How to Download YouTube Videos Without Any Software on Mobile and PC? Try These Easy Ways!

| Updated on February 29, 2024

Imagine having a good time on YouTube while enjoying your food, but then YouTube videos keep pausing. It must be annoying, and you may think you should’ve downloaded the YouTube video instead. 

People can have a plethora of reasons why they want to download a YouTube video, from buffering videos to watching videos without having to use the internet every time they view them.

And when it comes to downloading YouTube videos, using software for it can be questionable for many. Also, let’s not forget how boring and time-consuming the process can be.

So in order to avoid all that, let’s get started with the methods to download YouTube video without any software. And find out whether it is even legal or not.

How to Download YouTube Videos Without Any Software? 

Downloading and installing software for anything can be a pretty lengthy process. And apart from giving you a headache, it also takes up space and time. 

Error image.

Annoyed by this scenario, many prefer to download YouTube videos without any software. So if you are also one of them, we will be explaining the ways in which you can carry out the process, hopefully without a virus or headache! Just like downloading private YouTube videos, you can download public ones too, without any hassle of installing software. 

Here are some of the websites that will help you in downloading YouTube videos without having to install anything. 

While all of them are free, we can’t say the same about safety. As most of them have plenty of ads running, there can be a malware issue and some can have explicit content on them too. So you have to be cautious about YouTube download while using them, and it can be with the help of these points: 

  • Keep antivirus software like Avast or McAfee installed and make sure it is enabled when you’re visiting these sites.
  • If your antivirus is giving you any warning about a certain website, don’t ignore it and override it. You should pay attention to the alert and avoid using unsafe sites.
  • In case the website that you have decided to go with for downloading YouTube videos contains a lot of ads and has many pop-ups, which might be explicit too, you’ve got to stay aware. There are high chance that they have malware and will cause harm to your device.

If you accidentally click on an ad or your device has got malware, it might still not be too late. You can remove the website from your browser and disconnect your device from the internet and let your antivirus software do the job.

At the time of writing, all of them worked just fine. If you want to know how to use them along with other ways, go ahead to the following section.

Methods to Download YouTube Videos Using:

We will now explain the different ways to download YouTube video without using any software. It can basically be done with the help of third-party websites, browser extensions, and download managers. Let’s take a look at their steps to understand how. 

Third-Party Websites

Even though they may sound unsafe, third-party websites often help out in getting done with many tasks. And one of them is downloading YouTube videos. So now we will list down the steps to download YouTube video on PC, with an example of any third-party website.

  • Go to YouTube and click on the video that you want to download. 
  • Then tap on the Share icon given below the video’s title.
    Tap on Share.
  • Once you click on it, select Copy.
    Click on Copy
  • Now the video’s link will get copied successfully. 

Now the main operation begins!

  • All you have to do is paste the copied link on the given bar and hit on Download.
    Paste the copied link
  • Once you do that, a list of available options for quality will appear.
  • Select the one you want and click on Download.
    Click on Downloadd
  • After that, the YouTube video will start getting downloaded. 

You did it! Now you know how to download YouTube videos to your laptop, and you can watch the downloaded video offline without having to look for it over and over again! 

Google Chrome Extensions and Download Managers

Extensions come in rather handy and are an easy way of extending the capabilities of a big browser like Chrome. So, another method that you can use to download videos from YouTube is to use the Google Chrome extension. 

If you are a Chrome user and prefer to download videos from Youtube there, some extensions are available for that. Along with that, there are some download managers as well. We will be listing some of them. 

Here’s the real play!

Solution Synopsis: Add to Chrome > Go to YouTube video > Click on Added Extension > Download.

And… you’re ALL SET! The YouTube video will now get successfully downloaded, and you can watch it anytime you want to, even without using the internet. Now you know how to download videos from YouTube to the computer.

Using the SS Method

One more way using which you can download a YouTube video without having to use any software is by the SS method. If you have been using YouTube for quite some time, you may have already heard of the trick, but in case you haven’t, we’re here to tell it all. 

  • Open YouTube and go to the video that you want to download. 
  • Then simply add ‘ss’ before ‘youtube’ in the video’s link address at the top.
    Add ‘ss’ before ‘youtube’.
  • Now press Enter and you will be redirected to the download page. 
  • Press Download and the video will get downloaded successfully. 

And it was a success! The process for downloading YouTube videos on a laptop without any software is completed with the OG ‘ss method’. 

Enough unofficial methods! Now let’s take a look at an official way!

With YouTube Premium

If the process of downloading and installing the software is what is your main concern, and you don’t mind paying to get away with it, here’s the right method for you – YouTube Premium!

YouTube Premium homepage.

With the help of YouTube Premium, you can easily download a YouTube video and won’t have to watch ads either. But keep in mind that these steps will only be successful on your mobile device only. What you simply need to do is to follow the given steps below:

  • Go to YouTube Premium and get a plan that your pocket allows.
  • Once you are done with getting the plan, head over to the video that you want to download.
  • Now you can simply click on the three vertical dots icon and select Download video.

You asked, and we answered. 

Using these methods, you now know how to download videos from any site without using a software. However, if you want to specifically do the same procedure on MacBook or other devices, read on.

How to Download YouTube Videos on Mac Without Any Software?

By now, you may have understood the ways of downloading YouTube videos without software. So if you are a Mac user, and want to know how to download YouTube videos on Mac without software, here are the steps for it:

  • Open YouTube and copy the link of the video you want to download: Share > Copy.
    Click on Share and select Copy
  • Now it will start getting downloaded on your MacBook.
    Downloading of 4K Video Downloader
  • Once it has been successfully installed, click on Paste Link.
    Click on Paste Link
  • Now it will start parsing the copied link from YouTube itself and a list of different audio types along with video quality will appear as shown below.
    List of video and audio quality
  • You can select the one you want and choose if you want to download subtitles as well or not. And once you are done, click on Download.
    Click on Downloaad
  • Now the YouTube video will get downloaded in the selected audio and video quality successfully.
    YouTube video downloaded

So with the help of these steps, you can easily download videos from YouTube on your Mac without any software. But since these were the steps for downloading YouTube videos on a laptop, if you want to do the same, but on your mobile, you can refer to the next section.

Ways to Download YouTube Videos on Android and iOS

In the article so far, you may have understood how to download videos from Youtube without software. However, the ways explained were for how to download a YouTube video to the computer.

So if you use YouTube on your mobile a lot, and prefer to download videos directly from there only, here are the steps to download them without using a software for both Android and iOS.

Android 

There are easy ways to download videos from YouTube on Android. It won’t be an exception if you use YouTube on your Android a lot and not on your PC. So if you want to know how to download a YouTube video on Android, follow these simple steps:

  • Open the YouTube app and go to the video that you want to download. 
  • Now click on Share given below the video’s title.
    Click on Sharee
  • Select Copy link.
    Click on Copy linkk
  • Paste the copied link in the given bar. 
    Paste the link in the search bar
  • Now press Download and it will start loading the page.
    Loading video page
  • After that, it will load the list of different audio and video quality. Click on Download and choose the one you want.
    Click on Downlooad
  • The YouTube video will now get downloaded.
    YouTube video downloading

And now the YouTube video has been successfully downloaded! If you want to do it on an iPhone or iPad, follow the steps in the next section.

iOS

For iPhone or iPad users, the following steps will help them to download YouTube videos easily with no need to install the software.

  • Open the YouTube app and go to the video you want to download.
  • Now click on Share and select Copy link.
  • Then go to the savefrom.net website.
  • Paste the link in the given bar.
  • Tap on Download.
  • You can now select quality from the options given. 
  • Lastly, click on Download and the video will start getting downloaded.

Once you are done, you can now enjoy watching the downloaded video as many times as you want. With these steps, you can download more as well. If YouTube videos aren’t playing on your iPhone, you might have some work to do.

Read Next: How to Download Music from YouTube?

Before you kick off with trying the different ways of downloading YouTube videos without any software, that we have explained for you in the article, let’s answer whether it is even allowed. Basically, if you want to download YouTube videos for free or in general, it is usually considered to be for personal use. In fact, if you don’t publicize the downloaded video or upload it somewhere, you may not get in trouble since YouTube doesn’t have any typical way to keep an eye out for every user.

However, if you upload it somewhere, you might invite some chaos. It is pretty obvious that you will not only get a copyright claim for it, but also get into legal trouble from the creator’s end, as they own the content. But that’s a different story. 

While YouTube download is not illegal, if you do that and bring it to YouTube’s attention, it might be bad news as it is against YouTube’s Terms of Service. Your account can get closed, and you won’t want that to happen. So as long as you are downloading files of your own because you don’t have them currently, downloading them from YouTube would work just fine. 

Conclusion 

With the help of this article, you will be able to understand how to download videos from YouTube without any software. Moreover, even if you wish to download them using software, it will take forever to download compared to extensions or third-party sites. 

Meme template

The situation might get something like this , and no one would want that. So in order to prevent that, it is better to make use of the methods explained in the article, rather than wasting time downloading and installing software just to download YouTube videos. As this can easily be done shortly with the explained methods.  


Janvi Panthri

Senior Writer, Editor


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