How to Download Sound Effects Online
You might not use sound effects as often as you use music, but they're not any harder to download or add to videos – I'll show you how.
If you’re looking for music to add to your videos, you have tons of options: royalty-free music sites, YouTube videos, SoundCloud tracks, and online libraries like iTunes and Apple Music. But for sound effects, which can be important for any type of video content, there aren’t any obvious or well-known options available.
That doesn’t mean that it’s any harder to find great sound effects for your videos, however. In this article, I’ll show you how to use the Kapwing Studio to download any sound effects on YouTube for free and use them in your own audio tracks and videos. Here’s what you should know:
- Copy the link to the sound effects you want to download
- Paste the link in the Kapwing Studio
- Add video or audio
- Export & download
Step 1: Copy the Link to the Sound Effects You Want to Download
Wherever you found your sound effects – YouTube, SoundCloud, royalty-free libraries like SoundSnap or FreeSound, even TikTok – just copy the link to the sound effect or collection of sound effects that you want to use. If you want to use only one clip from a longer audio track, copy the link to the entire track first.
Step 2: Paste the Link in the Kapwing Studio
Once you’ve copied your sound effect’s link, head to Kapwing.com in your browser and click select Start Editing to enter the Kapwing Studio. Here, paste the link into the URL bar. The video or audio file will immediately begin to upload to the Studio, but it may take some time to upload fully.
Step 3: Add Video or Audio
When your sound effects are fully uploaded to the Studio, you can trim them, change their volume, and add audio fade effects to the beginning and end. If you used a video to upload your sound effects, right-click on the video layer in the Timeline, select Detach Audio, and delete the video layer. If your audio layer contains multiple sound effects, trim the ends and split the layer in the middle to cut out just the sound effects you want to use.
Now, add everything else your project needs. If you’re adding sound effects to a video, drag & drop the video file into the Studio or click Upload and paste a link to any video online. You can also drag audio layers into the Studio or paste the link to a song on YouTube or SoundCloud, if you’re creating a project with only audio.
Finish your project by adding any edits you need: you can make your audio layers louder or softer, add fade effects to the beginning or end, and even adjust their speed. You can even select your audio layer and use the editing menu on the right to visualize your audio with a waveform animation. With video layers, you can crop, resize, rotate, change speed, add filters, text, subtitles, shapes, overlays, and more.
Step 4: Export & Download
When you’re done creating your sound effects project, whether it’s a single sound clip or a full video, find the green Export button in the top right corner. If you want to download an audio file, click the arrow next to the button and select Export as MP3. Give Kapwing some time to process your file, then select Download to save it straight to your device.
I hope this article helps you find and download the best free sound effects on the internet! For more tips and tutorials on creating great content with video and audio, check out the Kapwing YouTube channel or read through some related articles on online audio editing:
• How to Save the Audio from YouTube Videos
• How to Edit Audio Online
• How to Make Twitch Alert Sounds
• How to Record Your Screen with Audio Included
