How to record your voice online
- Click Start recording and allow microphone access when your browser asks.
- Speak while watching the live waveform and level meter. Use Pause and Resume to skip breaks.
- Click Stop. The take appears below with a player, its length and its file size.
- Pick MP3 or WAV in the Format menu and click Save as, or download the original WebM or M4A file.
- Record as many takes as you like and delete the ones you don't need.
What you can do with Voice Recorder
- Live level meter
- A waveform and input meter show your mic level in real time, so you can spot a muted or too-quiet microphone before a long take.
- Pause and resume
- Pause mid-recording and continue in the same take. The timer counts only the time actually recorded.
- Multiple takes
- Every recording is kept as a separate take with its own player, so you can compare attempts and keep the best one.
- MP3, WAV or native file
- Save as MP3 (96 to 320 kbps) or WAV, or download the browser's original WebM, Ogg or M4A file without re-encoding.
- Cleaner voice input
- Echo cancellation and noise suppression are requested from the browser, which helps with built-in laptop microphones.
- Stays on your device
- Recordings are held in the page's memory and never uploaded. Nothing is stored after you close the tab.
Recording formats and tips for clearer voice recordings
The recorder uses your browser's MediaRecorder API. Chrome, Edge and Firefox record Opus audio in a WebM container, while Safari records AAC in an MP4 container, saved here as .m4a. These native files are compact, but WebM isn't accepted everywhere, so use Save as MP3 for email, messaging apps or services that reject WebM uploads. Choose WAV if you'll edit the recording in an audio editor such as Audacity, since it's lossless and opens in virtually any software.
For clearer recordings, sit 15 to 30 cm (6 to 12 inches) from the microphone, keep the level meter mostly in the green and only briefly touching yellow, and record in a room with soft furnishings to cut echo. A headset or USB microphone usually beats a built-in laptop mic. The browser uses its selected microphone; to switch, change the input in your system's sound settings or the site permission menu in the address bar, then reload. Download takes before leaving, because closing the tab discards them.
Frequently asked questions
Are my voice recordings private?
Yes. Audio from your microphone is recorded and stored only in your browser's memory. Nothing is uploaded or saved on a server, and takes disappear when you close or reload the page, so download anything you want to keep.
How long can I record?
There's no built-in time limit. Recordings are kept in memory in compressed form, so an hour of speech is easily handled on a computer. Converting a very long take to MP3 or WAV needs more memory and may be slow on older phones.
Why does my recording download as WebM?
WebM is the format Chrome, Edge and Firefox record natively. Click Save as MP3, or choose WAV in the Format menu, to convert the take in your browser. Safari records M4A instead, which already plays on most devices.
Does the voice recorder work on iPhone and Android?
Yes. It works in Safari on iOS and Chrome on Android. The page needs microphone permission; if you denied it earlier, re-enable it in your browser's site settings and reload the page.
Why isn't the recorder picking up my microphone?
Check that the browser has microphone permission, that the right input device is selected in your system settings, and that no other app is using the mic exclusively. The level meter should move when you speak; if it doesn't, the browser isn't receiving audio.