How to Download YouTube Videos for Free, Plus Two Other Ways

While basic YouTube only offers downloads for a few videos in selected locations, there are ways to download any YouTube video you want at any time.

Also: Follow ZDNET on YouTube!

We will see how you can download your favorite videos using three approaches:

1. Pay for YouTube Premium
2. Using a Free Mac, Windows, or Linux Application
3. Using an obscure and complex (but very powerful) Linux command-line tool

Your paid option: YouTube Premium

i’m a big fan of YouTubePremium because he saves me and my wife from putting up with most of the ads, but it is a luxury expense. Individuals can subscribe to YouTube Premium for $11.99 per month. YouTube also offers a family plan for up to six users for $22.99 per month. Finally, students can subscribe to YouTube Premium for $6.99 per month.

My favorite feature is the complete absence of ads provided by Google. There are no banners, no pre-rolls and no interstitial ads. However, if a YouTube channel wants to embed an ad in a video, YouTube Premium will not filter those YouTuber embedded ads.

Also: These 3 AI Tools Made My Two-Minute Explainer Video Much More Fun and Engaging

YouTube Premium offers background playback and picture-in-picture, YouTube Music, and access to YouTube Originals.

YouTube Premium also includes the ability to download videos. Here’s how.

How to Download YouTube Videos via YouTube Premium

Recording once downloaded

You don’t have an easy way to turn this download into a usable video file on a desktop device, so if you want to use this video for anything other than watching offline, you’re out of luck. The same goes for iOS.

Also: Disclaimer: Your private YouTube videos are not 100% private.

However, if you are an Android user with an SD card slot in your phone, you can set the YouTube app settings (tap your profile picture, then tap SettingsSO Downloads) to save videos to your SD card.

That’s how to download videos in barely usable form for the super low price of $11.99 per month. But what if you want a better solution and want to do it for free? Yeah, we’ve got you covered.

Your free option (and my favorite method) for downloading YouTube videos: ClipGrab

I have to give the editor of ZDNET props for introducing me to this program a few years ago. I’ve been using it ever since.

Also: Change This Android Setting To Instantly Double The Speed ​​Of Your Phone

ClipGrab is a free program available for Mac, Windows and Linux users. The developer says it’s open source, but the source code is only available for Linux. Either way, ClipGrab rocks. Here’s how to download and use it.

1. Go to ClipGrab.org

Point your browser to ClipGrab.org and click on the Show all Download Options link. There you will see download links for Mac, Windows and Linux. I will show you the Mac version in this article, but the interface is almost identical on all three.

2. Copy the YouTube video link

Copy the video link of the YouTube video(s) you want to download. You can do this in your browser’s URL bar or by clicking on the Share button under the video itself.

3. Launch ClipGrab

Make sure you’re on the Downloads then choose the tab Run ClipGrab option.

4. Copy and Paste

Copy and paste the URL of the video you want to download into ClickGrab.

5. Click Get This Clip!

Once you have copied and pasted the desired video link into the ClickGrab browser, select Take this clip!

6. Choose video format

On ClickGrab, you can also change the options.

For example, you can choose the format you want the video to be in when stored on your computer. I usually go with Original, but I’ll specify something else if that doesn’t work.

Also: How to Enable Private DNS Mode on Android (and Why You Should)

You can also select the download resolution. Depending on the original resolution of the video, you can choose to download the video in full resolution or reduce the resolution to save space.

7. Customize

Finally, pressing the Settings The tab lets you customize where ClipGrab drops your newly downloaded videos.

Linux command line options

I would be remiss (or so I was told in the comments below, on Twitter, and in my inbox) if I didn’t mention that Linux users have a command line option (because, of course they do) to download youtube videos. As with everything on the Linux command line, there are gray areas here, such as whether the tool even works or whether there is a better tool.

The first in this command line chart is youtube-dl. You can access it through its own website, on GitHubor your favorite package manager.

Also: How to Install Linux Apps from the Command Line

It’s worth noting that the GitHub repository was taken down for a while due to an alleged DMCA violation, but GitHub later reinstated it. You can read a very interesting history on the reasoning and GitHub’s answer.

Some people claim that youtube-dl is old hat and hasn’t been updated in a while. There is another open source project on GitHub, called yt-dlp, which claims to be a fork of youtube-dl with more features. I haven’t tested it, so use it at your own risk.

Also: Linux isn’t just for developers and command-line pros

YouTube-dl and yt-dlp both offer a very, very wide range of features if you need them. Personally, I’m going to stick with ClipGrab because I don’t have time to turn YouTube downloading into a second or third full-time job. But it’s up to you.

What happened to SaveFrom.net?

Some of you may be familiar with the SaveFrom.net site. This site allowed you to download from YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion (and a few other sites), simply by pasting a URL into a webpage on the site. It also had a browser extension that made downloads easier. But, highlighting the subject in our next section, SaveFrom.net has closed its operations in the US and UK, saying this from the UK (and US equivalent):

However, one of our intrepid editors (not me) put his vpn in the Czech Republic and found that SaveFrom.net is alive and well, hiding away from copyright laws:

Speaking of copyright…

Some moral, ethical and legal considerations

Now that you know how to download YouTube videos, should you? First, be aware that different jurisdictions have different laws. It may or may not be legal to download a certain video, even if all you want to do is watch it offline.

If you want to upload a video to incorporate into something you produce, keep in mind that some countries have the concept of fair use. In these jurisdictions, small snippets of copyrighted media may be incorporated into your productions. But you also need to remember that YouTube has algorithmic systems looking for people re-using videos, and your channel could get a warning for re-using media.

Also: How to Record a Phone Call on an iPhone

When in doubt, it’s always best to ask.

So this is it. Do you have any other techniques to accomplish the same thing? Let us know in the comments below.

You can follow updates of my day-to-day projects on social networks. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @DavidGewirtzon Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtzon Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtzand on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.