How to record audio on your computer without installing software

Audio capture software, or just your browser?

People searching for free audio recording software for a PC or Mac usually want one of three things: to record their own voice, to capture the sound of something playing on the computer, or to record a screen with narration. Dedicated programs do all three, but they also mean installing something, finding the right settings and learning an interface.

Modern browsers can capture a microphone and a screen on their own, so for everyday recording nothing needs installing. ClipLime's recorders run entirely in the browser tab. The recording is held in the tab while you work and saved to your computer when you press download. It is never uploaded, there is no account, no time limit and no watermark.

The rest of this guide covers each kind of recording, what to check before you start, and how to tidy the result afterwards.

Record your voice with a microphone

The voice recorder is the quickest route to a recording of your voice, whether it is a voice note, an interview, a voice-over or a podcast take. Allow microphone access when the browser asks, and choose a different microphone from the list if you have more than one.

1. Turn on the microphone and do a mic check. Talk at your normal volume and aim for the level meter to say Sounding good.
2. Press Start recording. A scrolling waveform and a timer show what is being captured, and you can pause between takes.
3. Press Stop, play it back, and download it as an MP3 (128, 192 or 320 kbps) or a lossless WAV.

The mic check is more useful than it sounds. It flags silence (the wrong microphone or a muted one), a level that is too quiet, a healthy level, and clipping, where your voice is so loud that the sound breaks up. Clipping cannot be repaired afterwards, while a recording that is a little quiet can be boosted later, so it is worth ten seconds before a long take.

MP3 or WAV?

The recorder captures raw audio from the microphone, so the format only matters when you save. A WAV is exactly what the microphone heard, uncompressed, at about 5 to 6 MB per minute. It is the best starting point if you will edit, mix or transcribe the recording. An MP3 is much smaller and plays on everything, so choose it for sharing or uploading. For speech, 192 kbps is plenty and 128 kbps saves space.

If you saved one format and need the other later, the audio converter changes it, including whole batches at once.

Clean up on or off

There is a setting called Clean up my voice, which switches on your browser's noise reduction, echo cancellation and automatic level. It is on by default and helps with laptop microphones, fans and echoey rooms.

Turn it off when you have a good USB or XLR microphone, or when you are recording music. The processing can make instruments sound thin and push the level up and down. With it off you hear the untouched signal, which you can polish afterwards.

Record the screen with sound

For a tutorial, a demo or a call you want to keep, use the screen recorder. You choose what to share: the entire screen, one window or one browser tab. It can record your microphone, the computer's audio, or both mixed into a single track.

Computer sound depends on the browser. Chrome and Edge can include a tab's sound when you tick Share tab audio in the sharing dialog, and the whole system's sound on Windows and ChromeOS. Firefox and Safari record the picture and your microphone only. If a recording comes out silent, check that the audio option is ticked in the browser's sharing dialog as well as in ClipLime.

If you record both a microphone and computer sound, wear headphones. Otherwise your speakers leak back into the microphone and you get an echo.

On a Mac, the browser must be allowed to record the screen: open System Settings, then Privacy and Security, then Screen Recording, switch your browser on, and restart it. The recorder saves MP4 or WebM, with a short countdown, pause and resume, and an optional webcam bubble in Chromium-based browsers. If you only want the sound of a recording, Extract Audio pulls it out as an audio file, and extract audio from a video explains which format to choose.

Phones are a different case. Mobile browsers do not let websites record the screen, so use the phone's built-in recorder, and then trim or compress the video here.

Record a webcam video

If you want picture and voice together without any screen, the webcam recorder captures your camera and microphone to an MP4 or WebM at 720p or 1080p, with a mirrored preview, a countdown and pause. It works on computers, phones and tablets in current browsers.

After you record: trim, tidy and check loudness

Almost every recording needs the start and end trimmed. Open the audio in the audio editor, drag across the part you want, and press Keep only. Use Cut to remove a cough or a stumble in the middle; every cut gets a tiny fade at the join, so it does not click. Remove pauses closes long gaps, and you can normalise the loudness to a standard target.

For a podcast or a voice-over, check the finished file with the loudness meter before you publish it. Around minus 16 LUFS is a common target for spoken word, and LUFS for YouTube, Spotify and podcasts explains why. Recording a whole episode? Make a podcast in one browser tab puts the steps in order.

Screen recordings can be tidied in the video trimmer, which cuts the fumbling at the start and end.

Tips for cleaner recordings

• Keep the microphone a hand's width or two from your mouth, slightly off to one side to soften pops on P and B sounds.
• Soft furnishings tame echo. Record near curtains, a sofa or a full bookshelf rather than in a bare room.
• Stay a consistent distance from the microphone so the level does not swing.
• Close other apps that make notification sounds, and mute your phone.
• Record a few seconds of silence at the start. It gives you room noise to compare against and makes edits easier.