Last updated on February 15th, 2023
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YouTube videos may be downloaded in one of three particular ways: making use of a web service, an unconnected software program, or using web browser add-ons or extensions.
There are advantages as well as disadvantages to all three methods. For instance, web services are generally separate from operating systems and may be used without the need for installing software. But they cannot download more than one video at a time.
The software programs generally are available with an option for adding more than one video link to a queue prior to the start of the download process. They have to be installed, however, and at times it lacks a workable YouTube browser.
This article will explain to you the three different methods to get or download videos from youtube or any other video sites.
Attention: We don’t advocate people using these recommended downloaders for commercial purposes.
How To Download Youtube Videos Through Software Applications?
Many people who visit the internet want to know if it is possible to download videos that are on YouTube. When the videos are downloaded you have the option of playing them whenever you want without the need to go on the website of YouTube on the internet.
This also saves on bandwidth and can be used to send YouTube videos to gadgets like gaming systems, media players, and cell phones which do not normally connect to the internet. These gadgets may not provide the speed required for pleasant viewing of the videos. There is the possibility of using a YouTube video downloader online.
Web services allow videos to be downloaded from YouTube to computer systems. Some can convert the videos to another file type. There are many paid and free YouTube downloader services available on the market and we would like to recommend a reliable shareware video downloader and converter called Wondershare AllMyTube.
Like any other software, you need to download the software and install it on your computer. Once you installed it, you must know how to use the application to get the video downloaded.
Also read: How to download streaming video from any websites?
How To Download YouTube Videos Using Free Chrome Extension?
If you spend more than hours at times on the web you will realize that it is suffocating with videos from Vimeo, Youtube, etc to news and entertainment sites. It is hard to watch all that you want to as there are so many of them there.
Because of this, you can find ways to record these videos so that you can later watch them on other devices like smartphones or when you have no internet access. One of the ways is using the google chrome extension to get the videos.
On the Google Chrome browser, there is an option to use an extension that shows the button for downloading any YouTube video that is opened on the site. If you don’t have Google Chrome, you can download it for free here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/
There are many free Chrome extensions available to download videos from youtube and other video sites. Here is one of the many extensions that we recommend – Ultimate YouTube Downloader for Chrome (Update: this extension is no longer available).
To use the Ultimate YouTube downloader Chrome extension, here we will show you the manual search for an extension so next time you can use the method to install any other extensions:
- Open the Google Chrome browser and go to ChromeExtensions.org.
- In the left-hand panel, there is a search button. Just key in the terms like “youtube downloader” or anything similar and click the Search button.
- You will see a list of add-ons available including Ultimate YouTube Downloader. Click on the Add to Chrome button at the upper right side of the extension and install it. This extension will add a “Download” button to YouTube videos.
- When installed, you will see a Download button appear on the youtube video.
- Go to the video page for YouTube that you wish to download. Click on the download button that will appear below the video box and choose the video quality to save it to your computer. The video will be downloaded immediately.
- You should then simply wait until the download is completed.
Also read: How to Download Youtube Audio to PC and Mac?
How To Download Youtube Videos Via Free Firefox Add-on?
Downloading videos from the web can be a one or multi-step procedure, this depends on the original content encoding and protection. For example, it is quite easy to play downloaded MPEG-4 encoded content on your iOS and Mac devices as these devices naturally support MPEG-4.
Though many websites still offer videos programmed in the Flash (.flv) format. Although you can play these videos with a third-party application like VideoLAN client or in a browser, you will still need to change them to a format attuned to iOS devices.
Whether it is hard or easy, you can capture any video you want on the Internet using different methods as discussed in this article. This section will focus on using a Firefox add-on to download files.
We will introduce a free DownloaderHelper add-on or extension, suitable for Firefox as well as Chrome to download any video that you want from the Internet. However, it’s best to be used on Mozilla Firefox.
As soon as you install the extension, you will see the Downloader icon (with three colors: yellow, red, and blue) come up in your Firefox’s address bar at the top of your browser window, or at the bottom of the browser in the status bar.
To see the listings of the video, start playing the youtube video and click on the icon. The extension supports downloads from many different sites, so if you are looking at a YouTube video some of the listings will be in Flash format and others in MPEG-4.
You can choose either high or standard definition from the MPEG-4 versions and it will be downloaded to your Mac ready to play in QuickTime Player, iTunes, or any other video player of your choice. However, if a site only offers one version of the video, in Flash or MPEG-4, you will see an option to download that file only.
You are good to go if the file is in MPEG-4 just download and play it. On the other hand, you may wish to convert it if it is a Flash file in order to play it on iTunes and on any other iOS device. DownloaderHelper can do it for you if you install the FFMpeg or Mencoder libraries, this requires some knowledge of the Terminal apps and the means to track correct library builds. Otherwise, there are many tools to convert your videos.
For more info on how to download videos using web browsers, read the article here.
Conclusion
You can use any one of the recommended methods to get the video from youtube. Since most people prefer the free method (either free software or browser add-ons), you can use the best free youtube downloader to download your favorite videos on any web browser.
Of course, there are some other methods that you can use to download videos on the Internet, but those methods may not be for everyone, especially a newbie. The software recommended in this article is proven to be easy and effective.
So, just take little action and you can save your favorite videos to your computer to watch them anytime you like.