How to download YouTube videos is a question many people ask themselves when browsing the platform, either to play them later or to have them on hand for reference at any time.
YouTube is one of the most popular sites in the world due to the millions of videos uploaded daily, the number of YouTubers who earn income on the platform, and the countless users who visit it every day.
However, there are times when people cannot access a video on the platform, either due to time, resources, network coverage, or device limitations. Therefore, many have a need to download YouTube videos.
Imagine this scenario: you are browsing YouTube and come across a practical workshop that explains the 4 steps to create a Tiendanube and get it up and running in 50 minutes. If you can’t see it at that moment, surely you’re going to want to download it to review later and make a free store using the 30-day trial, right?
For such cases, we created this article. Well, even though YouTube Premium offers the ability to download videos to a mobile device, listen to music with the screen locked, and remove ads, many users do not want to pay for it.
Let us begin!
How to Download YouTube Videos: 3 Ways
There are different ways to download YouTube videos, depending on your need, whether you are just looking to download the audio, convert it to another format, or download all the elements, i.e. images, subtitles, metadata, etc.
We’ll see now:
- How to download YouTube videos without programs
- How to download YouTube videos to your computer
- How to download YouTube videos to your cell phone
1. How to download YouTube videos without programs
The easiest way to download YouTube videos online, that is, without programs, is through pages that offer a service such as:
- Savefrom
- Ssyoutube
- Genyoutube
- Y2bs
- Snapsave
- ClipConverter
- Y2mate
- Free Make
- Youzik
- Online Video Converter
All these sites are free and allow you to download videos in a basic way and without having to install a risky program. In some cases, you can modify aspects of the format or quality, or even cut parts of it, download complete playlists, or download all the videos on a channel.
Its interface allows simple, intuitive use that facilitates downloading YouTube videos. In some cases, you have to see ads to use them, since that is how these sites monetize their traffic.
To download YouTube videos without programs, you just have to follow these steps:
- Choose the YouTube video you want to download and copy the URL.
- Enter the download site you have selected.
- In the download bar, paste the URL of the video you want from YouTube.
- Select the format or conversion options if needed.
- Accept the terms and conditions of each site.
- Click on the “Download” button or option, as the case may be, and that’s it!
- As we have seen, it is a quick and simple process that does not require installing any program on your computer. Let’s keep learning how to download YouTube videos!
2. How to download YouTube videos to your computer
There are different cases in which you need to download a YouTube video on your computer using a program dedicated to it, due to the functions they offer, for example, downloading several videos simultaneously.
One such application is JDownloader, a free-to-use download manager that lets you download various file types from multiple websites, not just YouTube. This program was created in 2011, it is open source, and it is available for different operating systems, such as Windows, macOS, and Linux.
To download YouTube videos, I followed these steps:
- Enter this link to download and install JDownloader according to the operating system you use.
- Open the program and search for the YouTube video to download.
- The video will be automatically added to the list of videos to download. You can download just the video or the entire folder, which includes the audio, thumbnail image, and subtitles.
- Click the play button ▶️ to start the download, and that’s it!
3. How to download YouTube videos to your cell phone
Now we are going to tell you about different applications to download YouTube videos to your cell phone, whether it is an Android or an iPhone.
Keep in mind that, for legal reasons, many of these are not official applications and you will not find them available on the Play Store or the App Store. So you will have to download them from other sites.
The main applications to download YouTube videos on your Android or iPhone are:
- NewPipe (Android)
- Snaptube (Android)
- Tubemate (Android)
- YouPlus (for iOS)
- TubeMate (Android & iOS)
Each of these apps works similarly and has an interface similar to YouTube, allowing users to find any video in the official application. In addition, they allow you to adjust video settings, such as size, quality, audio, and other aspects.
Now that you know about the free applications to download YouTube videos to your cell phone, Android, or iPhone, let’s see how to do it.
- Download and install any of the mentioned applications on your phone.
- Open the app to download videos. In this step-by-step guide, we use NewPipe as an example.
- Search for the video you want to download.
- Choose the Download option.
- Select the desired configuration and tap on “OK”.




