How To Download A Youtube Video To Usb

There are billions of hours of video on YouTube. Literally. And that's hardly the well-nigh astounding 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 ane of those videos on your own computer or phone. Merely when the topic of downloading YouTube videos comes up, at that place'due south a side subject that must be broached: Is it legal?

On the copyright front, as long as y'all're downloading a video for your ain personal offline employ, you're probably okay. It'southward more black and white when y'all consider Google's terms of service for YouTube(Opens in a new window), which read: "You lot are not allowed to...access, reproduce, download, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, alter, modify or otherwise utilize any office of the Service or whatever Content except: (a) every bit 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'southward a reason YouTube runs ads: People make a living this manner.

Obviously, stealing videos from YouTube is a large no-no. If you want to share a video, YouTube and almost other video sites get in easy, from embedding to emailing to sharing via social networks. You but do non need to download a video most of the time.

However, y'all have your reasons. If you must download a YouTube video—absolutely demand to, just for yourself, and non for broadcasting, and not to be a total douche-nozzle—here's how.

Note: This story is updated oft as the tools involved change regularly. Some of those changes are not always pleasant, such every bit software so full of "extras," it gets flagged as malware by antivirus tools. The same goes for the helper websites—a modify in a site'due south advertising network tin as well create issues with malware.

To preclude this from condign a laundry list of programs and sites that tin 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 top 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 so).
Have an interface thatdoesn't suck.
Non collect your personal information across your electronic mail address.
Not comprise malware. If there's even a whiff of it in the air, fifty-fifty a PUP, it'south out.

The programs, services, and sites in this story are all free of spam/virus/problems as of this writing, but caveat emptor. Big time. Specially if you're not 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 one caveat with quality: All the video yous download is express to 1080p quality max, or lower. No 4K.

The biggest issue is, this characteristic doesn't really download a video to save on your computer forever. It is more than 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 and views it using the app's interface only. This is not a method that allows yous to, say, watch a video using different software such as the VLC Media Player.

Yous access the download past going to the YouTube hamburger menu and selecting Downloads (Opens in a new window)to view the listing of what you lot've grabbed. The page says "Downloads remain bachelor as long equally your device has an active internet connection at least once every 30 days." This probably isn't exactly what yous are looking for in a download. But the tools below evangelize exactly that.

Desktop Software

Third-party software is where you will get the best control over downloading online videos. Typically, you paste the URL for the YouTube video you want into the programme, and it downloads the highest quality version it tin discover. For videos in 1080p Loftier Definition (Hard disk) format, that's commonly an MP4 file. For anything higher in quality—4K or 8K—the file format is typically MKV.

In the past, YouTube videos were Wink-based, so your download was an FLV file, simply those tend to be harder to play back. MP4 (short for MPEG-4 Part xiv multimedia format(Opens in a new window)) plays everywhere

Note that the MKV file, likewise called a Matroska, is a container—the file could contain video utilizing whatever number of codecs within. The fool-proof way to play them all is to use the VLC Media Actor for Windows, which plays everything. (Read more than nearly it beneath.) As for the downloaders, here are the best options.

VLC Media Player

Complimentary; Windows, macOS, Linux

Nosotros mention VLC Media Player(Opens in a new window) above because it's a fantastic tool for Windows, Mac, and Linux users that plays back but almost any media ever created. Information technology too has the power to download YouTube videos, admitting in a convoluted mode. (If you run across any issues, try a full re-install of VLC and articulate your cache to make it work.)

Copy a URL from a YouTube video, then open up up VLC. From the Media menu, select Open Network Stream (Ctrl+N) and paste in the URL. Click Play. When the video is playing, go to Tools > Codec Data. In that location is a box at the bottom called "Source"—copy the URL you notice in that box.

Go dorsum to your browser and paste the URL—information technology'south a temporary web address and will expire eventually—in the accost bar and start playing the video. When you're viewing the video in the browser, click the 3-dot menu at the lower right for the download option to continue it locally.

Nevertheless, it appears that VLC is only going to save your file as 1080p and not any higher, even if the original YouTube stream was bachelor in 1440p or 2160p (aka 4K). It too won't convert video to other formats. To get those options, you demand the desktop software below.

4K Video Downloader

Costless or $15 for lifetime license on 3 computers; Windows, macOS, Ubuntu Linux, Android

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 elementary interface. It grabs videos upwards to 8K in quality and downloads to enough of formats. Simply copy a YouTube URL and click the Paste Link button to go started. 4KVD will even take hold of subtitles, entire playlists, and all the videos in a channel to which yous subscribe. The sites supported are limited to the large names like YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and a few others, just that covers most of what you need. It does display a large banner advertisement to keep the lights on and you're limited to 30 downloads a solar day on the free version.

I had to make a switch from MP4 to MKV format to go my exam video to download in 4K. 4KVD snagged the 3-infinitesimal, 229.7MB file for the motion-picture show trailer in near 1 minute and twenty seconds. 4KVD defaults back to 1080p HD, so 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 can perform one-click downloads to your favorite format. If you want to download more than than 25 videos at a fourth dimension 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 plan itself has an option to extract audio to MP3 format, and so you don't even need the 4K YouTube to MP3(Opens in a new window) companion software.

VideoProc Converter

$59.90 for one year, $78.90 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 besides provides editing and effects. The downloading aspect is great, a version similar to Digiarty's WinX YouTube Downloader, which you can all the same find but is non promoted past the company these days. This makes sense, every bit VideoProc Converter handles a lot of downloading, supposedly supporting 4K from over 1,000 websites. With hardware dispatch(Opens in a new window), it promises some speed. Thankfully, it frequently offers price discounts.

To utilise it, you open up the software, let it find your hardware to run into what you have to assist with dispatch (if anything). Click the Downloader button, click Add video to place as many URLs as you want to batch, and then 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 about ii minutes and fifteen seconds, which isn't bad. All-time 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 taxation (or $9.99 for Gratis YouTube Download); Windows

Like some others, FlixGrab(Opens in a new window) has several dissimilar programs available, many with overlapping features. For case, it has FlixGrabMS (a version you go from the Microsoft Store(Opens in a new window) to run on Windows x/11)—merely it wouldn't allow me grab 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, as with others, is the high subscription price, just it's the only way to go high-quality downloads. The YouTube-merely version is essentially cheaper at $ix.99 per yr, however. Neither comes with a trial period.

5KPlayer

Free; Windows and macOS

The free 5KPlayer(Opens in a new window) is a lot more than than a downloader, but it's got a heck of an integrated downloader. Promising no viruses, ads, or plug-in requirements is a expert start. It is, sadly, i of the few tested that asks for a registration of your name and email—you have to do that to get the full download function across 300+ sites(Opens in a new window). However, yous can even so nab 4K vids from YouTube without registering.

When downloading, the program does attempt to hide 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 three,840-by-2,160 file in WebM format. The 227MB WebM exam download took an agonizing 6.5 minutes. Grabbing playlists was possible, but yous must conform download settings 1 video at a fourth dimension. The confusing interface makes it hard to go back to the other videos in the playlist.

5K Player also features DLNA server playback and so videos you lot take hold of 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 even ACC (the audio format preferred by iOS). The player didn't like playing back the overly big 4K file, though, and experienced buffering problems (VLC didn't have any trouble with the same file).

Ultimately, there's a lot to like about 5K Actor, from the cost to the features, especially if you look at them equally extras on a downloader. Just the bad interface, slow download speeds, and playback issues may take you looking elsewhere.

Helper Websites

Do you want to avert installing software? Video download helper sites are supposed to practise the download work for you. All of them do i basic thing: Yous give them a YouTube URL (or another video site, if supported), they parse it, give you a choice of what size download you want, and provide a link to said download. They work on any platform, sometimes even on mobile devices. Yous don't take to install annihilation on your PC. It can take a lot longer, depending on the size and quality of the video yous want, but you can't beat out the convenience.

The problem is, yous can't ever trust them. At that place are hundreds of these types of sites out at that place—it seems anyone with a modicum of coding ability has set one up. Such sites easily go from useful to suspicious, especially if they get popular and the proprietor sells out to make cash off your visits.

Recommended by Our Editors

Since this story was first published, all the helper sites we recommended have been removed for reasons like calculation sexually explicit ads, no longer working, switching to pushing its download utility just, and one for going out of business organization to avoid getting sued.

For that reason, nosotros're not recommending whatsoever helper sites at the moment. Try ane if you lot observe it, just if your browser, antivirus, or instincts throw up warnings, avoid and movement on.

Extensions

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

The Chrome Web Store(Opens in a new window)—where you get Chrome browser extensions—is controlled by YouTube'south owner Alphabet/Google. Even an extension ostensibly for this purpose isn't going to let YouTube straight downloads, because of Chrome Store restrictions. In general, with Chrome extensions, the download of whatever RTMP protocol video (protected videos) or streaming video isn't possible. You can use them on other sites with video, of course. Just non YouTube.

Desire to become around it? Become an extension that does not come from the Google Web Store. 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 aid the Chrome Web Store 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 simply with excellent side-load capabilities(Opens in a new window). It puts a button below whatever video yous're playing on YouTube, or even an embedded YouTube video, making information technology easy to grab. Supported video quality goes up to 8K. You can also convert audio from the video to an MP3. It will fifty-fifty help y'all accept 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. You'll know a video is downloadable when the icon for the extension animates when you're on the spider web page. Video DownloadHelper for Chrome has stopped working with YouTube; that way, it could get placement in the Chrome Web Shop. 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 information technology 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 example, InsTube – Free Video and Music Downloader(Opens in a new window) for Android can just be found at InsTube'south site. Download the APK (Android application packet) file to sideload on an Android device. Find it in your device's downloads and click to install(Opens in a new window). (You may have to go into your security settings and enable "Unknown sources.")

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

Chances are, the minute you find an iOS app that tin can download YouTube videos, it will get "fixed" or banned. The only real option is to jailbreak your iPhone and employ sideloaded apps that download what you lot want.

At that place are workarounds. One is to subscribe to YouTube Premium; it lets you download video on your iPhone or iPad to picket later, much as Netflix and Hulu do.

Some other is using a free iOS file manager app like Documents by Readdle(Opens in a new window). Use the Safari browser to visit a YouTube video, and use the Share choice to find Copy Link. So get back to Documents, and utilize the built-in browser in the app to surf to a video download helper site. Paste the link into the course (agree your finger down on it until you go the "Paste" menu to pop upwardly). The site volition give you the links to download, and you can save the file to Documents. Hold and drag the file upwards, until you're dorsum on the primary screen, then drag it to the Photos folder. You'll need to requite Documents permission to access Photos the first fourth dimension. You lot tin and then admission the video like yous would any video taken on the telephone or tablet—in the Photos app.

Another workaround: Go back to the desktop and try AnyTrans(Opens in a new window) ($39.99 for a single computer for one twelvemonth, Windows or macOS; $59.99 lifetime program), a desktop file 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 yous over the USB cable. Fifty-fifty if y'all don't pay for AnyTrans, the download option remains and is costless forever.

YT Scribe

Want a truly unique fashion to "download" a video? YT Scribe(Opens in a new window) lets yous grab the transcription so yous can read them instead. It machine-transcribes, punctuates, and paragraphs the text. The better the subtitles, the better the "article," of grade. Best of all, it'due south totally free.

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

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