It is not immediately clear how to download YouTube videos on Mac and YouTube does not have a free or easy-to-use built-in feature to do this. Using a YouTube video downloader allows you to instantly view it offline with no need to wait for buffering.
To learn how to save YouTube videos quickly and easily using apps, browser extensions, and online solutions, read our helpful guide.
How to watch YouTube offline on Mac? Airy is a powerful and easy-to-use YouTube downloader app. It can be used simply by pasting in a URL or integrating directly into your browser.
Airy features options to download YouTube videos in various formats and resolutions, giving you the flexibility to save large, high-quality files or ones that take up less storage space on your device.
Airy allows users to batch download multiple videos at once, such as whole playlists or channels of videos. The app supports queuing and downloading multiple videos at once, and it can even download subtitle tracks with videos.
As well as being a standalone app, Airy offers a handy browser integration to download YouTube videos without leaving the online viewing experience and is compatible with a range of browsers.
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1. Download Airy here.
2. Copy the URL of a YouTube video from the address bar.
3. Open Airy and paste the video’s URL into the text field. The video will then automatically preload in the app, ready for download.
4. Select your preferred format and resolution.
5. Click download.
4K Video Downloader is an app that allows you to download individual YouTube videos, as well as whole playlists and channels.
Hinting at its name, 4K Video Downloader boasts the ability to download in a range of resolutions, including 4K and even 8K. 4K Video Downloader also offers a feature to extract YouTube subtitles.
The app also supports video downloads from a number of other websites, such as Vimeo, DailyMotion, and Facebook. This may be ideal for users who need to download videos from a wider range of websites beyond YouTube alone.
Although the app does have a hamstrung free version, paid versions unlock more features depending on how much you are willing to pay.
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To download a YouTube video without leaving your browser, you will need to use a browser extension, which effectively functions as YouTube Downloader buttons. Which extension you can use depends on your browser, but there are options for many popular browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
In-browser solutions are confined to a limited framework, but they are still good solutions for some users. Unfortunately, they can be ad-heavy, may slow down your computer, and could risk your privacy, so your experience using them may be variable.
Chrome
Google Play does not support YouTube downloaders natively, which can make it difficult to locate reliable and effective YouTube downloaders for Chrome. Thankfully, there are some tools such as FastestTube that offer a download option on YouTube’s webpage.
FastestTube is a simple browser extension that allows you to download YouTube videos easily since it adds a handy "Download" button directly below the video player.
FastestTube supports HD and UltraHD video downloading, including 60 fps versions. You can only download MP4 or FLV files, two of the common video formats, and the extension is generally minimal on features.
There are versions of FastestTube available for Opera, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
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Firefox
DownloadHelper is a Firefox extension that allows you to download YouTube videos directly from the web, but it also supports a very wide range of other sites like DailyMotion, Facebook, Periscope, Vimeo, Twitch, and more.
When DownloadHelper detects embedded videos it is capable of downloading, the toolbar icon becomes highlighted, and a simple menu allows you to download files by simply clicking the desired item.
Video DownloadHelper supports a range of formats, and whenever a site uses a non-supported streaming technology, Video DownloadHelper is able to capture the media directly from the screen and generate a video file.
There is also a version available for Chrome.
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Safari
There are no clear frontrunner Safari YouTube downloader extension options, but like for Chrome, FastestTube is a viable Safari YouTube downloader since it adds a "Download" button below YouTube videos.
You can only download MP4 or FLV files, two the common video formats, and the extension is minimal on features, but it does support resolutions up to 4K UltraHD.
There are versions of FastestTube available for Opera, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. As a YouTube downloader for Safari, FastestTube may not be supported in your version of Apple’s browser, so your mileage may vary.
With iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, it is even now possible to add a YouTube downloader extension to Safari on iPhone and iPad.
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You may be wondering how to download YouTube videos on Mac without software. This is possible thanks to a number of websites that allow you to download videos by pasting in a link. Many of these websites work in a similar way, and may be run by the same organizations.
Often, these tools are unable to find the correct video from the link alone, and may require a captcha. You can expect videos to download slowly since they need to operate through the website. There may also be limited options for formats and resolutions.
Online solutions can be much more temperamental than a dedicated desktop app. Many YouTube downloader websites are riddled with nuisance ads and popups, many of which feature unwanted redirects to shopping sites and scams. This means that you have to be extremely careful about what websites you choose to use.
We cannot vouch for the safety of these websites or their availability in your region, but some popular option is YT5s.
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It is generally far safer and more convenient to use a dedicated solution, even if you only download YouTube videos occasionally.
These are just some of the available methods for downloading YouTube videos, but there are countless other solutions. If you are still unsure about what you should use, it may be best to try a few different YouTube downloaders to see which you like the best, especially if you are planning on downloading a large number of videos.
The concerns around downloading from a YouTube downloader website are well-known, with dozens of ads and slow download speeds. While extensions can be convenient by working from the YouTube web page itself, they tend to have limited features, compatibility issues, and have potential privacy concerns. It is generally far safer and more convenient to use a dedicated desktop app such as Airy.
