Can I download you tube video to my computer for offline watching?

I wanted to watch a YouTube video in a place without Wi-Fi, but I didn’t want to rely on third-party software, so I decided to try downloading YouTube videos through the browser’s developer tools. It’s not that hard, just a little complicated.

1. First, I opened my browser, went to YouTube, and found the video I wanted to download. Make sure the video is playing.
2. Then I right-clicked on a blank page and selected “Inspect” or pressed F12 to open the browser’s developer tools (I used Chrome, but Edge is similar).
3. Switch to the “Network” tab:
4. In the developer tools, I clicked on the “Network” tab at the top, which showed a lot of loading content.
5. Then, I refreshed the page and clicked on Play Video. You can see that under the “Network” tab, there is a lot of information dynamically updating.
6. Among all the loading content, I started looking at the files related to the video. Under the “Media” or “XHR” column, I can find the video file (usually in .mp4 or .webm format). The names of these files were long, but I was able to identify them by the file size and format.
7. After I found the video file, I right-clicked on the link to the file and selected "Copy Link Address". Then, I pasted and visited the link directly in the browser address bar.
8. Finally, the browser opened the video file directly, and I just had to right-click on the video and select "Save As" to download it to my computer.

I downloaded a few videos at the time, and although the steps were a bit cumbersome, at least I avoided the ads and risks of third-party tools. Although this method does not always work perfectly, and sometimes the video files are not easy to find, it is indeed an effective solution for me. If you don't mind a little bit of manual work, give this method a try!

I am using the free yt-dlp command line tool and it works well on my Mac and PC. This free tool is a feature-rich audio/video downloader with support for thousands of sites. The project is a fork of youtube-dl based on the now inactive youtube-dlc.

You can install yt-dlp using the binaries, pip or one using a third-party package manager.

brew install yt-dlp

For more details, you can follow this step-by-step guide to configure the parameters and star downloading videos from YouTube or other sites. However, this is only for personal usage!

you might want to try 4K Video Downloader Plus. it has a free trial version so you can see if it meets your needs.

thanks to dialabrain. they were the first person here that I saw recommend it. I decided to give it a try, and it works great for me.

Some browser extensions such as DownloadHelper (for Firefox or Chrome) can also help download YouTube videos. After installing the extension, a download button will appear when the video is playing, and you can choose the format and quality of the video you want to download.

For downloading a couple of YouTube videos, online video downloaders can be a quick and convenient option. These tools work directly in your web browser, eliminating the need for installation. However, there are some considerations to keep in mind.

Cons of online Youtube video downloaders:

1. Privacy Concerns: Some sites may track your activity or show intrusive ads.
2. File Size Limitations: Some tools limit the size or duration of downloadable videos.
3. Less Reliable: May not work for certain URLs or higher-quality formats.
4. Malware Risk: Some less reputable sites might contain harmful scripts or downloads

For bulk download, better quality options, or safety concerns, desktop tools are safer and more efficient. Online tools might also struggle with protected or region-restricted content. If you prefer online methods to download youtube videos, ensure you're using a trusted downloader to avoid risks.

If you are willing to pay for membership, YouTube Premium members can download YouTube videos directly on their computer or mobile phones for offline viewing. Although direct downloading is not supported on the computer, you can watch your favorite videos on your mobile phone at any time. YouTube Premium also has other features such as removing ads, which may be suitable for you.

The most reliable way to download the video is downloading it directly from YouTube. You will need a YouTube premium membership to do this, however. Google provides a support article on how to do so: Watch videos offline with YouTube Premium

Cheers,

Jonasilver137