How To Save Videos Off Of Youtube

There are billions of hours of video on YouTube. Literally. And that'southward hardly the most phenomenal statistic about the site, which has been the become-to destination for uploading and watching video 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 upwardly, in that location'due south a side subject that must be broached: Is it legal?

On the copyright front, equally long every bit you lot're downloading a video for your own personal offline utilize, you're probably okay. It's more black and white when you lot 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 utilise any function 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."

Watching YouTube videos offline through unofficial channels takes money from Google and video creators. There'due south a reason YouTube runs ads: People make a living this way.

Obviously, stealing videos from YouTube is a large no-no. If you lot want to share a video, YouTube and about other video sites brand it like shooting fish in a barrel, from embedding to emailing to sharing via social networks. You simply do not demand to download a video most of the time.

Even so, you lot have your reasons. If you lot must download a YouTube video—admittedly need to, simply for yourself, and not for dissemination, and not to be a total douche-nozzle—hither's how.

Note: This story is updated frequently every bit the tools involved alter regularly. Some of those changes are non always pleasant, such as software and so total of "extras," it gets flagged as malware by antivirus tools. The same goes for the helper websites—a change in a site's advertizement network can besides create problems with malware.

To foreclose this from becoming a laundry list of programs and sites that can download YouTube videos, we came up with a few rules for inclusion. Services must:

Support 4K downloads even in the free version.
Work with height three video sites:YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo.
Download entire playlists or channels in a batch (on YouTube), at least with a paid version.
Output to MP3 for audio (or offer companion software that does and then).
Have an interface thatdoesn't suck.
Not collect your personal data beyond your electronic mail accost.
Not contain malware. If in that location's fifty-fifty a whiff of information technology in the air, even a PUP, it's out.

The programs, services, and sites in this story are all complimentary of spam/virus/bug equally of this writing, but caveat emptor. Big time. Especially if you're non actually emptor-ing.

YouTube Premium Downloads

Now available for subscribers of YouTube Premium—the paid version of YouTube that allows you to watch without ads—are video downloads. Kind of. There'south ane caveat with quality: All the video you lot download is limited to 1080p quality max, or lower. No 4K.

The biggest result is, this feature doesn't actually 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 lookout man later using your local storage and views information technology using the app's interface only. This is not a method that allows you to, say, spotter a video using different software such as the VLC Media Role player.

You access the download by going to the YouTube hamburger bill of fare and selecting Downloads (Opens in a new window)to view the list of what you've grabbed. The page says "Downloads remain available equally long every bit your device has an active net connection at least once every 30 days." This probably isn't exactly what yous are looking for in a download. But the tools below deliver exactly that.

Desktop Software

Third-party software is where you will go the all-time control over downloading online videos. Typically, yous paste the URL for the YouTube video you want into the program, and it downloads the highest quality version it can find. For videos in 1080p High Definition (HD) format, that's usually an MP4 file. For annihilation college in quality—4K or 8K—the file format is typically MKV.

In the past, YouTube videos were Flash-based, and 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)) plays everywhere

Note that the MKV file, also chosen a Matroska, is a container—the file could contain video utilizing whatever number of codecs inside. The fool-proof mode to play them all is to use the VLC Media Player for Windows, which plays everything. (Read more about it below.) Every bit for the downloaders, here are the best options.

VLC Media Actor

Free; Windows, macOS, Linux

We mention VLC Media Player(Opens in a new window) above considering it's a fantastic tool for Windows, Mac, and Linux users that plays dorsum only virtually any media e'er created. It likewise has the ability to download YouTube videos, admitting in a convoluted way. (If you run into whatever problems, try a full re-install of VLC and clear your cache to make information technology work.)

Copy a URL from a YouTube video, so open upward VLC. From the Media card, select Open Network Stream (Ctrl+N) and paste in the URL. Click Play. When the video is playing, go to Tools > Codec Information. There is a box at the bottom called "Source"—re-create the URL yous find in that box.

Go back to your browser and paste the URL—it's a temporary web address and will expire somewhen—in the address bar and start playing the video. When yous're viewing the video in the browser, click the 3-dot carte du jour at the lower correct for the download option to keep it locally.

However, information technology appears that VLC is simply going to save your file equally 1080p and not any higher, even if the original YouTube stream was bachelor in 1440p or 2160p (aka 4K). It also won't convert video to other formats. To get those options, y'all need the desktop software below.

4K Video Downloader

Free or $fifteen for lifetime license on three computers; Windows, macOS, Ubuntu Linux, Android

Multi-lingual 4K Video Downloader(Opens in a new window) (4KVD) is oft updated and features clear download links on the program'southward website; no ad traps here. The software does what it advertises in a unproblematic interface. Information technology 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 become started. 4KVD will even grab subtitles, unabridged playlists, and all the videos in a channel to which you subscribe. The sites supported are limited to the large names like YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and a few others, merely that covers most of what you demand. Information technology does display a large imprint advertising to keep the lights on and you're express to 30 downloads a solar day on the gratis version.

I had to brand a switch from MP4 to MKV format to get my exam video to download in 4K. 4KVD snagged the 3-infinitesimal, 229.7MB file for the picture trailer in almost 1 infinitesimal and 20 seconds. 4KVD defaults back to 1080p Hd, then I fabricated the same switch when downloading an Ultra High Definition (8K) playlist(Opens in a new window).

If you enable the Smart Style and its presets, 4KVD tin perform one-click downloads to your favorite format. If you want to download more than 25 videos at a time or subscribe to YouTube channels to instantly download the latest, that requires the paid version. Playback of the resulting MKV files via VLC Media Player was flawless.

The program itself has an option to extract audio to MP3 format, so you don't even need the 4K YouTube to MP3(Opens in a new window) companion software.

VideoProc Converter

$59.ninety for one yr, $78.ninety lifetime, $119.90 family (two-5 PCs); Windows, macOS

The powerful VideoProc from Digiarty comes in an editor edition and this converter(Opens in a new window), which also provides editing and effects. The downloading attribute is groovy, a version like to Digiarty'southward WinX YouTube Downloader, which yous can nonetheless find merely is non promoted past the company these days. This makes sense, as VideoProc Converter handles a lot of downloading, supposedly supporting 4K from over 1,000 websites. With hardware acceleration(Opens in a new window), information technology promises some speed. Thankfully, it frequently offers price discounts.

To use information technology, you open the software, let information technology notice your hardware to encounter what yous have to help with acceleration (if anything). Click the Downloader button, click Add video to place as many URLs as you want to batch, and so Download Now. Or you can go a whole YouTube playlist or live stream. It grabbed our 697MB test 4K video(Opens in a new window) to WEBM format in nigh two minutes and 15 seconds, which isn't bad. Best of all, the trial version of VideoProc Converter, which limits conversions to v minutes, doesn't announced to limit downloads.

FlixGrab

1-twelvemonth license $44.99 plus tax (or $9.99 for Costless YouTube Download); Windows

Similar some others, FlixGrab(Opens in a new window) has several different programs bachelor, many with overlapping features. For example, it has FlixGrabMS (a version you get from the Microsoft Store(Opens in a new window) to run on Windows 10/11)—just information technology wouldn't let me catch video from YouTube. The straight download of the FlixGrab program from the flixgrabapp.com site did work with YouTube and several other sites,. Plus it offers a Free YouTube Download(Opens in a new window) that is specific to YouTube, yet uses the same easy-to-use interface. The downside, equally with others, is the high subscription price, but information technology's the just style to get high-quality downloads. The YouTube-only version is substantially cheaper at $9.99 per year, withal. Neither comes with a trial period.

5KPlayer

Free; Windows and macOS

The free 5KPlayer(Opens in a new window) is a lot more than a downloader, but it's got a heck of an integrated downloader. Promising no viruses, ads, or plug-in requirements is a good start. It is, sadly, one of the few tested that asks for a registration of your proper noun and e-mail—you have to exercise that to become the full download function beyond 300+ sites(Opens in a new window). However, you can still nab 4K vids from YouTube without registering.

When downloading, the program does try to hibernate some things. Paste in the URL for a YouTube video and the analysis engine runs and shows only a few download options. Click the gear icon, then the Show All button, and scroll to meet more than—like a 4K 3,840-past-2,160 file in WebM format. The 227MB WebM test download took an agonizing half-dozen.5 minutes. Grabbing playlists was possible, but you must arrange download settings i video at a fourth dimension. The disruptive interface makes it hard to go dorsum to the other videos in the playlist.

5K Histrion also features DLNA server playback so videos y'all grab can be watched on any devices that support DLNA, plus it supports AirPlay for quick playback to Apple devices. Pick a video in the library for quick conversion to MP4, MP3, or fifty-fifty ACC (the sound format preferred by iOS). The player didn't like playing back the overly large 4K file, though, and experienced buffering issues (VLC didn't take any problem with the same file).

Ultimately, there's a lot to similar well-nigh 5K Player, from the price to the features, especially if you expect at them as extras on a downloader. But the bad interface, slow download speeds, and playback issues may have you lot looking elsewhere.

Helper Websites

Do yous desire to avert installing software? Video download helper sites are supposed to exercise the download work for you. All of them exercise one bones affair: You give them a YouTube URL (or another video site, if supported), they parse it, give you lot a option of what size download y'all want, and provide a link to said download. They work on whatever platform, sometimes even on mobile devices. You don't have to install anything on your PC. It can take a lot longer, depending on the size and quality of the video you desire, but you tin can't beat the convenience.

The problem is, you lot can't always trust them. There are hundreds of these types of sites out there—information technology seems anyone with a modicum of coding ability has set up 1 up. Such sites easily go from useful to suspicious, particularly if they become popular and the proprietor sells out to make cash off your visits.

Recommended by Our Editors

Since this story was commencement published, all the helper sites nosotros recommended have been removed for reasons similar adding sexually explicit ads, no longer working, switching to pushing its download utility only, and one for going out of business to avoid getting sued.

For that reason, we're not recommending any helper sites at the moment. Try i if you find it, but if your browser, antivirus, or instincts throw up warnings, avoid and movement on.

Extensions

A browser extension can save you a footstep. However, yous're going to run across some issues with downloading video from YouTube, especially if you're using Chrome as your principal browser.

The Chrome Web Store(Opens in a new window)—where yous become Chrome browser extensions—is controlled by YouTube'south owner Alphabet/Google. Even an extension ostensibly for this purpose isn't going to allow YouTube direct downloads, because of Chrome Shop restrictions. In general, with Chrome extensions, the download of whatever RTMP protocol video (protected videos) or streaming video isn't possible. Yous tin use them on other sites with video, of class. Just not YouTube.

Want to become effectually it? Get an extension that does not come from the Google Web Shop. Some of the programs and helper sites offer an extension component and volition spell out how to do the install(Opens in a new window) without the assist the Chrome Web Shop usually provides. Here are a couple.

YouTube Video Downloader

Free; Chrome, Opera, Border, Vivaldi, UCBrowser

YouTube Video Downloader from Addoncrop(Opens in a new window) is on multiple browsers but with excellent side-load capabilities(Opens in a new window). It puts a button below whatever video you're playing on YouTube, or even an embedded YouTube video, making it easy to grab. Supported video quality goes up to 8K. You can also convert audio from the video to an MP3. It will even help you lot have video screenshots.

Video DownloadHelper

Free; Firefox, Chrome, Edge

Video DownloadHelper(Opens in a new window) supports a huge number of sites—even those for adults. Yous'll know a video is downloadable when the icon for the extension animates when you're on the web page. Video DownloadHelper for Chrome has stopped working with YouTube; that way, it could get placement in the Chrome Spider web Store. Get around that by using the Video DownloadHelper extension on Firefox or Edge instead.

Mobile

Downloading from YouTube using an Android app from the Google Play Store is a claiming, given that Google has a tight grip on the site it owns, and offers the paid YouTube Premium service that supports offline viewing.

That said, with Android, itis possible to install apps without going through Google. For instance, InsTube – Gratuitous Video and Music Downloader(Opens in a new window) for Android tin can only be found at InsTube's site. Download the APK (Android application parcel) file to sideload on an Android device. Find information technology in your device's downloads and click to install(Opens in a new window). (You lot may have to go into your security settings and enable "Unknown sources.")

On iPhones and iPads, you'd call back there would be no such brake since Apple and Google aren't exactly the all-time of pals (or mayhap they are(Opens in a new window)). Nevertheless, on the iOS apps I have tried, not only wouldn't they download from YouTube, but they're also typically not bachelor for long. One of those apps said in its description, "Downloading from YouTube is prohibited due to its Terms of Service." Apple is ensuring that app makers play by the rules—even Google'due south rules.

Chances are, the minute y'all find an iOS app that can download YouTube videos, information technology will become "fixed" or banned. The simply real option is to jailbreak your iPhone and utilize sideloaded apps that download what y'all want.

There are workarounds. 1 is to subscribe to YouTube Premium; it lets y'all download video on your iPhone or iPad to watch later, much as Netflix and Hulu exercise.

Another is using a free iOS file manager app similar Documents past Readdle(Opens in a new window). Utilise the Safari browser to visit a YouTube video, and utilise the Share option to find Re-create Link. And so go back to Documents, and apply the built-in browser in the app to surf to a video download helper site. Paste the link into the form (hold your finger down on it until you get the "Paste" menu to pop upwardly). The site will requite you lot the links to download, and you can salve the file to Documents. Hold and drag the file upward, until you lot're back on the main screen, then drag it to the Photos folder. Yous'll demand to give Documents permission to access Photos the kickoff time. You tin then access the video similar you would any video taken on the phone or tablet—in the Photos app.

Some other workaround: Get back to the desktop and try AnyTrans(Opens in a new window) ($39.99 for a single figurer for one year, Windows or macOS; $59.99 lifetime programme), a desktop file managing director for iOS devices that has an integrated downloader supporting 900 sites, including YouTube and Facebook. It'll transfer the videos to the iPhone for you lot over the USB cable. Even if you don't pay for AnyTrans, the download option remains and is free forever.

YT Scribe

Desire a truly unique manner to "download" a video? YT Scribe(Opens in a new window) lets y'all grab the transcription so y'all can read them instead. It auto-transcribes, punctuates, and paragraphs the text. The better the subtitles, the better the "article," of course. Best of all, information technology's totally free.

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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-download-youtube-videos

Posted by: grahamprinag1964.blogspot.com