You can save data by downloading Netflix shows to watch when you’re not connected to Wi-Fi. You can also do the same with YouTube movies. Plus, the process is really quite simple, even though it might look complicated. There are two ways to download videos from YouTube: use YouTube Premium to save videos to watch on your computer or use a third-party programme that might violate the TOS.
That’s right, we’ll show you how to download YouTube movies to any device you have, from your work laptop to one of the newest and best smartphones.
Using YouTube Premium
The paid version of YouTube, called YouTube Premium, is the best official way to start downloading movies to your devices. If you become a member, you and up to five other family members can use the service and download movies to watch later. This makes the service very useful. If you want to try YouTube Premium for free, you can do so for a few days and see if you like it. You can play YouTube movies in the background on your phone if you have YouTube Premium. It also comes with YouTube Music Premium. To put it another way, this is a service that does a lot more than download movies.
Downloading movies from YouTube with YouTube Premium will be different on each device. Read and follow the steps below if you need help.
Download YouTube videos on a computer.
It’s straightforward to watch YouTube on a computer. Here’s how to save movies to your computer to watch later:
- Step 1: Go to YouTube and find a movie you want to download.
- Step 2: Scroll down and click “Download” next to the movie.
- Step 3: When you go to download videos, you’ll have to choose a quality. The initial download is only available in 720p HD. If you haven’t done so previously, you will be offered to give YouTube Premium a free trial.
- Step 4: Pick out a device to watch the video on before you can download it. The download status will be shown as “Downloaded” after it is finished.
- Step 5: You can also download a video from the home page by moving your mouse over it, clicking the three dots, and then clicking “Download.”
- Step 6: Go to YouTube’s Download Settings page to change the quality of your downloads and turn on intelligent downloads, which picks out videos for you to download instantly.
Download YouTube videos on mobile.
The YouTube app’s home page needs a clear download button, but you can still get movies there. Just do these things:
- Step 1: Just scroll down your home page until you see the video you want to download.
- Step 2: Press the “…” button.
- Step 3: In the new menu that comes up, tap “Download.”
- Step 4: Pick a quality for the file and press “Download” again.
- Step 5: If you want to save a video you’re watching, swipe left on the bar below the video until it says “Download.”
- Step 6: Now, tap “Download” to save the movie and watch it when you have time.
- Step 7: It’s a little more complicated to change your download settings on your phone, but you can do it this way:
- On the main screen, you should see your profile picture; touch on it.
- To access the settings menu, tap the cogwheel icon on the upper right of the following page.
- Find “Background & downloads” in the settings menu and scroll down.
- You can turn on Smart Downloads, choose the quality for the download, and make sure that downloads only happen over Wi-Fi from this page.
How to watch downloaded YouTube videos
When you use YouTube Premium to download a movie from YouTube, you get a particular file that is formatted for YouTube. Your favourite video editor (more on that in a moment) or video player will not be able to watch the video because of this. You’ll have to play the video through YouTube instead. Take note that movies you save on one device won’t show up on another.
- On the Computer: Go to the feed for your YouTube downloads.
- On Mobile: Scroll down and tap the “Downloads” option on your phone, just like we did above.
If, for some reason, your device doesn’t connect to the internet for more than 30 days, you will lose access to the movies you stored on it.
How to download YouTube videos for free
Instead of paying for YouTube Premium, you can download the video file directly. This is useful if you want to start cutting and changing other people’s videos for your own excellent React video channel. Though it wasn’t explicitly stated as of this writing, YouTube’s Terms of Service do outline some very stringent regulations that users must adhere to in order to download films directly from YouTube. In other words, you can safely use third-party applications to download videos from YouTube with the necessary rights.
If you do decide to download a YouTube video, YTCutter is one of the fastest ways to do it. All you have to do is paste a video link into the website to make a gif or a video. For a look at some of the more advanced YouTube downloaders, see our list of the best YouTube downloaders, which includes ClipGrab and 4K Video Downloader.
