Download any video from YouTube

Updated on May 6, 2026

In today's world, with Internet speeds increasing every day, video content is becoming more accessible to millions of users. YouTube, the largest online video sharing platform, offers a wide variety of content ranging from entertaining videos to educational tutorials. However, if you want to save and enjoy these engaging videos offline, knowing how to download them from YouTube is essential. This guide will show you simple and effective ways to quickly download your favorite YouTube videos so you can enjoy them anytime, anywhere, even without an Internet connection.

This guide is written for the Mac, but all the steps are the same for Windows and Ubuntu/Linux.

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  1. Find a video

    Use your favorite web browser to find a video on YouTube. Then right-click it and copy the link to the clipboard. You can also drag and drop the video link onto the application window.

    Copy YouTube video link
  2. Paste URL (link)

    Open YouTube Downloader, or switch to it if it's already running, and click the Paste link button on the toolbar. The video will be added to the list and the app will automatically fetch its details.

    Paste the link into YouTube Downloader
  3. Choose output format

    To change the output format, click the middle button on the toolbar. In the new window you will see formats and settings for video and audio download modes. Saving in original quality (without conversion) is the fastest method.

    Select output format and quality
  4. Choose Video or Audio Mode

    Use the switch to choose between video and audio only download mode. In audio mode the app will extract and save just the soundtrack.

    Audio/Video download switch
  5. Select download folder

    By default the app saves videos to the Movies folder and audio to the Music folder, in a subfolder called Downloaded by MediaHuman. To change this, open Preferences and switch to the Video output or Audio output tab.

    Change application settings
  6. Start downloading

    Now everything is ready. To download a single video clip click the Start button next to it, or use Start all on the toolbar to download everything at once. You can continue adding more videos to the queue while downloading is in progress.

    Download a YouTube video clip
  7. Finish

    Once the download is complete, click the Locate button to open the file in Finder (or Explorer on Windows).

    Locate the downloaded file
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