How to Download YouTube Videos

YouTube has become the most popular streaming platform all over the world. Many users enjoy its contents of different genres. In fact, YouTube has thousands of videos uploaded everyday.

Many users have wondered if there is a way to be able to watch their favorite videos offline. The good news is there are many ways to do this. However, of course, there is the question of legality.

In terms of copyright, as long as you are downloading your favorite video for your own personal offline use, then, you would not have to worry. In fact, if you wish, it would be better for you to check Google’s terms of service for YouTube.

Google’s terms of service for YouTube states that, “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 expressed authorized by the service; or (b) with prior written permission from YouTube and, if applicable, the respective rights holders.”

How to Download YouTube Vidoes

When you download videos from YouTube through unofficial channels, take note that this actually decreases the earnings of both Google and video creators. This makes stealing videos from YouTube a huge no. However, if you would want to share a video, YouTube has made this easy through embedding, emailing, social media. This means, you would not need to download videos most of the time. However, if you really need to download a YouTube video for yourself, here are some ways to do it.

Here are some rules for inclusion. Services must:

• Work with the top three video sties – YouTube, Facebook and Vimeo
• Download entire playlists or channels with paid version
• Interface that does not look bad
• Output to MP3 for audio
• Not collect your personal data
• Not contain malware

How to Download YouTube Videos

YouTube Premium Downloads

The YouTube Premium is a paid version of YouTube which allows subscribers to watch content without having to watch any advertisements. Videos could be downloaded, however, the quality is limited to 1080p or lower which means, you would not be able to download any video in 4K quality.

The downside of YouTube Premium is that you would not be able to save your downloaded video for a long time on your computer. This is actually similar to mobile apps of Netflix and Hulu. This means, you are able to watch the videos later but only through your local storage through the app’s interface only and you would not be able to watch video through different software such as VLC Media Player or Plex.

Desktop Software

Third-party software allows you to download online videos by just pasting the URL of the YouTube video you wish to download. For MP4 file, you would download 1080p high definition and for 4K or 8K, the file format would be MKV. MKV, also known as Matroska is a file which could contain video utilizing any number for codecs inside which is a foolproof way to play on VLC Media Player for Windows.

4K Video Downloader+

This tool could be used for a year for $15 or $25 for a lifetime license. It is also available for free and it is compatible with Windows, macOS, Android and Ubuntu Linux.

The 4K Video Downloader + is multi-lingual which has the ability to download links without advertisements. It comes with a simple interface and has the ability to grab videos up to 8K and convert to different formats. It could, in fact, collect subtitles and grab the entire playlist.

This software is limited to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo and many more. It also comes with presets where you could perform one-click download and has a playback feature. Lastly, it could extract audio to MP3 format as well.

VideoProc Converter

VideoProc Converter is priced at $25.95 per year and $45.95 for lifetime or $57.95 family for 5 PCs. It is compatible with Windows and macOS.

This tool comes with a converter which could handle a lot of downloading and it could support 4K quality from over 1,000 websites including TikTok. It is fast to use with its hardware acceleration feature. To use this tool, just click downloader, click add video and add as many URLs as you wish and click download now.

FlixGrab

FlixGrab is unique with its overlapping features. It is available in Microsoft store for Windows 10 and 11 but it does not allow you to grab video from YouTube. It would download the video straight from the FlixGrab program – freegrabapp.com. This program offers free YouTube Downloader which allows downloading of videos from YouTube.

Helper Websites

If you do not want to install any softwares then we suggest that you go for video download helper sites which would definitely help you download the videos you would wish to download. For you to be able to download videos, you would need to provide YouTube URL. There are some sites which allows you to use mobile device wherein you would not need to install anything on your PC. Keep in mind, however, if you use this type of downloading tool, you would have to be cautious in using them.

Browser Extension

By using a browser extension, you could save a step. Keep in mind, however, that you could run into some issue especially if you are using Chrome as your primary browser.

The Chrome Web Store – If you have chrome browser extension, keep in mind that this is controlled by the same owner of YouTube. This means, it would not allow you to directly download YouTube videos. Though this is the case, you could use other videos from other sites.

If you wish to get around this, you would need to get and use a browser extension which is not from Google Web Store.

YouTube Video Downloader

The YouTube Video Downloader from Addoncrop could be used on multiple different browsers. It comes with high level side load capabilities through user scripts and third-party extensions like Foxfied. It has the ability to grab and download any YouTube video you are playing and it could even work on embedded YouTube videos.

Video DownloadHelper

This one supports huge number of sites even adult sites. It has the ability to download different kinds of videos. Keep in mind that this tool no longer works with Chrome. This means, if you wish to use this one to download your YouTube videos, you would have to use different extension such as Firefox or Edge.

Mobile Video Downloader Apps

It could be challenging to download YouTube videos through an Android app from Google Play Store since Google owns YouTube. Do not worry as it is still possible to install apps even without having to go through Google. You could use InsTube-Free Video and Music Downloader for Android. This could be found on InsTube’s website. Just download APK file and sideload on your Android device.

insTube

Though this app is for Android, there are no restrictions to use it on iPhones or iPad. Keep in mind that when you use this, it could be prohibited after a few tries. This is why you must jailbreak your iPhone and use sideloaded apps.

You could also subscribe to YouTube Premium which would allow you to download videos on your iPhone and iPad.

Documents by Readdle

Another app which you could use is the Documents by Readdle. It could be used on Safari browser. To download YouTube, all you need to do is to visit YouTube and use the share option to copy the link. Go to Documents by Readdle and use the built-in browser and go to the video download helper site. Paste the link and save to documents.

AnyTrans

AnyTrans could be used on your desktop. It is a desktop file manager for iOS. It comes with downloader which could support up to 900 sites including YouTube and Facebook.