4 Ways to Download YouTube Videos on Android

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4 Ways to download YouTube videos on your Android

Co-authored by Yaffet Meshesha and Travis Boylls

Last Updated: December 18, 2024 Fact Checked

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Using YouTube Premuim

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Downloading Your Own Videos

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Using a YouTube Download Website

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Using 4K Video Downloader

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Video

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Q&A

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Warnings

Do you want to save a YouTube video to watch later when you're offline? Do you want to download your own videos to share on other platforms? The best and easiest way to download videos is if you have a YouTube Premium subscription, but there are a few other ways you can save videos to your phone. You should only download videos that are yours or fall under the Creative Commons license.^{[1]
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Research source} This wikiHow article shows you the different ways that you can download YouTube videos on Android using apps or your mobile web browser.

How to Download Videos From YouTube on Android

Make sure you have a YouTube Premium subscription.
Open the YouTube app on your Android device.
Find the video you want to download.
Tap the video to play it.
Tap Download below the video.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Using YouTube Premuim

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One of the perks of having a YouTube Premium subscription is that you can save videos to watch offline later on. If you don't have a YouTube Premium subscription, you can only download videos you've uploaded using the YouTube Studio app.^{[2]
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This app icon looks like a white play button inside a red rectangle. If you have a YouTube Premium subscription, you can save videos to watch later using the YouTube app.

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Navigate to the video you want to download. You can search for your video by tapping the magnifying glass icon in the top right of your screen.^{[3]
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- You can also select a video from the list presented when you first open the app.
- Alternatively, select a video from the categories at the bottom of your screen, like trending or subscriptions.
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Tap Download. This is below the video playback screen along with the up-vote or down-vote, the share button, and save. You will receive a confirmation when the video is done downloading.^{[4]
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- Alternatively, you can tap the icon with three dots (⋮) next to a video in the search results and then tap Download video.
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Navigate to your downloaded videos. To view your downloaded videos, tap your profile image in the lower-right corner. Then tap 'Downloads. Tap any of the videos you have downloaded to view them.
- YouTube Premium also has a feature called "Smart Downloads" which will download videos automatically based on your viewing history. This feature is turned on by default. To turn it off, tap your profile icon, followed by the Gear icon in the upper-right corner. Then tap Background & downloads. Then tap the toggle switch next to "Smart Downloads" to turn it on or off.
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YouTube Premium is the only legitmate source to download YouTube videos. If you subscribe to YouTube Premium, you can actually download the videos you watch, you can save them to devices or to your computer. They don't want you downloading videos from other sources.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Downloading Your Own Videos

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Open the YouTube Studio app. Regardless of whether or not you have a YouTube Premium subscription, you can download the videos you have uploaded to your own channel using YouTube Studio. Tap the YouTube Studio app to open the YouTube Studio app.
- If you don't have the YouTube Studio app, you can download it for free from the Google Play Store.
It's the second tab at the bottom of the screen. It has an icon that resembles two overlapping squares with a play triangle.
If you want to download one of your long-form videos, tap View all next to "Videos." If you want to download one of your Shorts, tap View all next to "Shorts."
This displays a flyout menu.
This saves the video to your device. You can find your downloaded videos in the Gallery on your device.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Using a YouTube Download Website

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Open the YouTube app on your Android device. Tap the magnifying glass icon and use the search bar to search for the video you want to download. When you find the video you want to download, tap it to play it.
It's the button that has an icon that resembles a curved arrow pointing right at the bottom of the screen. Tap this icon to display the Share menu.
It's the first option in the Share menu below the different app icons.
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Search for a YouTube video downloader site. According to computer expert Yaffet Meshesha, the easiest way to download YouTube videos is to use a YouTube download website. Open Google in your web browser and search "YouTube download site." You should see a variety of YouTube download sites.
- Since video download sites operate in a legal grey area, they are often targeted by copyright claims. The sites that are available may change.
- Some current websites you can use include, yt1d.com, Media Mister, Publer.io, and yt5s.is
- Warning: Many free websites contain intrusive ads and downloads to adware and malware. Some may even try to trick you by disguising themselves as legitimate buttons. If you accidentally download anything other than the video in the file you selected, do not open it.
Most download sites have a bar in the middle of the screen. Tap and hold the bar and then tap Paste to paste the link to the YouTube video you want to download.
It's usually to the right of the bar where paste the link to the video. The button may look different depending on the website you use.
Many YouTube download sites allow you to select the resolution and file format you want to download. MP4 is the most common video file format. You may be able to select another file format or an audio-only file format. You may also be able to select the resolution of the video you want to download. Higher resolutions (i.e. 1080p) will have better quality, but take up more space on your device.
Once you select the file format and resolution, tap the Download button. The video should be downloaded to the Videos folder or in your Gallery. You can open the Videos folder using the Files or My Files app on your Android device.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Using 4K Video Downloader

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Download and install 4K Video Downloader for Android. 4K Video Downloader is an app that allows you to download videos from YouTube. It is available on PC, Mac, and Android. Since this app violates YouTube's terms of service, it is not available in the Google Play Store. To install it, you will need to download the APK file from the official website and side-load it on your Android device. Use the following steps to do so:
- Go to https://www.4kdownload.com/downloads/30# in your device's web browser.
- Scroll down and tap Android app.
- Tap Get 4K Video Downloader.
- Tap the icon with three dots (⋮) in the upper-right corner.
- Tap Downloads
- Tap the 4Kvideodownloader.apk file.
- Tap Install.
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Copy the URL of the video you want to download. Use the following steps to do so:
- Open the YouTube app.
- Search for the video you want to download.
- Tap the video to start playing it.
- Tap Share below the video.
- Tap Copy Link.
You'll see this button in the bottom left corner of your screen. Tap this button to automatically paste the link to 4K Video Downloader. It will start downloading the video to your phone immediately.
You can open a downloaded video in 4K Video Downloader by tapping it in the list of downloads. Alternatively, you can find downloaded videos in your Gallery, or in the Videos folder in the Files or My Files app.

Community Q&A

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Question

What if SaveFrom.net is banned?

godidico

Community Answer

use VidSnipe.com. Just go to the wesbite, click on the icon you need to download the videos from ( in your case, the YouTube icon), paste the short or the YouTube URL, choose HD quality and click Download. It's easy and it's free.

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Warnings

According to Google's terms of service for YouTube, downloading videos is illegal and can result in your account being terminated.^{[5]
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