Today’s Internet is impossible to imagine without YouTube. In its limitless catalog you can find answers to any question you may have by simply surfing through the videos of any kind: music clips, full-length movies, tutorials, educational videos, webinars, cartoons, etc. People also ask: how to save YouTube videos to Mac to watch offline? Unfortunately, the YouTube content is available only online as the download feature is not provided by its creators. Still you can save videos from YouTube to your Mac without any problems and external help. For this, you will need a proper software solution: a third-party application, browser extension, web service or YouTube new subscription YouTube Premium. Let’s have a closer look at each of them.
Third-party apps for Mac are software applications developed not by Apple, but by other person or company. Such apps are easily downloaded to Mac computers from the Internet. They require the Internet connection and offer advanced features for extra payment. Here’s our top list of the best 3rd party apps:
Airy has 2 versions, trial and full. The trial version allows you to download 2 YouTube videos for free. For unlimited downloading YouTube videos OS X and the full pack of features you should activate Airy’s full version.
Elmedia Player PRO has proved itself as a 3-in-1 solution working good as a great downloader, video player and media streamer. Elmedia supports any format you may know and provides flawless playback without interruptions or defects. With Elmedia app at hand, you are able not only to save YouTube videos to your Mac, but to stream them from your Mac to Chromecast, AirPlay and DLNA-compatible devices, such as Smart TVs, Apple TV, adapters (e.g. Chromecast Ultra). You can also convert your video into the series of stills, download and stream subtitles, manage audio as well as video playback and many more.
VideoDuke knows well how to save videos from YouTube, Vimeo and Dailymotion websites. It also grabs content from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other video hosting services. With VideoDuke you can download the whole YouTube playlists and channels or get an audio track out of the YouTube video. The app supports streaming videos and downloading subtitles, allows you to create bookmarks and integrate its button into your browser. VideoDuke works in 2 modes: Simple and Advanced as well as gives you 2 downloads for free.
When talking about tools to download videos from YouTube, Mac users can always rely on VideoDuke as their all-in-one downloader. Using VideoDuke to download YouTube video Mac files is very easy, just follow these steps:
Having answered how to download a YouTube video Mac, it’s time to also inform you that all the downloads will go to the default folder. That is Downloads/ VideoDuke, however, the folder can be changed from “Preferences”.
A browser extension or add-on is a small software app that extends the capacities and the functionality of a web browser. The download extensions allow you to save videos without leaving the page with a video file. They add special buttons to the browser toolbar or below the video. These buttons get active each time you come across a file available for download. Once you click the active extension button on the page with the video, you can get this video to your computer. Some add-ons allow you to choose the video quality and provide different options for the best downloading. Check out these top extensions for the most popular web browsers:
SaveFrom.net allows you to download audio and video files from various sites and social networks, such as YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, Instagram, etc. After installation you will see the "Download" button on the page with the video. Click it and your video will be saved in a desired quality.
This add-on adds the “Download” button below the video currently playing on the webpage. It allows you to choose the desired video quality as well as to convert any video format into MP3. It offers you 4K, 2K, HD, 480p, 360p, 144p and other resolutions. As for the video formats, you can choose the following ones: MP4, FLV, WEBM, and 3GP. YouTube Video Downloader can save you dash videos and audio streams.
If you decide to go for one of the most popular and used add-on, then YouTube Video Downloader is definitely the way. Besides the 256Kbps MP3 download capability, you get any videos downloaded from YouTube with just one click.
This 1080p Full-HD download-feature will offer you videos that are downloaded in a matter of seconds, without any hassle. Moreover, this 256Kbps MP3 Mac downloader YouTube has a very intuitive interface, which makes the downloading process easy and quick.
Video DownloadHelper was designed to extract video files as well as images from web resources and save them to your computer. When the tool finds something it can download, its icon highlights and you can get this file by simply clicking the icon. Besides YouTube, Video DownloadHelper freely grabs the media content from DailyMotion, Facebook, Periscope, Vimeo, Vine, Metacafe and many other sites. It also supports several types of streaming.
This extension offers you 2 main features: Quick Download and Download Panel. With the Quick Download option a video is saved in a moment to your hard drive. The Download Panel displays all formats and resolutions available for downloading. Among the offered items you can choose video-only and audio-only formats. In the Settings block you can enable/disable the options you need. YouTube Video and Audio Downloader also directs you to another add-on, Media Converter and Muxer. To view and install it click the Conversion Tool button.
Easy YouTube Video Downloader claims to show you how to download YouTube videos on Mac without software with a single click at a fast speed. It allows you to get the YouTube content in MP4, FLV, 3GP and MP3 formats, in different resolutions including Full-HD. This add-on has a fancy and non-invasive button that offers you only necessary stuff without unwanted details, options and configurations.
This extension works not only with Safari, but with Opera, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and other browsers as well. Keep in mind that the Chrome installer skips the Chrome Web Store, so you may have problems installing this add-on in Google Chrome. FastestTube places the "Download this video" menu on a YouTube page and displays all format options. It is surely aware of how to save YouTube videos on Mac, though there can be installation issues in some browsers.
YouTube Premium (earlier known as YouTube Red) is a premium paid membership provided by YouTube to give additional features and possibilities to its users. With YouTube Premium you get the following:
*Videos without ads
You can watch millions of YouTube videos without annoying ads. This refers to the advertisements at the beginning and in the middle of the video clips, as well as banners, overlays, and ads that come with the search results. Still, you will see brand or inserted ads in the content that YouTube does not control.
You can enjoy YouTube videos without ads on all devices and platforms after you sign in to your Google Account. The content is available on Smart TVs, game consoles, mobile YouTube apps, YouTube Music, YouTube Gaming, and YouTube Kids.
*YouTube Music Premium
YouTube Music Premium gives you access to the following features:
*YouTube Originals
You can enjoy TV series and movies created by the best YouTube directors right after their releases. You are not charged additional payment.
*Downloading videos for offline view
You can have a possibility to download videos as well as playlists and view them on your device without the Internet connection. Offline video playback is available for YouTube Premium members in YouTube, YouTube Music and YouTube Gaming apps.
*Background playback
You can play videos on your mobile device while working with other apps, or even when the screen is off. The background playback is supported on mobile YouTube apps, YouTube Music, YouTube Gaming, and YouTube Kids.
The cost of YouTube Premium is $11.99 per month. YouTube Music Premium membership will make you pay $9.99 per month.
Here’s the list of the main criteria that a good YouTube downloader should have:
Simply choose any of the methods we have just introduced above and use the one that is the most suitable for you.
For example, follow the easy steps with Airy:
Step 1. Download and launch Airy.
Step 2. Open YouTube and copy the link to it to paste it into Airy.
Step 3. Select the video format to save to and click the "Download" button.
Step 4. Wait for the download to finish and enjoy your favorite videos endlessly without annoying ads.
Keep in mind that you can even download the soundtracks instead of the whole videos. Simply choose MP3 from the list of formats and you can get your favorite songs in MP3 and without the videos.
Tada! Now you know how to download your favorite videos on your iPhone!
Answering how to download YouTube videos Mac is very simple when you have so many great tools available. No matter if you are looking for a free app or a subscription-based tool, you have plenty of options to choose from.
Here’s how to download video from YouTube Mac using Airy:
If you don’t want to download the files on your computer but rather record them directly from YouTube, we have a solution for that as well. You can use QuickTime Player to record YouTube, download Mac files, and save them on your hard drive.
Here’s how:
Now you know that saving videos from YouTube to Mac is possible and very easy. Choose the right piece of software and enjoy your view offline. We recommend you to use Airy app as its work, efficiency and user-friendliness is beyond all praise.
