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

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

Too: Follow ZDNET on YouTube!

We will explain how you can download your favorite videos using three methods:

1. pay for youtube premium
2. Using the Free Mac, Windows, or Linux Apps
3. Using an Obscure and Complicated (Yet Very Powerful) Linux Command Line Tool

Your payment option: YouTube Premium

i’m a big fan of youtube premium Because it saves me and my wife from having to put up with most commercials, 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 at $22.99 per month. Finally, students can subscribe to YouTube Premium for $6.99 per month.

My favorite feature is the complete lack of Google-served ads. There are no banners, no pre-roll and no interstitial ads. However, if a YouTube channel chooses to embed ads in a video, YouTube Premium will not filter out those YouTuber-embedded ads.

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YouTube Premium provides background play and access to picture-in-picture, YouTube Music, and YouTube Originals.

YouTube Premium also includes this capability download video, Here’s how you do it.

How to Download YouTube Videos with YouTube Premium

Saving after download

You’re not given an easy way to convert that download into a video file usable on a desktop device, so if you want to use that video for anything other than offline viewing, you’re somewhat out of luck. Are. Same is the case with iOS.

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However, if you’re an Android user and your phone has an SD card slot, you can set the YouTube app settings (tap your profile picture, then AdjustmentThen download) to save the video to your SD card.

So, here’s how to download videos in just barely usable form for as little as $11.99 per month. But what if you want a better solution, and you want to do it for free? Yes, we got you covered.

Your Free Alternative (and My Favorite Way) to Download YouTube Videos: ClipGrab

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

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clipgrab A free program is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux users. The developer says that it is open source, but the source code is only available for Linux. In any case, ClipGrab is awesome. Here’s how to download and use it.

1. Go to clipgrab.org

point your browser clipgrab.org and click show all downloads Option Link. You’ll see download links for Mac, Windows, and Linux there. I’ll show you the Mac version in this article, but the interface is nearly identical on all three.

2. Copy youtube video link

Copy the video link of the YouTube video you want to download. You can do this in the URL bar of your browser or by clicking share button just below the video.

3. Launch ClipGrab

make sure you are on download tab and then select launch clipgrab Option.

4. Copy and Paste

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

5. Click Capture this clip!

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

6. Choose video format

On ClickGrab, you can also modify the options.

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

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You can also choose 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, tap Adjustment The tab lets you customize where ClipGrab stores your newly downloaded videos.

linux command line options

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Linux users have a command line option to download (because, of course, they do) (or so in the comments below, on Twitter, and in my email). Mentioned in inbox) Youtube video. As with all things Linux command line, there are some murky areas, such as whether the tool works or whether there is a better tool.

First up in this command line hit parade is youtube-dl. You can access it through your site, on GitHubor your favorite package manager.

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It should be noted that the GitHub repository was briefly taken down due to an allegation of DMCA violations, but GitHub later reinstated it. you can read a very interesting thing Story Regarding GitHub’s reasoning and response.

Some people claim that youtube-dl is out of date and hasn’t been updated for 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.

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Both youtube-dl and yt-dlp offer a very wide range of features if you need them. Personally, I’ll stick with ClipGrab, as 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) by simply pasting a URL into a web page on the site. It also had a browser extension that facilitated downloads. But, as we cover in our next section, SaveFrom.net has ceased its operations in the US and UK, saying from the UK (and its equivalent in the US):

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

Speaking of copyright laws…

Some ethical, moral and legal considerations

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

If you want to download a video to include in something you’re making, be aware that some countries have a concept of fair use. In those jurisdictions, short clips of copyrighted media may be included in your presentations. But you should also remember that YouTube has algorithmic systems that look for people reusing videos, and reusing media can get your channel penalized against it.

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

so there you go. Do you have other techniques to accomplish the same thing? Let us know in the comments below.

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