Choose a source, click Start to record, then Stop to save the clip as a WebM file.
Online Voice Recorder
Capture a voice note from your microphone and download it as a WebM or Ogg audio file, recorded entirely in the browser with no upload and no account.
Use it for a quick screen capture, webcam clip, or voice note without installing an app.
Source modes at a glance
| Source mode | What it records | Live preview |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | Video only, no microphone audio | Muted camera preview |
| Camera + microphone | Video with your microphone audio | Muted camera preview |
| Microphone only | Audio only | Timer only, no preview |
| Screen | Screen video plus tab or system sound when allowed | None |
Screen mode requests the screen's video and audio together, so tab or system sound is captured whenever your browser and the shared source allow it - not just a silent recording.
Key features
- Live preview: a muted camera preview shows while a camera or camera + microphone recording runs, so you can check framing without hearing yourself; microphone-only mode shows just the timer with no preview.
- Pause and Resume: Pause freezes the on-screen timer and Resume continues the same take, so the paused time is excluded from the reported recorded length.
- Automatic finish: end a screen share from the browser's own "Stop sharing" control and the recorder notices, finishes the recording, and still saves the clip you started.
- Codec fallback: the recorder tries VP9/Opus, then VP8/Opus, then plain WebM for video, and Opus/WebM, then plain WebM, then Ogg/Opus for microphone-only audio, using the first format your browser can produce.
- Named downloads: each file is named with its own recorded length, for example voice-recorder-01m05s.webm, so a folder of clips sorts by length without opening each one.
- Empty-clip guard: if you click Stop before any data chunk is captured, the tool shows "No data was recorded. Try recording for a moment longer." instead of a broken or silent download.
- Locked source: the Source dropdown stays locked while a recording runs and unlocks again only after you click Stop.
- Instant release: on Stop, the camera, microphone, or screen-share track is released right away, so your browser's recording indicator turns off and nothing keeps capturing in the background.
- Inline playback: the finished clip plays back inline and downloads through a link built in the browser, with no server round-trip.
Error messages before a recording starts
Two different messages can appear before recording ever starts. If your browser has no MediaRecorder API at all, a support message shows immediately. If the API exists but you deny the camera, microphone, or screen-share permission, or no matching device is available, a separate message reports that the recording could not start. Recognizing which message you saw tells you whether the fix is a different browser or just re-granting the permission.
Your recording stays on your device
Recording stays on your device and is never uploaded; the clip downloads straight to you, built from an in-browser blob with no server round-trip.
Not sure which mode fits your task? See when to use Online Voice Recorder for scenarios by recording type.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Online Voice Recorder do?
Capture audio straight from your microphone and save it as a WebM clip - in microphone-only mode no camera preview appears, just the running timer, and nothing leaves your device because both the inline playback and the download link are built from an in-browser blob with no server round-trip.
When should I reach for online voice recorder?
Use it for a quick screen capture, webcam clip, or voice note without installing an app.
What complementary tools work well alongside online voice recorder?
The clip is saved as WebM; to re-encode it to MP4, see the related video tools.
Does the screen recording option capture sound?
Yes - screen mode requests both video and audio from the browser together, so tab or system audio is included in the download whenever your browser and the page you are sharing allow audio capture.
Can I pause a recording without losing it?
Yes. Pause freezes the timer and the take continues from where you left off when you click Resume; the saved clip's length reflects only the time you were actually recording, not any paused time.
Why is there no download after I click Stop?
If you click Stop a fraction of a second after Start, the browser has not produced any recorded data yet. Online Voice Recorder detects the empty result and asks you to record a moment longer instead of returning a broken file.
Why do I get different error messages when recording fails to start?
A missing MediaRecorder API in your browser shows one message immediately. A denied permission prompt or an unavailable camera, microphone, or screen shows a separate message once you click Start, since that failure only shows up after the browser attempts to grant access.
Can I switch the recording source while it is running?
No - the Source dropdown locks as soon as you click Start and unlocks again only after you click Stop, so a recording always uses the mode you picked at the start.