Free Voice Recorder

Worked example

Press the red record button, labelled "Start recording", and allow the microphone when the browser asks. The timer counts up from 00:00, the level bar follows your voice and the page says "Recording…". After 60 seconds it shows "WAV export ≈ 5.5 MB", which assumes 16-bit mono at 48,000 Hz and follows your device. Press ❚❚ ("Pause") and the page says "Paused"; press ● to resume. Press ■ ("Stop") and it reads "Recording finished". A player appears with "Download WAV", "Download WEBM" (the original file, which is M4A or OGG in some browsers) and "Make MP3". The first "Make MP3" shows "Loading the MP3 encoder…" and then "Encoding MP3… 40%". It ends as "Download MP3" at about 940 KB for this minute, because the MP3 is 128 kbps. The files are named recording.wav, recording.webm and recording.mp3.

Which settings to use, and the limits

• Allow the microphone and pick the right one. The first press of the record button makes the browser ask for permission. The recorder asks for echo cancellation and noise suppression, and there is no switch to turn them off. When the browser lists more than one input, a "Microphone" menu appears while you are not recording, with "Default microphone" first. Names show once permission has been given; before that you see entries such as "Microphone 2". Plugging in a headset updates the list. Choosing a named device asks for exactly that one, so if it is unplugged later you get an error until you go back to "Default microphone".
• Pause instead of stopping, and use the keys. "Pause" keeps one recording going: the timer and the level bar stop, and "Resume" carries on into the same file. Stopping ends the take. On a computer, Space starts and stops, and P pauses and resumes. The hint "Shortcuts: Space — start/stop · P — pause/resume" is shown on wider screens only. The keys are ignored while a button, menu or the player has focus, so click an empty part of the page first. The counter shows minutes and seconds.
• Choose WAV, the original or MP3. "Download WAV" is the recording decoded to 16-bit PCM at its own sample rate. It is a plain WAV file, but it is not better than the original and it is much larger. The original download is the smallest and keeps what the browser recorded: WEBM when it supports it, otherwise M4A (MP4) or OGG. "Make MP3" encodes at 128 kbps with an encoder of about 30 MB that downloads the first time. If the WAV could not be made, the MP3 is built from the original instead.
• Plan for long recordings. While you record, the page shows a running estimate such as "WAV export ≈ 164.8 MB" (30 minutes at 48,000 Hz). At 30 minutes it adds "Long recording: the WAV export will be very large. The original format download stays much smaller." For a long lecture or meeting, download the original or the MP3 rather than the WAV. The whole take is held in the tab until you save it, so keep the tab open and finish with ■ ("Stop") before you close it.
• Recover a take after a crash or reload. Each second of audio is also saved in this browser. On your next visit the page shows "An unsaved recording (02:15, started Nov 4, 2026, 9:30 AM) was found from your last visit." with "Recover it" and "Discard". It shows the newest one, and only while the recorder is idle. "Recover it" opens the take like a finished recording, with the usual downloads. The saved copy is deleted when you download any file, press "Discard" or press "New recording". If the browser blocks storage, recording still works but there is no safety copy.
• Send the recording on to another tool. Under a finished recording, "Do more with this recording" links to "Trim it" and "Remove silence", which open in a new tab. The page says "Download your recording first — these open in a new tab so you don't lose it." A row titled "Do more with this file" offers the audio tools that accept the file, such as "Transcribe", "Remove noise" and "Normalize volume", and notes "The file is passed on inside this browser. Nothing is uploaded."

Common problems and how to fix them

It says "Microphone access was denied. Allow it in your browser to record."

The browser reported that permission was refused. You may have pressed Block earlier, the site setting for the microphone may be Block, or the operating system may block the browser from the microphone. Open the site settings from the icon at the left of the address bar, set "Microphone" to Allow, reload the page and press the record button again. If the permission prompt never appears, open the page in your normal browser instead of inside another app.

It says "Couldn't access a microphone. Check that one is connected and permitted."

Every failure to open the microphone other than a refused permission ends here. Typical causes are no input device, another program or tab using the microphone, a device chosen in the "Microphone" menu that has since been unplugged, and a browser that does not offer recording on this page. Plug the microphone in or close the other program, choose "Default microphone" and press the record button again.

It says "Couldn't convert to WAV on this device — use the original download instead."

After you stop, the page decodes the recording to make the WAV, and this device could not do it. The "Download WAV" button is removed, but "Download WEBM" (or M4A or OGG) still saves the recording, and "Make MP3" still works because it falls back to the original. Open the original in an audio editor if you need another format.

It says "Failed to load the encoder. Check your internet connection and try again."

"Make MP3" needs an encoder of about 30 MB the first time, and the download failed. Check the connection and press "Make MP3" again. A different message, "The browser ran out of memory processing this file — it is too large for this device. Try a shorter clip, a smaller file, or a desktop computer.", means the encoder ran out of memory on this device. The WAV and original downloads are not affected by an MP3 failure.

A banner says "An unsaved recording (01:12, started Nov 4, 2026, 9:30 AM) was found from your last visit." and you did not expect it.

Last time, the tab closed, reloaded or crashed before the recording was downloaded or cleared, so the saved copy was kept. Press "Recover it" to open it, then download it. Press "Discard" to delete it for good. The recovered audio runs up to the last whole second that was saved, and the time in the banner is the timer value stored with it. Recordings you downloaded or cleared with "New recording" are deleted and never appear here.

How it compares

A voice memo app on a phone or the sound recorder on a computer is a better fit when you want to set the gain or sample rate, or to record the sound a computer plays. This recorder takes the microphone only and always asks for echo cancellation and noise suppression, which helps speech but is not meant for music. It has no gain, format or bitrate controls, and the MP3 is fixed at 128 kbps. In exchange there is nothing to install, the audio stays on your device, and a finished take can be saved as WAV, the original file or MP3.