YouTube Downloader Not Working? See Why It Happens

Nowadays, YouTube is the most popular video streaming platform, leaving its competitors in the dust. It offers a wide variety of content, useful features, and other perks, so its popularity comes as no surprise. Still, due to different preferences and limitations, some users prefer to download and watch videos offline.

And grabbing YouTube videos used to be relatively simple to do. However, YouTube has been introducing constant updates to its terms of service. There are also newly applied restrictions on YouTube’s fair use policies and third parties, which have caused quite a conundrum. Did you wake up one day to realize you can't download YouTube videos anymore? You’re not alone. Policy changes have left many YouTube downloaders not working, but reliable solutions such as Airy can still help you download YouTube Videos on Mac. Learn what apps work following the latest updates and what to do if you find out you can't download YouTube video.

Why Is My YouTube Downloader Not Working?

Here is a compiled list of the most common problems that one can face with these downloaders.

Problem 1. Sometimes YouTube downloader programs are not updated with their coding.

In this case the failure the message displayed will be "404 Error". Trying the same download through an upgraded version of the same program should do the trick.

Problem 2. Some YouTube videos will simply not download because of copyright issues.

In this case, the common message displayed will be "Video Not Found". These videos are hard protected and difficult to download.

Problem 3. YouTube Video Not Found because of IP address.

If a download attempt is made from a geographical area outside the boundaries of the video's place of origin, the download will simply not take place. Here again the message displayed will be "Video Not Found".

Problem 4. Sometimes McAfee may interfere with the YouTube downloader.

In this case, the message displayed will generally be "404 Error". Uninstalling the McAfee will help resume the downloads.

Problem 5. YouTube Downloaders may not work because of outdated browser settings.

Any browser below Mozilla FireFox 4.0 will not support YouTube downloader programs, and as for Chrome, it is best to check for OS updates before heading for downloads.

Problem 6. YouTube video tool not compatible.

Sometimes videos get downloaded to the hard drive but don't play because the video tool is not compatible. If the videos do not work on Windows Player, one should switch over to VLC or install it if it's not already available.

Problem 7. Wrong format chosen.

Videos sometimes do not get downloaded or take a long time to download because the wrong format has been chosen. In such cases, the download bar will constantly be at 0%. In order to download videos relatively quicker, you should select a format of 360p or lower.

Problem 8. The firewall for Windows is programmed to block software that computers don't recognise.

If the downloader is not running on a computer, this is the most likely reason. To override the problem, one has to reset the firewall to allow the particular software.

Problem 9. Flash Player with wrong bit.

If one has a 34-bit Flash Player installed, it will block videos that run on 64 bit. Installing a 64-bit Flash Player will allow downloads of both 34 bit and 64 bit.

Problem 10. JavaScript not disabled.

Sometimes videos do not get downloaded on mobile devices because JavaScript is disabled. A simple trick of enabling Java Script will solve the problem.

So these are the most common problems that come with many different YouTube downloading programs. Luckily, the problems are easy to recognise and quick to solve if one really is up for it!