Best Solutions to Save Videos from YouTube to Mac

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Anna Brooks 11 Jun at 06:08

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. 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.

Save YouTube Videos with Third-Party Apps

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

Requirements: OS X 10.9+. 14.9MB free space. Version 3.8.212. (18th Jun, 2019). 4.9 Rank based on 812+ users, Reviews(889)
Category: UtilitiesApplication

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Airy app easily converts YouTube videos into proper formats and downloads the YouTube content of any length as well as size to Mac computers. It allows you to save the whole playlists and channels from YouTube and extract audio tracks from videos. If you need multiple files, you can download them all in bunch.

How to save YouTube video on Mac with Airy:

Click here to download Airy from its official website to your Mac. Install it as any other app.
Launch it.
Copy the video URL from YouTube and paste it to the search area. Click Enter.
Select the format and resolution for the video you’d like to download. To rip audio out of the video, find MP3 in the list of available formats.
Click Download. The downloaded video will be saved to Downloads/Airy folder. To change this path go to Airy Preferences.

Airy has 2 versions, trial and full. The trial version allows you to download 2 YouTube videos for free. For unlimited downloading and the full pack of features you should activate Airy’s full version.

Save youtube videos mac With Airy and receive the following:

YouTube content without ads
High speed downloads and high quality media
Audio files out of YouTube videos
The choice of format and resolution you require
Integration with your web browser
YouTube playlists and channels without pains and waste of time
YouTube subtitle files in SRT format
Auto-population of your login and password from YouTube account
60fps videos from YouTube
Downloads resume
Access to age-restricted and protected content

Elmedia Player

Elmedia Player 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), and dongles (e.g. EZCast dongle). 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.

How to save YouTube video on Mac with Elmedia Player PRO:

Download Elmedia and install it on your Mac. You'll need a registration code to activate PRO version, which can be purchased from the developers' website.
Switch the player to the browser mode from the Main menu -> Window.
Paste the link to a YouTube video, channel, playlist and click Enter.
Select the file to download from the list under the video and click Download.
You can save the video as MP4, 3GP, WebM, FLV, etc.). Choose MP3 and you'll get the sound file only.
The default destination for saved files is "Downloads" folder, you can set any other in Preferences.

VideoDuke

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.

How to Download YouTube Videos by Using Browser Extensions

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:

Solutions for Chrome

SaveFrom.net

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.

YouTube Video Downloader

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.

Solutions for Firefox

Flash Video Downloader

Flash Video Downloader allows you to save video and audio files from many websites. It easily finds links to videos, images, audio tracks and other elements, e.g. swf or .exe files on the site you are currently viewing. Flash Video Downloader can deliver YouTube videos to your hard drive in such formats as HD, MP4, Low FLV, etc. It also filters out irritating ad clips.

Video DownloadHelper

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.

YouTube Video and Audio Downloader

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.

Solutions for Safari

Easy YouTube Video Downloader

Easy YouTube Video Downloader claims to show you how to save YouTube videos to your computer 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.

FastestTube

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.

Official YouTube Solution - YouTube Premium

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:

millions of songs and videos in YouTube Music without ads;
downloading songs and videos to your mobile device;
the background play function for listening to music while you are working with other apps;
"Audio Only" mode that allows listening to music without downloading videos.

*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.

Tips on How to Choose the Best YouTube Downloader

Here’s the list of the main criteria that a good YouTube downloader should have:

high speed downloads
a wide range of formats and resolutions for you to pick out the quality you need
audio out of the video extraction
downloads resume
bulk URL downloading
downloading YouTube channels and playlists
convenient interface
integration with web browsers

Conclusion

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.

Airy / Best Solutions to Save Videos from YouTube to Mac