Last updated on June 26th, 2023
This site is reader-supported. When you buy via links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.
Did you ever feel like saving a video you liked very much on Youtube, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc. on your computer? Perhaps many must have tried to save the video by various means but the ultimate result was not quite fruitful.
Actually, if you want to save a video from any website you will have to take the help of some software or browser extensions that can easily capture or download streaming videos.
There is a limited number of such software and not all the programs can fully download videos from those streaming sites. Even though, we have come out with the ultimate 5 methods that you can use to download streaming video.
The 5 Methods to Download Streaming Videos Successfully
The following are five proven ways to help you download streaming video from website and we will guide you step-by-step to ensure you get the video downloaded. Please note that if there is any software involved, we assume you know how to download and install it properly.
Attention: We don’t advocate people using these recommended downloaders for commercial purposes.
Method #1 - Using a Streaming Video Downloader
StreamFab All-in-one Downloader (grab the 40% OFF price now) is one of the most reliable and it is very effective in saving online streaming video from Youtube and other encrypted sites without much hassle. Those paid subscription sites include Netflix, Amazon Prime, Youtube, HBO, Disney+, U-next, Facebook, and many more.
The software allows you to download videos and music from over 1000 sites. This is very useful to download videos from encrypted sites and other methods explained below are not able to get videos from those paid subscription sites.
In the following, we will show the steps to download streaming video from Netflix. Please make sure that the software was installed on the computer successfully. Then, follow the guide here:
- Launch the StreamFab Downloader and choose the ‘Authorize‘ option from the menu.
- To authorize your device, you need to enter the account details by inserting the email and password.
- As you can see from the screen below, there are several ways to download the video content:
- 1st way: Copy-paste-URL – Just copy the URL (address) of the video you want to download and paste it to the column provided.
- Below the StreamFab logo contains the search bar that allows you to search online videos on Youtube before downloading.
- 2nd way: VIP Services – This subscription-based service allows users to download paid streaming content (videos, movies, and TV shows) in 1080p quality for offline viewing.
- You can choose any one of the 30+ available streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, Hulu, etc. to download online videos.
- For example, we want to download Netflix movies, click on the Netflix logo icon, a separate window will show.
- Log in to your Netflix account (provided you already subscribed) and search for the favorite movies (the search icon may help). When you found the video, just play the movie.
- When playback begins, a popup window will show up asking: Do you want to add the movie to the download task queue?
Note: The Add to Queue button allows you to add multiple videos to the download queue and download them at once (also called batch downloading).
- So, just click on the Download Now button and the video shall begin downloading. You also can toggle the High Speed button if you have a fast Internet connection.
- The Cancel button lets you cancel the current download job. When the download finished, it will show on the video file under the Finished tab.
- 3rd way: Adult Services – You can download adult movies content from R18 and FANZA provided you have an account on it.
Method #2 - Using a Browser Extension
Downloading streaming video with a browser extension or add-on is very popular as it’s a free way to add the functionality of a web browser for downloading videos.
Although it’s free, basically you cannot use browser extensions to download streaming videos from encrypted sites like Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and more.
However, you are still able to download videos from popular video-sharing sites like Youtube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Facebook, and more. The following are 2 of the popular browser extensions that you can use to save the video online.
Download Streaming Video with Google Chrome Extension – Step-by-step Guide
How to use the extensions is depending on the individual add-on, it differs from one extension to another. The following is the guide to using the Video Downloader professional chrome extension for video downloading. You also can download it from Chrome store.
- Using the Google Chrome browser, navigate to https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/video-downloader-professi/elicpjhcidhpjomhibiffojpinpmmpil?hl=en
- Click on the blue color Add to Chrome If a window pop-up, click on Add extension button. This will allow the extension can be added to the Chrome browser.
- You will notice an icon appear just beside (the right-hand side) of the search bar on Chrome.
- Now go to any video site. In our case, we will use the Vimeo site as a demo so go to vimeo.com and navigate the video you want to download (Under the Watch menu).
- Click on the Video Downloader professional icon on Chrome (right-hand side of the address bar) and you will see the following screen.
- You can see that many video files were found in different resolutions. It also shows the file size on the green color download button. Click on the intended download button.
- A new window will pop up, you can give a file name and save it to the intended location. When ready, click the Save
Note: Chrome Web Store does not allow extensions that download videos from YouTube any longer.
Download Streaming Video with Mozilla Firefox Addon
There are many add-ons that can be used to download streaming video, but I found the Video DownloadHelper is reliable and you can use it.
Downloading streaming videos using the Video DownloadHelper addon is not difficult on Mozilla Firefox, click here if you want to know the exact steps.
Watch the following video tutorials on how to download video from any website using other browser extensions:
Method #3 - Using a Video Capture Software
A video capture software is different from a video downloader. This kind of software will record or capture the video/movie on your computer screen while it’s playing (either from online or offline files).
With the video capture program, you still use the media player to run the video and then capture and save it using the software.
With a screen recorder or video capture tools, you can use it to record a live webinar, gameplay, webcam, VoIP calls, etc. Just the quality of the recordings may not 100% same as the original movies.
So, even though some video downloader is unable to download certain types of videos but screen recorder definitely can do it! The following are the top video capture software for Windows:
- Movavi Screen Recorder (Shareware, free trial available)
- Camtasia (Shareware, free trial available)
- Bandicam (Free screen recorder)
For more information on the best video capture software, our editor had done a comprehensive review, visit http://www.dvd2dvd.org/best-video-capture-software/
Normally, the free recorders have some limitations like limited recording time, watermarked output, limited functionalities like editing options, etc. After all, they also offer the premium version that users need to pay to enjoy the full features. So, if you are a serious user, just go for the full version.
Also, the output quality of the videos will differ from the different capturing software used. For best results, get a reliable tool and do the optimum program settings. Also, you can try the proven program download manager like Internet Download Manager (IDM).
Check out the following video on recording streaming videos in 720p or HD 1080p:
Method #4 - Using an Online Video Downloader
This free method is rather a simple solution to download streaming videos as we just need to get the video URL and paste it to the online video download site. This is the traditional way to download video from any website using the online video downloader; more info can be found here.
However, there are also some limitations when downloading the video using this method like the download speed is slow and not reliable when dealing with big video files. Also, the supported output file format is limited, and unable to download video from encrypted sites.
Here are some of the recommended free download sites you can use. Just copy the video URL and paste it to the site column and hit the download button. In case it’s unable to download, you need to use other methods.
Supported sites: YouTube, Facebook, Dailymotion, Vimeo, Vevo, Crunchyroll, NYtimes, LiveLeak, Bilibili, USAToday, Metacafe, Twitch, and many more.
Supported sites: YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok, Bilibili, Soundcloud, Hotstar, Streamago, etc.
Note: For the Facebook site, many of their videos are private, and hence most online video downloaders are unable to download the private video. It’s recommended you use the browser extension (or Facebook private video downloader) to download the videos.
For other encrypted or streaming websites, we tested a few and found that the online downloader is not a good download option as many times it failed to download the video from the sites. Also, there is not many online streaming video downloaders available.
Method #5: Fastest Way to Download Youtube Videos
Special note: Please make sure you have a pop-up blocker or enabled the firewall for browser extensions. Don’t click on any ads as they may contain malware or viruses. Also, this method only can use on Youtube.com and no other sites.
Here are the steps to download a Youtube video:
1. Go to Youtube.com and search for the video you want to download.
2. In the video URL (address), put the “ss” before youtube.com. For example:
Original video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf_YemfEaDs
Download link: https://www.ssyoutube.com/watch?v=Bf_YemfEaDs
3. Press Enter. This will redirect you to savefrom.net to download the movie. Just choose the intended video resolution and click the Download button.
Super tip 1:
How about deleting the letter ‘ube’ from the video URL and pressing Enter? For example:
Original video link: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Bf_YemfEaDs
Download link: https://yout.com/watch?v=Bf_YemfEaDs
This will redirect you to the yout.com site and you can choose to download a video in MP4, MP3, or GIF format. You also can choose the audio & video quality to download.
When ready, just click on the Format shift to MP4 button.
Super tip 2:
You also can download a Youtube video by adding the “pp” at the back after the word youtube.
Original video link: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Bf_YemfEaDs
Download link: https://youtubepp.com/watch?v=Bf_YemfEaDs
This will redirect you to y2mate.com and you can choose the video resolution to download. As usual, the service will have some pop-up ads.
Of course, if you just want to download a video from Youtube, you can use the normal video downloader our editors recommended here. However, those movie downloaders may not able to get the videos from encrypted video sites like Netflix, Hulu, etc.
Conclusion
Download streaming video can be a difficult task if you don’t have the proper software tools. Out of the five methods we outline here to download the streaming video, each method has its own pros and cons.
The free methods including browser extensions and online video downloaders usually are less reliable as the downloaded output file quality is not good, slow download speed, or even unable to download the video completely.
If you want to download videos from streaming encrypted sites, the best solution is to use a stream video downloader like StreamFab Downloader All-in-one or recommended video capture software. For Youtube videos, there are many ways to download them as suggested in this article.
I hope you learn something from this article. Feel free to like our FB page and share it with your friends!