Guide

How to download a public YouTube video

Use this when you need the video file itself. Paste a public link, pick a quality, and save it in your browser. Captions, MP3, and a summary are separate jobs on the same site.

Works with watch, shorts, youtu.be, and a bare video id. No account.

Your file is downloading

The file will save to your downloads folder.

Checking download…

Paste a public link

Open /youtube-video-download and paste a watch URL, a Short, a youtu.be link, or the 11-character id. Press Download video. The form does not ask for an account.

Pick a quality you can finish

360p and 480p are the normal choices. 720p is limited, and 1080p or 4K is about one file a day. A long video at a high quality is the usual reason a download stops.

What we will not download

Private, members-only, age-restricted, and many livestreams fail. We do not bypass a login, an age gate, or a region wall, and we do not keep a copy of the file on the server.

Rights

Download a video you are allowed to keep: your upload, a license, or another use the law permits. This is not a bulk downloader and not a library of other people’s videos.

If you needed the words instead

A video file is the wrong tool for a quote. Open the transcript, the SRT download, or the summary for the same link.

Use the tool

Open the video downloadAll guides

FAQ

Is the YouTube video download free?

Yes for the web tool. Ads may appear around the page. No account.

Why is 1080p limited?

High qualities are large. The limit keeps one network from pulling every upload. 480p is the default.

Can I download a private video?

No. If YouTube does not serve that video to a logged-out player, we cannot save it.