Imagine it or not, YouTube is the second-most visited web site on the web, after Google itself. In March 2024 alone, the location had 110 billion guests, in response to Semrush.
Most of these watch movies on the web site or through the YouTube app.
Streaming movies from YouTube isn’t any downside you probably have a quick, dependable web connection. So what are you able to do if that’s not the case?
Perhaps you’re about to board a aircraft for a long-haul flight. Positive, you may watch the in-flight leisure, however you may atone for your favorite YouTube channels as a substitute.
The query is, with out an web connection, how is it attainable to look at YouTube movies?
And the apparent reply is to obtain them if you do have a very good connection. So, earlier than you head to the airport, or wherever you’re going, use one of many strategies under to avoid wasting YouTube movies to your cellphone, laptop computer or pill after which you may watch it everytime you like.
This additionally means you may nonetheless watch it if the video ever will get deleted from YouTube.
The best method to obtain YouTube movies is to pay for YouTube Premium, a subscription service that lets you obtain movies within the YouTube app. There are different advantages of Premium, too, similar to no adverts and with the ability to take heed to music within the background so you should use different apps in your cellphone.
YouTube Premium isn’t low-cost at £12.99/$13.99 per 30 days, and in case you simply wish to obtain an occasional clip it’s in all probability an excessive amount of to justify paying.
The second official method to obtain movies from YouTube is through the YouTube Go app which is obtainable in nations the place cell knowledge is just too costly for streaming them.
The excellent news is that it’s simple to obtain YouTube movies utilizing unofficial strategies. First, we suggest studying our information as to if it’s authorized to obtain YouTube movies.
Additionally, keep in mind that watching movies within the YouTube app (or web site) and never skipping the advertisements is the easiest way to help your favorite channels to allow them to make extra movies.
1. Obtain movies utilizing YouTube Premium
If you happen to’re a YouTube Premium subscriber then downloading movies couldn’t be simpler. There may be one massive caveat, although: you may solely do it utilizing the official YouTube or YouTube Gaming apps, which implies you may’t use Premium to obtain movies on to your pc – it’s attainable solely on a cellphone or pill.
To obtain one thing, merely open the app and faucet on a video you wish to obtain. Beneath the participant you need to see a ‘Obtain’ icon – faucet that, choose what video high quality you wish to obtain, and that’s it.
As soon as the video has downloaded the icon under it should change to a blue tick – faucet this if you wish to take away the obtain.
Yow will discover all of your downloaded movies within the Library or Account tabs.
Does YouTube Premium mean you can obtain movies to your pc?
You possibly can select to obtain movies on YouTube Premium in your PC, however these movies will solely save to your library. They won’t save as an MP4 or any related format file.
Nevertheless, you may nonetheless watch movies you’ve beforehand downloaded from YouTube Premium with out an web connection. If you happen to go to the URL https://www.youtube.com/feed/downloads, then the movies will seem in your library and must be playable offline. We examined this technique, and have been profitable.
That is helpful for travelling, similar to on trains or planes.
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Hannah Cowton / Foundry
2. Obtain YouTube movies in Home windows
If you wish to enterprise down the unofficial path, then the next-easiest choice is to downloading movies with a Home windows app. Some are free, however have limitations, and a few price cash. Usually there’s an amazing free choice – it’s Home windows, in any case – however on this case, we suggest paying for ByClick Downloader. It has an easy-to-use interface, is regularly updated and makes it supremely easy to download video – or just audio – from YouTube and plenty of other platforms besides.
All you have to do is to copy the URL of a video and a pop-up will ask if you want to download the audio or video. Or you can set a default and it won’t even ask: it will automatically download the MP3 or MP4 at the default quality.
It’s reasonably priced at $9.99 (around £7.40), and you can try it out for 24 hours for free without entering any payment details.
If you’re not sure, test out some of the free downloaders first, and we’re sure you’ll agree that it’s by far the preferable option.
One of those free options is WinX YouTube Downloader. This will nag you to upgrade to the full version which includes conversion to other formats (including MP3), but if you can put up with these, it won’t cost you anything.
The process is virtually identical to ByClick Downloader: copy and paste the URL of the video into the app. Then you choose which resolution to download, click Ok, and then the Download button.
Most YouTube downloader apps allow you to build up a list of videos and then download them in one go. Some even let you copy and paste the URL of a YouTube playlist and automatically download all the videos in one go.
3. How to Download YouTube videos on Mac
Whilst there aren’t as many options for downloading videos from YouTube on Mac as there are on Windows, there are still workarounds.
If you don’t want to download anything, then you can use the built-in screen recording function. This can be done by pressing CMD (command), shift and 5 simultaneously. Then, choose to either record the whole screen, or just a portion of it. Make sure that you select ‘options’, and then click on the built-in microphone so audio is recorded as well.
The quality of this isn’t exactly the best, so another option you can try is 4K Video Downloader. Click ‘Get 4K Video Downloader’ to download the app, and then drag this file into your applications to install it.
You can use this for free for up to 30 downloads per day. All you need to do is copy the URL for the video you want (which you can find either on the website or directly in the app), and press the ‘PASTE LINK’ button.
This will automatically activate the download. You can adjust the quality and file location on the top bar before starting your download.
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Hannah Cowton / Foundry
4. Download YouTube videos in a web browser
If you want to save videos without installing an app, there are many websites where you can paste the URL of the YouTube video and then click on the resolution you want to download. These sites often get shut down, because they’re regularly bombarded with cease & desist notices from copyright owners.
Also, these websites tend to redirect you to other sites which may or may not be safe, and could pose a risk to your computer. This is why, firstly, it’s important to run top-quality antivirus software and secondly, why we don’t recommend using this method of downloading.
Previous sites we’d used for years, such as SaveFrom, no longer operate in the UK or US. Even if you do find a ‘safe’ site that will let you download videos, there are usually annoying restrictions.
Typically, you’ll be limited to downloading a lower-quality 720p version, even if the video is in 1080p or 4K. And you might not get the option to download just the audio (from a music video, for example).
Sometimes you’ll find that videos are downloaded in WebM format. You can convert these videos into MP4 – or whatever format you like using Freemake and Any Video Converter, or you could download and install VLC, which is a free video player that can play just about any file.
How to download YouTube playlists
Sometimes you have to pay for software if you want an easy life. Again, ByClick Downloader for Windows is what we’d recommend for downloading playlists.
Once installed, open a web browser and go to YouTube.
Find a video that’s part of a playlist. You should see a ‘Download playlist’ button alongside the ‘Download video’ button. You can also choose which videos you want from the playlist. A single click on the Download button is all you need after that.
How to download YouTube videos without any software
If you don’t want to download any apps or software to your device, then we have previously recommended SaveFrom.net.
As we mention above, this site no longer works in the UK or US, but ZDnet discovered if you use a VPN such as NordVPN and hook up with a server within the Czech Republic, then you definitely’ll be capable to use this simply superb. All you want to do is paste your YouTube video into the search bar, and obtain the video.
In fact, we nonetheless suggest ensuring you’ve gotten good antivirus software program in your machine first.
The place to search out downloaded YouTube movies
The situation of your downloaded movies will depend upon what technique you used to obtain them.
If you happen to used YouTube Premium, then they’ll be beneath the ‘Downloads’ tab on no matter machine you saved them on. Notice that in case you downloaded them to your smartphone app, then they in all probability received’t seem in your PC net browser model.
Different websites will usually save your recordsdata to your downloads in your exhausting drive, or to your film/movies folders.
How can I obtain music from YouTube?
Generally you would possibly wish to obtain solely the audio from a video on YouTube. The best manner to do that is to make use of one of many strategies above and select MP3 (or whichever audio format is obtainable). This fashion you’ll solely obtain the audio monitor, not the video. That’s preferrred in case you simply wish to obtain some music or the audio from a YouTube podcast, and never must have YouTube open and operating in your cellphone when you pay attention.
It’s attainable to take heed to YouTube within the background with this workaround for iPhones and this one for Android telephones.
If you happen to don’t thoughts paying, you too can obtain music as a part of YouTube Music Premium, which is £10.99/$10.99 per 30 days. Utilizing that, you may obtain songs and even music movies, however is proscribed to music – you received’t be capable to obtain different movies as you may with a YouTube Premium subscription.
Find out how to obtain YouTube movies to a cellphone or pill
There’s the official YouTube Premium service which we’ve talked about already however there are different apps which let you obtain movies straight in your Android cellphone (together with without cost), nevertheless it’s trickier on the iPhone. We’ve written separate guides for each forms of machine:
However don’t overlook you may obtain movies utilizing the strategies above to a PC or laptop computer then switch them to your cellphone or pill over a USB cable, or add them to a cloud storage service, the place you may then obtain them (or make them obtainable offline) in your cellphone.
To repeat recordsdata from Home windows to an Android cellphone, join the 2 with a USB cable and use Home windows File Explorer to repeat the video recordsdata(s) to the suitable folder, usually named Films. Then, you may play the video utilizing the Gallery app or one other video participant in your cellphone.
If in case you have an iPhone or iPad, import the file into iTunes after which sync it to your cell machine. Alternatively, you may drag and drop the file(s) to your iPhone or iPad through the Apps tab if you click on in your machine in iTunes. All you want is an app, similar to Good Reader or one other video playback app which might switch recordsdata utilizing this technique.
If you happen to don’t wish to use iTunes and also you’re blissful to pay, Waltr 2 is a superb little utility for copying movies, music and different recordsdata to your iOS machine so they seem within the native apps. Discover out extra in our information to transferring movies to iPad and iPhone.
Lastly, right here’s tips on how to obtain any on-line video – not simply YouTube, though nearly all the apps and providers talked about right here may even obtain movies from different streaming providers and social media platforms together with Fb and DailyMotion.
FAQ
Which app can be utilized to obtain movies from YouTube on laptop computer?
The choices obtainable will depend upon in case you use a Home windows laptop computer or a Mac, however among the ones we’ve tried and examined are YouTube Premium, ByClick Downloader and 4K Video Downloader.
How do I switch movies from my cellphone to my laptop computer without cost?
For Android to Home windows, you are able to do this by connecting the 2 with a USB cable and copying the recordsdata throughout. For iPhones, you may both use iTunes to sync your cellphone to your Mac.
Can I obtain YouTube movies to my pill?
Tablets use the identical apps as mobiles, so you may try our guides listed above for downloading movies onto a smartphone and comply with the identical steps.