How to Download Music on a Windows PC or Mac and Play Offline
Downloading music on a PC or Mac works the same way everywhere: your browser saves the file to a folder called Downloads, and it sits there until you move it. The whole job is three steps — find that folder, point it somewhere sensible, and tell your music player to look at it. Here are the exact menu paths for Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari on both systems.
Download only what you are allowed to keep: public-domain recordings, Creative Commons tracks, free songs released by the artists themselves, or your own uploads. Whether a given download is permitted depends on the rights holder and your country's law, so check the licence or terms on the page first. Files you save with the Music FM search tool come down as MP3s that land wherever your browser is set to save — which is the first thing to sort out.
Where do downloaded music files go by default?
On Windows, every browser saves to C:\Users\<your name>\Downloads. Open File Explorer with the Windows key + E and click Downloads in the left sidebar. On a Mac the folder is /Users/<your name>/Downloads — in Finder choose Go → Downloads, or click the Downloads stack in the Dock.
The browser itself barely matters, because all of them default to the same OS folder unless someone changed it:
To jump straight to a file you just saved, open the browser's download list. In Chrome, Edge and Firefox press Ctrl+J (Cmd+Shift+J on a Mac), then click the folder icon next to the file, labelled Show in folder. In Safari, click the down-arrow button in the toolbar, then the magnifier next to the download to reveal it in Finder.
| Browser | Default location on Windows | Default location on Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Chrome | C:\Users\YourName\Downloads | /Users/YourName/Downloads |
| Edge | C:\Users\YourName\Downloads | /Users/YourName/Downloads |
| Firefox | C:\Users\YourName\Downloads | /Users/YourName/Downloads |
| Safari | — (not available for Windows) | /Users/YourName/Downloads |
If the download list shows the file but Show in folder opens an empty window, the file was moved or renamed afterwards — check your Music folder next.
How do I change the download folder on Windows?
Set the folder once and every future download lands there — for example straight into your music folder, which skips the moving step entirely.
Choose a folder on your main drive. If you point the browser at a USB stick or external drive and it gets unplugged later, downloads will fail until you change the setting back.
- Chrome: three-dot menu → Settings → Downloads → Change next to Location. Below it, turn on Ask where to save each file before downloading if you want to choose a folder — and fix the file name — every time.
- Edge: three-dot menu → Settings → Downloads → Change next to Location. The same ask-each-time toggle sits underneath.
- Firefox: menu → Settings → General → Downloads. Pick Save files to and click Browse, or tick Always ask you where to save files.
How do I change the download location on a Mac?
Safari: open the Safari menu → Settings (called Preferences on older macOS versions) → General → File download location → Other, and pick your folder. Set the same dropdown to Ask for each download if you prefer to choose every time.
Chrome on Mac: Chrome menu → Settings → Downloads → Change. Firefox on Mac: Firefox menu → Settings → General → Save files to.
The browser treats an MP3 like any other file, so this one setting covers music, documents and everything else you save.
How do I set up a music folder and move files into it?
Use the Music folder your system already has — C:\Users\<you>\Music on Windows, /Users/<you>/Music on a Mac. Players expect to find audio there, and both systems index it for search. Then move your downloads in:
One folder per artist is enough structure for most libraries; add album folders inside when an artist gets crowded. Remember that players read the tags inside each MP3, not folder names — a file tagged as Unknown Artist will hide under that name in every player. If your collection is heading past a few hundred songs, the library-organising guide linked at the end of this article goes deeper on naming, tags and duplicates.
- Open Downloads, click one music file, then press Ctrl+A (Cmd+A on a Mac) to select them all — or hold Ctrl/Cmd and click to pick specific ones.
- Press Ctrl+X to cut. On a Mac, press Cmd+C instead, because Finder only moves files with the next step.
- Open your Music folder and press Ctrl+V to paste. On a Mac, press Cmd+Option+V — that moves the files instead of copying them.
- Rename anything cryptic while you can still tell tracks apart: right-click → Rename on Windows, or click the file once and press Return on a Mac.
How do I get my desktop player to index the folder?
A player only lists music it has been told about. Point it at your folder once and it tracks new files from then on.
- Windows Media Player (built into Windows): open it, then Organize → Manage libraries → Music → Add, choose your folder and confirm. It watches that folder from then on.
- VLC (Windows and Mac): VLC does not scan folders by itself. Press Ctrl+L or use View → Media Library, then drag your music folder into the window; VLC remembers it between sessions.
- Music app on Mac / iTunes on Windows: File → Add to Library (Cmd+O on Mac, Ctrl+O in iTunes) and select the folder. First check Music → Settings → Files: if Copy files to Music Media folder when adding to library is ticked, the app duplicates every track — untick it to leave files only in your folder.
- MusicBee (free, Windows): File → Scan Folders for New Files, add your music folder, and it keeps monitoring for changes.
Songs that show up as Unknown Artist are missing tags, not missing files — the tagging and album-art guide linked at the end shows how to fix them.
What should I check after each download?
Thirty seconds per file keeps the library clean:
On size: expect roughly 1 MB per minute of audio at 128 kbps and about 2.4 MB per minute at 320 kbps. That math helps when disk space is tight, or when you are deciding how many albums to pull down over a metered connection.
- Play each new track once before filing it. A 0 KB file, or one that refuses to open, is a failed download — delete it and try again rather than shelving a broken file.
- Rename and fix tags while you still know what the song is.
- Trim long intros, silence or a DJ shout-out with the MP3 cutter if the file needs it.
- Keep a copy of the whole folder somewhere else — a library lives on exactly one disk until you back it up.
Frequently asked questions
Can I download music straight to an external drive or USB stick?
Yes. When you change the download location, or when the browser asks where to save, pick the external drive like any other folder. The drive must be plugged in before the download starts, and you should eject it properly before unplugging so the last file is fully written. If the drive disappears mid-download, the browser usually fails the file rather than saving it somewhere else.
Why did my file download as .m4a or .webm instead of .mp3?
The extension comes from the source, not your browser — if the server sends an .m4a or .webm, that is what gets saved. Windows Media Player struggles with .webm, so try the file in VLC, which plays almost everything. Files saved through Music FM come down as MP3, which every player on both systems reads.
Does changing the download folder move my old downloads too?
No. The location setting only affects files you download after the change — everything already in Downloads stays put. Move older files yourself: select them in File Explorer or Finder, cut, and paste them into the new folder. Your browser's download history will still list the old files, but Show in folder will stop working for anything you moved.
How do I move my whole music folder to a new computer?
Copy the entire music folder to a USB stick or external drive, then paste it into the Music folder on the new machine. After that, add the folder to your player's library the same way you did the first time and it re-indexes everything. For a large library, copying over a cable is far cheaper than re-downloading on a metered connection.
Can two browsers share the same download folder?
Yes. The download folder is just a folder — point Chrome and Firefox at the same one in each browser's settings and both will save there. The only friction is that each browser's download history lists only its own files, so use Show in folder from whichever browser did the downloading.
Is it legal to download songs to my PC?
That depends on the rights holder and on your country's law, not on the file format or how professional a site looks. Public-domain recordings, Creative Commons music, free tracks released by the artist and your own uploads are fine to save. Commercial releases are only OK where the service or licence explicitly allows downloads — if the page says nothing, assume it does not. Rights holders can reach us through the DMCA page.