After reading this article, you will know five easy and fast ways to download YouTube videos on Mac. Apply one of them to save YouTube videos to your Mac and then you can watch offline without an Internet connection.
Downloading files with a Web browser If you’re using Safari you’ll find that there’s no obvious command for capturing streaming YouTube videos, but it can be done with the browser’s built-in tools. With Any Video Converter. Any Video Converter is one of the YouTube video downloaders for Mac. Download with Safari web browser. This is the most easy and highly practiced method to download. Free YouTube Downloader. This is a highly recommended tool to download YouTube videos on. How to Download YouTube Videos on Mac for Free. 100% free, no ads, and no plugins, EaseUS.
As the biggest video site in the world, YouTube has a wide range of users who search, view and upload videos every day. However, unlike you can freely view and upload videos on YouTube, you can't download YouTube videos directly on the site. That's why so many users are looking for a way to download YouTube videos to iPhone/iPad, save videos from YouTube to PC, download YouTube videos on Mac, and more.
Given that, here we provide five proven ways to download videos from YouTube to Mac, including using desktop software, online service, and other workable ways. Read on to learn how to download YouTube videos on Mac in different ways and carry out the one best suited to your needs.
PAGE CONTENT:
How to Download YouTube Videos on Mac in 5 Ways
Some of the ways below need you to download and install the desktop software, while others may not. Learn them in detail and you will know which one is the best YouTube downloader for you.
Method 1. How to Download YouTube Videos on Mac for Free
100% free, no ads, and no plugins, EaseUS MobiMover is a YouTube downloader that you can use at no cost and without any worries about bothering ads or add-ons. With it, you can download videos from YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Facebook, Twitter and other sites to your computer (PC/Mac) or mobiles devices (iPhone/iPad).
To download YouTube Videos on Mac for Free:
Step 1.Run EaseUS MobiMover > Go to choose the 'Video Downloader' option on the left side > Choose a location to house the videos you download.
Step 2. Copy the URL/link of the YouTube video you wish to download, paste it into the download bar of EaseUS MobiMover, then tap 'Download.'
Step 3. Wait for MobiMover to download YouTube videos to your Mac. When it has finished, you can go to your selected location to check the downloaded item.
In addition to video download, MobiMover also has other features that will help you transfer files between two iOS devices or between an iOS device and computer, which will do a great help if you are an iPhone or iPad user. It's a versatile tool that can work as an iOS content manager and free YouTube downloader at the same time. Don't miss it and make it your good helper.
Method 2. How to Save YouTube Videos on Mac Online
Don't want to install any software? If so, you may prefer online YouTube video downloaders compared with desktop software. Honestly speaking, although much convenient, an online YouTube downloader may cause more troubles than a desktop program. According to my own experience, there are some issues that may occur while using an online tool to save YouTube videos on a computer, including:
And more. Luckily, not all the online YouTube downloaders are that troubling. Here is Keepvid that works well to get videos from YouTube onto your Mac.
Keepvid is one of the most popular online video downloader that allows you to download YouTube videos on a computer by inserting the video link into the address bar. You will like it if downloading YouTube videos in different formats and quality is what you need. Besides, it also serves the function of an audio converter that will extract music or other audio files from a YouTube video for you.
To download a YouTube video on Mac with Keepvid:
Step 1. Go to YouTube and copy the URL of the video you want to download.
Step 2. Visit https://keepv.id/ on your Mac and click the 'Download' button.
Step 3. After an analyzing process, you will see the download options available, including videos in different quality and audio in varying formats. Choose the format and click 'Download' to start downloading YouTube videos to your Mac.
Method 3. Download YouTube Videos for Mac with Chrome/Firefox
Want to download a YouTube video with the browser? If that's exactly what you want, you can't miss the helpful browser extensions shown below, which allow you to save YouTube videos on Mac using Chrome or Firefox for free.
To download videos from YouTube with Chrome:
Step 1. Go to visit YouTube Video and MP3 Downloader.
Step 2. The webpage will detect your browser automatically. Confirm your browser and click 'INSTALL VIA CROSSPILOT'.
Step 3. Download and install the extension. Afterward, restart the browser.
Step 4. Go to YouTube and play the video you want to download.
Step 5. Now you should see there is a Download button under the video. Click the Download button to save the YouTube video to your laptop directly or click the three dots next to it to choose other qualities available. (If you don't see the download button, click the icon of the YouTube Video and MP3 Downloader from the menu bar of the browser to download the video.)
To save a YouTube video on Mac with Firefox:
Step 1. Go to add the extension - Easy Youtube Video Downloader Express to Firefox.
Step 2. Restart Firefox.
Step 3. Go to YouTube and play the video you intend to download.
Step 4. Under the video, click the 'Download' button and choose one of the versions (MP4 360p, MP4 720p, MP4 1080p, MP3..) to download.
Of course, there are video download tools for Safari. You can search on the Internet and choose the one you like.
Method 4. Save YouTube Videos to Mac with VLC Media Player
How can you download YouTube videos on your Mac for free? One of the answers is to use the VLC media player. VLC is known as a free and open-source portable cross-platform media player software and streaming media. It also enables you to download a YouTube video on your computer, be it Mac, PC, or laptop.
How To Download Youtube Videos Using Safari Mac Mojave
Step 1. Download and install VLC media player on your Mac and launch the program.
Step 2. Go to YouTube and copy the link of the video you attempt to download.
Step 3. In VLC, choose 'File' > 'Open Network'. In the 'Open Source' window, paste the video URL in the address bar and click 'Open'.
Step 4. Right-click the video and select 'Media Information'.
How To Download Youtube Videos Using Safari Mac Os
Step 5. Copy the content in the 'Location' bar and paste the copied URL into the address bar. Then press 'return' to begin to play on your browser.
Step 7. Right-click the video and select 'Save Video as.' to start downloading videos from YouTube to your Mac.
Method 5. Grab Videos from YouTube to Mac with Screen Recording Features
Other than downloading videos from YouTube, you can choose to record the video and save it on your Mac. This method works best when you can't download a YouTube video due to copyright issues or other problems.
To capture the screen, you can either use the built-in screen recording feature in macOS or QuickTime Player.
Common Issues Related to YouTube Video Download
There are some frequently asked questions from users about YouTube video download:
'How do I download YouTube videos to my Mac for free?'
If you have read this article, you know now that all the five methods detailed in this guide enable you to save YouTube videos to Mac for free.
Youtube Video Download Software For Mac'Can I download a video from YouTube with YouTube Premium?'
The YouTube Premium subscription allows you to download videos from YouTube, but only to mobile devices like phones and tablets. Thus, if you attempt to save a YouTube video to Mac, it won't help.
'Why can't I download YouTube videos?'
If you are going to download a private video or a video containing music, you may fail since these videos may give rise to copyright issues.
The Bottom Line
Among all the video download apps, which is the best YouTube downloader for you? Choose the one that fits your needs best to apply.
When I reviewed the video player IINA (see “Prepare for Apple Dropping Old Media Formats with the IINA Video Player,” 6 May 2019), quite a few TidBITS readers took it as an opportunity to vent their frustrations about downloading videos from YouTube. Fleetwood mac never going back again tab. Recent changes in Firefox have broken extensions like DownThemAll, which used to be a handy way to download videos.
There are several reasons you might want to download videos from YouTube. Like most cloud-based things, YouTube videos are ephemeral—they vanish all the time for all kinds of reasons. The uploader might pull a video down, YouTube may remove a video in response to a copyright complaint (sometimes legitimate, sometimes not), and a video might disappear if it runs afoul of YouTube’s ever-changing and seemingly haphazard standards for acceptable content.
Video Downloader For Safari Mac
But preservation isn’t the only reason people download YouTube videos. For example, they may want to download short clips to use in their videos (honoring the doctrine of fair use, of course). A friend of mine accidentally deleted the “sizzle clip” he slaps on the front of every video in iMovie, and he solved the problem by downloading one of his own videos from YouTube and extracting that clip. Or, you may want to be able to play some YouTube videos in a situation where there’s no Internet access.
Whatever the reason, you don’t have to rely on Firefox to download videos from YouTube. There are several solutions on the Mac, and I review a few of them here.
Note that downloading YouTube videos with a utility other than YouTube’s apps (which require a YouTube Premium subscription) nominally violates YouTube’s terms of service:
Download Youtube Video Mac Free
You shall not download any Content unless you see a “download” or similar link displayed by YouTube on the Service for that Content. You shall not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, or otherwise exploit any Content for any other purposes without the prior written consent of YouTube or the respective licensors of the Content. YouTube and its licensors reserve all rights not expressly granted in and to the Service and the Content.
That said, I’ve never heard of YouTube punishing a user for downloading videos, although using copyrighted material in videos you upload to YouTube could get you in trouble.
The Command-Line Grand Poobah: youtube-dl
Arguably, the greatest of the YouTube downloaders is the public-domain youtube-dl, a command-line utility that powers many apps like the aforementioned IINA. It’s not the friendliest option, but it’s free and powerful.
The project offers instructions for installing youtube-dl. You can use the
curl command or rely on Homebrew, a command-line package manager that I strongly recommend—refer to Homebrew’s home page for a one-line command to install it from Terminal. Then, in Terminal, you can enter brew install youtube-dl to install the download utility.
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Once you install youtube-dl, type
man youtube-dl in Terminal to see its extensive list of options. But all you really need to do to use it is to type youtube-dl URL in Terminal, where URL is the link to the desired YouTube video. That downloads the video in your current directory. Type cd ~/Downloads before running youtube-dl to download the video to your Downloads folder.
You can play the video after you download it with QuickTime or with a third-party player like IINA or VLC.
The developers of youtube-dl issue updates frequently, which is why I recommend installing it with Homebrew. The first time I tried to download a video for this article, I received an error because I hadn’t updated youtube-dl first. Homebrew makes updating easy with the
brew update youtube-dl command, which updates both youtube-dl and Homebrew itself, along with all the packages youtube-dl needs to function.
A Free Graphical App: ClipGrab
ClipGrab is a simple, free utility for macOS that can download individual YouTube videos and even convert them to other formats, including MP3 if you’re only interested in the audio.
It’s easy to use: copy a YouTube URL and open ClipGrab. It will automatically extract the URL from the clipboard. Use the Format drop-down menu to choose a format (Original is usually fine if you want video), and click Grab This Clip to download the video. The default download location is your Desktop, but you can change it in the Settings tab.
ClipGrab offers a search tab where you can search for and download videos, but I find it easier to use YouTube’s search engine to find videos and then paste the URL into ClipGrab.
A Setapp Option: Downie![]()
A subscription to Setapp includes several utilities that can download YouTube videos: the torrent client Folx, media players Movist Pro and Elmedia Player, and an app purpose-built for downloading YouTube videos: Downie. (If you’re not a Setapp subscriber, Downie costs $19.99.)
Downie, unlike ClipGrab, is tailor-made for the Mac. You can drag and drop YouTube URLs to Downie’s window or its Dock icon. Downie also comes bundled with a Safari extension, which you enable in Safari > Preferences > Extensions. Once you enable the extension, you can click the Downie icon in Safari’s toolbar to download a video.
In addition to Downie’s simplicity, I like that it downloads subtitles with the video (YouTube automatically generates subtitles for videos). Downie saves subtitles alongside the video as an SRT file. Unfortunately, QuickTime Player doesn’t understand those files, so you need to use a more capable video player like IINA to view them. As long as the SRT file is in the same directory as the video, it works automatically when you play the video in IINA.
Orespawn. Downie can also download an entire YouTube playlist at once. Just drag the playlist URL into Downie and click Playlist to see all the available videos to download. You can then click Add Selected to download the playlist videos.
Download an Entire Channel with 4K Video Downloader
Downie can download an entire playlist, but there’s only one Mac app that I know of that can download an entire YouTube channel: 4K Video Downloader. You can try the app for free (it costs $15 to unlock the entire app). To use it, copy the channel’s URL, open 4K Video Downloader, and click Paste Link to load every video in the channel.
Even better, when 4K Downloader is running, you can subscribe to a channel to download every new video published on the channel automatically.
Note that if a channel has a lot of videos, it can take a long time to download them all and it may use considerable system resources to do so. Nonetheless, I’ve successfully downloaded entire channels containing hundreds of videos with 4K Video Downloader, making it my favorite utility of the bunch.
4K Video Download can also download subtitles, and it can convert YouTube videos to MP3 audio files. Of course, it downloads individual videos as well.
There you have it: four utilities that you can use to download YouTube videos in macOS. Do you have another favorite? Let us know in the comments. How to download excel of passwords on mac.
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December 2020
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