Download YouTube Videos to Your Desktop in Minutes with This Free Tool
Youtube is the most popular video streaming platform owned by Google. You can find almost all the genres on Youtube, consisting of but not limited to Entertainment, Vlogs, Education, Comedy, Gaming, Sports, etc. You can watch all videos on youtube completely free. Youtube has also become a source of income for the creators and thus has provided jobs to millions of creators out there. Also, it has become a great source of knowledge for some people like students and a great source of entertainment for some people.
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You can download Youtube using google chrome only if you have chrome updated. If you have a very old version of Chrome, first update it. Follow the below steps to install Youtube on Windows using Google Chrome.
"You may access Content for your information and personal use solely as intended through the provided functionality of the Service and as permitted under these Terms of Service. You shall not download any Content unless you see a 'download' or similar link displayed by YouTube on the Service for that Content."
Content on YouTube that is permissible to download includes public domain videos that aren't copyrighted, clips covered by a Creative Commons license, and homemade videos that friends and family have shared with you (and don't mind you downloading).
The process for each platform will differ, but there are a few common steps for downloading YouTube videos without signing up to the site's Premium service. The process will always essentially involve these steps:
The best program for downloading YouTube videos on Mac in high quality formats is 4K Video Downloader. It's free for up to 30 downloads a day, or you can upgrade to one of its premium plans. The software can download videos in up to 8K quality and in a variety of formats. And 4K Video Downloader can also grab entire YouTube playlists.
Downloading YouTube videos with an Android app from the Google Play store is going to be impossible, because Google prohibits such tools. However, you can get a YouTube downloader on your phone or tablet by installing a APK file from outside the Play store, like our top suggestion TubeMate. Here's how to use it.
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You might also be interested in reading our guides on how to download music from YouTube, how to download YouTube videos in Chrome and how to download videos from Facebook. We also have a range of guides for using other Google products, including how to hack the Chrome dinosaur game and how to set Chrome flags.
There are billions of hours of video on YouTube, literally. And that's hardly the most astounding statistic about the site, which has been the go-to destination for uploading and watching videos online since 2005. That said, sometimes you really want or need to have one of those videos on your own computer or phone. But when the topic of downloading YouTube videos comes up, there's a side subject that must be broached: Is it legal?
On the copyright front, as long as you're downloading a video for your own personal offline use, you're probably okay. It's more black and white when you consider Google's terms of service for YouTube(Opens in a new window), which read: "You are not allowed to...access, reproduce, download, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, alter, modify or otherwise use any part of the Service or any Content except: (a) as expressly authorized by the Service; or (b) with prior written permission from YouTube and, if applicable, the respective rights holders."
Obviously, stealing videos from YouTube is a big no-no. If you want to share a video, YouTube and most other video sites make it easy, from embedding to emailing to sharing via social networks. You simply do not need to download a video most of the time.
The biggest issue is, this feature doesn't really download a video to save on your computer forever. It is more akin to the download feature found on mobile apps for Netflix and Hulu, which makes a streaming video available to watch later using your local storage using the app's interface only. This is not a method that allows you to, say, watch a video using different software such as the VLC Media Player or Plex.
You access the download by going to the YouTube hamburger menu and selecting Downloads (Opens in a new window)to view the list of what you've grabbed. The page says "Downloads remain available as long as your device has an active internet connection at least once every 30 days." This probably isn't exactly what you are looking for in a download; read on for tools that are a better fit.
In the past, YouTube videos were Flash-based, so your download was an FLV file, but those tend to be harder to play back. MP4 (short for MPEG-4 Part 14 multimedia format(Opens in a new window)) files can play anywhere
VLC Media Player(Opens in a new window) is a fantastic tool for Windows, Mac, and Linux users that plays back just about any media ever created. It also has the ability to download YouTube videos, albeit in a convoluted way. (If you run into any problems, try a full re-install of VLC and clear your cache to make it work.)
It appears that VLC saves your file as 1080p only and not any higher, even if the original YouTube stream was available in 1440p or 2160p (aka 4K). It also won't convert video to other formats. To get those options, you need the desktop software below.
Multi-lingual 4K Video Downloader(Opens in a new window) (4KVD) is frequently updated and features clear download links on the program's website; no ad traps here. The software does what it advertises in a simple interface: It grabs videos up to 8K in quality and downloads to plenty of formats. Simply copy a YouTube URL and click the Paste Link button to get started. 4KVD will even collect subtitles, entire playlists, and all the videos in a channel to which you subscribe. The sites supported are limited to the big names, including YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and a few others, but that should cover most of what you need. It does display a large banner advertisement to keep the lights on with the free version, which is also limited to 30 downloads a day.
When I tried it, I had to make a switch from MP4 to MKV format to get my test video to download in 4K. 4KVD snagged a 3-minute, 229.7MB file for a movie trailer in about 1 minute and 20 seconds. I made the same switch when downloading an Ultra High Definition (8K) playlist(Opens in a new window).
When you enable the Smart Mode and its presets, 4KVD can perform one-click downloads to your favorite format. If you want to download more than 30 videos per day or subscribe to YouTube channels to instantly download(Opens in a new window) the latest, you'll need the paid version. Playback of the resulting MKV files via VLC Media Player is flawless.
The powerful VideoProc from Digiarty comes in an editor edition and this converter(Opens in a new window), which also provides editing and effects and, of course, handles a lot of downloading, supporting 4K from over 1,000 websites, including TikTok. With hardware acceleration(Opens in a new window), it promises some speed. Thankfully, Digiarty frequently offers price discounts: In fact, the price has dropped a lot on the one-year license; it's currently(Opens in a new window) just $25.95.
VideoProc grabbed our 697MB test 4K video(Opens in a new window) to WEBM format in about 2 minutes and 15 seconds, which isn't bad. The trial version of VideoProc Converter, which limits conversions to 5 minutes, doesn't appear to limit downloads.
FlixGrab(Opens in a new window) offers several different programs, many with overlapping features. For example, FlixGrabMS is available in the Microsoft Store(Opens in a new window) for Windows 10 and 11 machines, but it wouldn't let me grab video from YouTube. The straight download of the FlixGrab program from flixgrabapp.com did work with YouTube and several other sites. It also offers a Free YouTube Downloader(Opens in a new window) that is specific to YouTube yet has the same easy-to-use interface.
Do you want to avoid installing software? Video-download helper sites are meant to do the download work for you. All of them do one basic thing: You give them a YouTube URL (or another video site, if supported), and they parse it, give you a choice of what size download you want, and provide a link to said download. The sites work on any platform, sometimes even on mobile devices. You don't have to install anything on your PC. It can take a lot longer to get a download, depending on the size and quality of the video you want, but you can't beat the convenience.
Since this story was first published, all the helper sites we recommended have been removed for reasons such as adding sexually explicit ads, no longer working, and switching to pushing a download utility only. One went out of business voluntarily in 2020 to avoid getting sued(Opens in a new window).
Chances are, the minute you find an iOS app that can download YouTube videos, it will be "fixed" or banned. The only real option is to jailbreak your iPhone and use sideloaded apps that download what you want.
There are workarounds. One is to subscribe to YouTube Premium, which lets you download videos on your iPhone or iPad to watch later, much as Netflix and Hulu do. But it doesn't allow you the freedom to edit a clip.
Another is using a free iOS file manager app, such as Documents by Readdle(Opens in a new window). Use the Safari browser to visit a YouTube video, and use the Share option to find Copy Link. Then go back to Documents, and use the built-in browser in the app to surf to a video download helper site (you know, the kind we don't recommend).
Paste the link into the form (hold your finger down on it until you get the "Paste" menu to pop up). The site will give you the links to download, and you can save the file to Documents. Hold and drag the file up until you're back on the main screen, then drag it to the Photos folder. You'll need to give Documents permission to access Photos the first time. You can then access the video as you would any video taken on the phone or tablet, in the Photos app.