Output tab in the window that opens.
  • Select Soundflower (2ch) and raise the volume, then do the same for Soundflower (2ch) in the Input tab.
  • Click the Sound Effects tab, click the "Play sound effects through" drop-down menu, and click Line Out (or Headphones , or Internal speakers ).

Step 2 Install Audacity if you don't have it.

  • Go to https://www.audacityteam.org/download/ in your computer's web browser.
  • Select your operating system.
  • Click Audacity 2.2.2 installer (Windows) or Audacity 2.2.2 .dmg file (Mac).
  • Double-click the downloaded setup file.
  • Follow the on-screen installation instructions.

Step 3 Open Audacity.

  • If this option is checked, it's already enabled.

Step 5 Click the recording style drop-down box.

  • On a Mac, you'll click the drop-down box to the right of the microphone icon.

Step 6 Click Windows WASAPI.

  • On a Mac, you'll click Soundflower (2ch) instead.

Step 7 Click the input drop-down box.

  • On a Mac, this option is next to the speaker icon on the far-right side of the list of drop-down boxes.

Step 8 Click Speakers.

  • If you're using headphones while doing this, you'll click Headphones (or similar) here instead.
  • On a Mac, you'll click Built-in Output or Line Out here instead.

Step 9 Go to the music you want to record.

  • This can be any website from which your computer recognizes sound.

Step 10 Begin recording in Audacity.

  • On a Mac, click Edit and then click Cut instead of pressing the Del key.

Step 14 Click File.

  • This will increase your song's file size as well.

Step 20 Click Save.

  • The tags that you enter here will help the audio file be recognized by programs such as iTunes and Groove.
  • You can skip this step if you don't want to assign tags to your song.

Step 22 Click OK.

  • This process can take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes depending on your chosen quality and your song's length.

Using Your Browser's Source Code

Step 1 Understand when to use this method.

  • If the music file you want to download is protected (as in the case of sites like SoundCloud), you won't be able to use your browser's source code. Try using 4K Video Downloader or Audacity if so.

Step 2 Go to the website you want to use.

  • Google Chrome — Click ⋮ in the upper-right corner of the window, select More tools , and click Developer tools .
  • Firefox — Click ☰ in the top-right corner of the window, click Web Developer in the drop-down menu, and click Inspector .
  • Microsoft Edge — Click ⋯ in the upper-right corner of the window, then click Developer Tools in the drop-down menu.
  • Safari — Enable the Develop menu item if necessary, then click Develop in the menu bar and click Show Page Source in the resulting drop-down menu.

Step 4 Click the Elements tab if necessary.

  • Skip this step on Safari and Firefox.

Step 5 Open the

  • Other commonly used audio tags include M4A, AAC, OGG, and WAV.

Step 7 Look for the audio file's address.

  • If you don't get any results for .mp3, try a different audio tag. You can also try a video tag such as MP4. If you still don't get results, the song is most likely hidden behind an embedded player or encrypted.

Step 8 Copy an audio file's URL.

  • Keep in mind that the website may have numerous different URLs for different audio files, so you might need to come back to this page and copy a different URL if the first one doesn't work.

Step 9 Enter the URL in the address bar.

  • If you receive a 404 error, the song is no longer hosted at the URL you entered. Try going back and copying a different URL, or use Audacity instead.

Step 10 Download the music file.

  • On Chrome, you might be able to click ⋮ in the lower-right corner and then click Download .
  • If the song downloads as an MP4 file, you'll need to convert the MP4 into an MP3 file to complete this process.

Community Q&A

Community Answer

  • Since the Audacity method records directly from your computer's soundcard, you can listen to the music without headphones or talk during the recording process without affecting the recording itself. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

safari save mp3

  • Downloading for free music instead of purchasing it may constitute piracy in your region. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 2

You Might Also Like

Download Free Music on Your iPod

  • ↑ https://www.4kdownload.com/faq/faq-what-sites-are-supported
  • ↑ https://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Recording_Computer_Playback_on_Mac

About This Article

Jack Lloyd

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  1. Save an Audio or Video File Directly from the Media Viewer in Safari

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  2. How To Download Mp3 To Iphone From Safari

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  3. Come scaricare MP3 da Safari su Mac senza installare software

    safari save mp3

  4. Come scaricare MP3 da Safari su Mac senza installare software

    safari save mp3

  5. Come scaricare MP3 da Safari su Mac senza installare software

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  6. Easy way to download MP3 in Safari

    safari save mp3

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COMMENTS

  1. Save an Audio or Video File Directly from the Media Viewer in Sa

    How can I get an MP3 audio file to play in iPhone Safari (OS 3.1)? Currently, I am generating HTML e.g. <a href="file.mp3"><img src="sound.png" alt="Play audio"/></a> to play the file on clicking on the nested image. This works on Safari on OSX, but not on …