YouTube has one of the best repositories of user-made content that the world has to offer, and there’s something for everyone, whether you’re into gaming or gossip-mongering. Most of the time there’s no need to know how to download these YouTube videos because they’re available to watch online for free, however, there are occasionally a few moments when knowing how can be helpful.
You might want to save YouTube videos on your mobile while you’re traveling without a stable WiFi connection. Saving YouTube videos offline can also come in handy when you want to refer to a study tutorial or other informative content even when your internet goes down. For many such reasons, it can be very useful to learn how to download YouTube videos in a jiffy.
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How to Download YouTube Videos the Easy Way and the Hard Way
The easiest and most legal way to download a YouTube video is to pay for a YouTube Premium subscription and save YouTube videos for offline viewing. Google has set up an efficient system in place to allow this, although you are restricted to viewing the video on the app, even if it’s offline.
According to Google’s terms of service for YouTube, “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.”
For all intents and purposes, it is not legal to download and use videos from the platform without permission. We would not recommend downloading and sharing content from the platform with anyone, however, if it does come down to it and you need to save a video to your device without any misguided intentions of sharing it, there are some ways to do it.
How to Save YouTube Videos Offline Using YouTube Premium
If you’ve done the right thing and purchased access to YouTube Premium, it is very easy to save videos onto the app for offline viewing. The saved videos are stored for 30 days after which you need to reconnect to the internet and renew the download if you still need to view it offline.
Some videos can be downloaded on the YouTube app for free in low quality, but it isn’t always possible with all channels.
The steps to save the videos offline are simple enough.
- Log in to your YouTube Premium account
- Open the video you want to download
- Under the video, you should see a downward-facing arrow download button. Click on it and you should be able to select the quality and save the video
- To view the video, go to your profile by clicking on your account icon
- You should see the download section where all your saved videos will be listed
Basic YouTube Video Download Guide
If you’ve committed to downloading a video on one of your devices, there is an overall straightforward way that will work across devices.
- Download a third-party application that will help you download your video such as 4K Video Downloader, TubeMate, or Documents by Readdle
- Open the YouTube video you want to download
- Click on the URL and copy the whole link
- Paste the URL into the downloader app
- Pick where you want to save it and the download should begin
YouTube Video Download Options on iOS Devices
Apple doesn’t have any built-in tools to make it convenient for you to download a YouTube video, but you can use the same apps we’ve mentioned earlier. The Documents by Readdle app is particularly convenient to use.
- Download the Documents by Readdle app
- Locate the compass icon to launch the browser and locate the Videosolo video downloader website
- Open the YouTube app and find the URL of the video you intend to download
- Paste it into the textbox on the Videosolo website and pick your download settings
- Hit download on the option of your choice and then choose a location for the download
- At the bottom of your screen, you should see a downward-facing arrow icon
- This will take you to the download list on the app, from where you can view the content
- If you want to save it directly to your device, click on the “My Files” folder icon
- Find your downloaded video and clock on the three dots
- Find the “Share” option. Clicking on it should take you to the “Save video” option
- Now you will be able to see the video in your Photos app
How to Download YouTube Videos on Your MacBook
The previously mentioned method can be used to download a video on a Mac device as well. If you don’t want to go through the hassle and would prefer to avoid all third-party services, you could also simply screen-record the video you want to save to your device using your Mac’s own tools.
Note that this will record all the ads and activity on the screen, so if you pause the video to do something else, this will also be stored. If you still want to try it out, then this is how to do it.
- Open the video you want to record and make it full-screen
- Press the Command, Shift, and 5 keys simultaneously and the screen recording tool should appear on your screen
- You will see a selection of icons at the bottom of your screen
- Click on the options menu to set where the recording should be saved as well as your preference for capturing audio output if you want that to be recorded as well
- Click on the “Record entire screen” option, which should look like a browser tab icon with a circle on the bottom left corner
- The bar will disappear and you can click anywhere to start the recording
- When you want to stop the recording, look for the circle recording icon at the top of the screen
How to Find a YouTube Downloader for Android
The Android app store is very careful about filtering out third-party apps and YouTube video download options that let you take shortcuts to download videos from its platform. You can still download APK files from your browsers directly when you want to use a third-party service but remember that these always come with the risk of downloading malware and other content you did not sign up for.
Among the safer options available, 4K Video Downloader is a reliable YouTube downloader tool for Android, Mac, and Windows.
- Go to the 4K Video Downloader website and download the app. You might have to change your Android security settings to allow the file to download
- Open YouTube and find the video you want to save
- Copy the URL of the video
- Open the downloader app and find the settings option to set your preferences for the download
- Paste the link in the area provided
- You can play the video in the app or find it in your files folder as well
This YouTube video download guide should be all the support you need to get to the videos you want but remember that with great power comes great responsibility. There are many ethical considerations you should take into account before choosing to download a video, so ensure that you make the right decision before you get started.