What YouTube Video & Audio Downloader does
YouTube stores each video as separate streams: several video tracks at different resolutions and one or more audio tracks, which the player stitches together as you watch. A downloader has to find those streams, pick the best pair for the quality you asked for, and merge them into a single MP4 — or pull the audio track alone to make an MP3 or M4A.
That work cannot be done inside an ordinary browser tab. YouTube does not allow other websites to read its streams directly, and the addresses change constantly. It needs a server-side engine, which is why this tool is not switched on yet rather than offering a button that fails half the time.
When to use it
- Your own uploads
- Creators who lost the original file can recover a copy of a video they published, in the highest resolution YouTube kept.
- Creative Commons material
- Videos marked with a Creative Commons licence on YouTube may be reused with credit. Saving a copy makes editing and remixing them practical.
- Offline lectures and talks
- Where the rights holder permits it, an audio-only copy of a long lecture is a fraction of the size and plays anywhere.
YouTube Video & Audio Downloader settings explained
- Video quality (planned)
- A choice of the resolutions the video offers — typically 360p, 720p, 1080p and higher where available — saved as MP4 for maximum compatibility.
- Audio only (planned)
- The soundtrack alone, as MP3 for universal playback or M4A to keep YouTube's original AAC audio without re-encoding.
- Supported links (planned)
- Standard watch links, youtu.be short links and YouTube Shorts. Private videos and members-only content will not be supported.
Limits and what to expect
- This tool is not live yet. No file can be downloaded from this page today.
- When it launches it will only handle public videos; private, members-only and paid content are excluded.
- Downloading is only appropriate for content you own or have the right to save.
Troubleshooting
- I need the audio from a video file I already have
- Use Extract Audio from Video, which works today entirely in your browser. Drop in an MP4, MOV or WebM file and save its soundtrack as MP3 or WAV without uploading anything.
- I only need the video's thumbnail
- The YouTube Thumbnail Downloader is available now. Paste the same link and download the thumbnail in every size up to 1280 × 720.
- I have a video file in the wrong format
- The Video Converter changes MP4, WebM and MOV files between formats in your browser, and the Video Compressor shrinks them for sharing.
Your files and your privacy
Nothing is processed on this page yet. When the downloader launches, only the link you paste will be sent to our download engine, which will not keep a copy of the file or a history of what was requested. Every other tool on this site stays fully in-browser.
What to use next
FAQ
When will the YouTube downloader be available?
It is planned but has no fixed launch date. It needs a server-side engine that we have not switched on, and we would rather show nothing than a downloader that only works some of the time.
Is it legal to download YouTube videos?
YouTube's terms allow downloading only where YouTube offers a download button or the rights holder has given permission. Only save videos you own, that carry a Creative Commons licence, or that you have been allowed to download.
Which formats will it offer?
MP4 video in the resolutions the video provides, plus audio-only MP3 and M4A. MP4 and MP3 play on practically every device.
Why can't the browser download YouTube videos directly?
Browsers stop one website from reading another site's files unless that site allows it, and YouTube does not. A download therefore has to be fetched by a server, not by the page you are on.
What can I use right now?
The YouTube Thumbnail Downloader works today. For video files already on your device, Extract Audio from Video, Video Converter and Video Compressor all run in your browser.