How To Download A YouTube Video for a backup, maybe you want to download YouTube videos for b-roll, or you are using the youtube video download tool to save them to play later – this can help you.
I like to download my own YouTube videos to add them as overlays in new content, it’s a good way to drive traffic to older content.
So how do you download YouTube videos?
To download a YouTube video you will need to login to your YouTube dashboard. Click on videos and look for the video you want to download. Hover over the video description snippet and it will change into a tool bar. Click on the 3 dots options and you will see a Download video link.
Download YouTube Videos on Mobile with YouTube Premium
Offline downloads are one of the various perks offered to people who pay $12 per month for YouTube’s Premium subscription.
It also offers access to YouTube Music Premium and removes ads from videos. While the 720p resolution download limit may have made sense a few years ago when phone screens generally didn’t go far beyond 720p, many phones have now gone past that; the iPhone X and XS have resolutions that exceed 1080p, for instance.
Why Download YouTube Videos?
When you download YouTube videos, you can watch them without an internet connection, which is ideal for keeping yourself entertained on planes, trains, and trips to places without reliable mobile internet access.
Downloading YouTube videos on to your mobile phone can be a great way to save money on limited data allowance plans.
But if you download them to your phone using your home Wi-Fi before you travel, you can watch them on the move without risking going over your data allocation.
It’s surprisingly easy to download videos from YouTube and other video hosting sites – and you can do it free. YouTube itself provides some tools for downloading videos (on both desktop and mobile), and there are third-party tools that can do the job as well. Read on to find out how.
Is downloading YouTube videos legal?
Using third-party apps to download YouTube videos is against Youtube’s terms of service – which state that you are only able to stream videos directly from its servers.
Downloading YouTube videos also opens you up to potential copyright infringement unless you have permission from the copyright holder, it’s in the public domain, or you own the video yourself.
YouTube does offer some ways to download videos through its web service and its own apps.
How To Download YouTube Videos with YouTube Premium
The YouTube Premium service (formally YouTube Red) is the only official way you can download other peoples videos and music.
Download videos and playlists to watch offline when you aren’t connected to the Internet.
You can download videos to watch offline using the YouTube or YouTube Music apps (and watch auto-downloaded videos in the YouTube Kids app) if these apps are available in your location and you’re signed in with your YouTube Premium account.
How To Download A YouTube Video on YouTube Premium
- Start watching a video on the YouTube Mobile app.
- Tap Download
below the video player.
- Select the video quality.
- The ‘Downloaded’ icon
will appear below the video player when the video has finished downloading.
You can view your downloaded videos in the Library 
tabs.
To remove a downloaded video, tap Downloaded
YouTube Premium Recommends Videos to Download
YouTube Premiums recommended downloads feature will help you get ideas for videos and playlists to download.
Note that when you download a recommended playlist, all the videos contained within that playlist will be downloaded. These recommended playlists will update weekly (while you’re connected to Wi-Fi), so you always have new videos to watch.
To find your Recommended Downloads:
- Open the YouTube app and make sure that you’re signed in to your YouTube Premium membership.
- Tap on the Library tab
.
- Tap Downloads and scroll down to Recommended downloads.
- Download videos and/or playlists by tapping the download icon
Change YouTube Premium Download Settings
On certain mobile devices, videos and playlists can be downloaded only when connected to a Wi-Fi network.
To download videos over a mobile network, go to Settings and turn off Download over Wi-Fi only under ‘Background & Downloads’.
Set Video Download Quality on YouTube Premium
To change the default quality for downloading videos, go to Settings and select Download quality under ‘Background & Downloads’.
Higher-quality videos may take longer to download and may use more storage space on your device.
If less than 5% of storage space is available on your device, you won’t be able to download additional videos. To free up space, try removing a downloaded video or playlist.
Things to know about videos downloaded from YouTube:
- You must be signed in to your YouTube Premium account to download videos to watch offline.
- Some actions, like commenting and liking, are not available while viewing videos offline.
- Downloaded videos renew automatically as long as you go online in your home country/region at least once every 30 days.
- Some videos may not be available offline when you reconnect to the Internet due to content restrictions from video creators.
- If your device loses connectivity while downloading a video or playlist, it will automatically resume when you reconnect to a mobile or Wi-Fi network.
- You can only download videos in countries/regions where YouTube Premium is available.
- Learn more about YouTube offline videos.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!
2. Adobe Creative Suite helps me craft amazing looking thumbnails and eye-catching videos
I have been making youtube videos on and off since 2013.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
Rev.com can help you translate your videos, transcribe your videos, add subtitles and even convert those subtitles into other languages – all from just $1.50 per minute.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. Learn new skills for FREE with Skillshare
I SUCK reading books to learn, but I LOVE online video courses.
Every month I learn something new. Editing, writing, video skills, how to cook, how to run a business – even how to meditate to calm a busy mind.
I find all of these for FREE with Skillshare – Sign up, pick all the courses you want and cancel anytime you need.
5. Shutterstock helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the Shutterstock website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
They have a wide library of videos, graphics, images and even a video maker tool and it wont break the bank with plans starting from as little as £8.25 ($9) per month.