How to save a youtube video to your computer

After reading this article, you will know four ways on how to download YouTube videos on a laptop or computer. 

By downloading YouTube videos to your laptop or computer, you can enjoy many conveniences. For example, you can watch the video offline without any Internet connection, you can edit amazing videos with those clips, or you can convert the video to audio to obtain the audio file.

Can You Download YouTube Videos to Laptop

However, YouTube doesn't allow its users to download its videos from the website for offline viewing. Although with YouTube Premium, you can download videos from YouTube to your mobile devices like a mobile phone and tablet, you can't download YouTube videos to your laptop or computer from the website.

Then, "How can I download YouTube videos to my laptop?", many users asked. The good news is that there are many practical ways that will help you to save a YouTube video to a computer, be it a laptop or PC. Read on to learn how to download a YouTube video to your computer in different ways and apply one of them to save the videos you like to your computer.

How to Download YouTube Videos in Laptop 

There are generally four ways to download YouTube videos, including using desktop software, online video downloader, web browser, and media player. Each of the methods has its advantages and disadvantages. Read the methods in detail and carry out the one best suited to your needs.

Method 1. Download YouTube Videos on Laptop with Desktop Software

Guarantee:  100% Free, No Ads, No Plugins

Downloading YouTube videos can be quite easy with this video downloader for Windows - EaseUS Video Downloader. With it, you can download one or multiple videos from various websites by simply pasting the URL or using the keywords related to your video to search for it. Easy, right?

Besides being easy of use, it also has many other great features, such as:

• Simple and clean UI
• Download videos in different resolutions
• Download your favorite playlists or channels
• Convert any videos to MP3

Whether you're using a PC or Mac or laptop, you can use this video downloader to save your favorite videos from YouTube. Check our previous guide to download youtube videos on a mac if needed. 

Now, let's start downloading YouTube videos with it. 

Step 1. Run EaseUS Video Downloader, choose "Quick Search" from the left pane.

Step 2. Search for your wanted video by inputting keywords related to your video in the Search box, then click the "Search" button. Or you can directly copy and paste the URL of the video you want to download into the Search box. Then, your video will display on the screen with a "Download" button, click it to proceed.

Step 3. A window will pop up to let you change the settings. From here, you can choose the quality and export format of your video. Also, you can set the storage path for downloaded videos. After that, click the "Download" button to start downloading. Once it's finished, you can find the downloaded items from your laptop. 

Disclaimer: It is illegal to download any copyrighted content for commercial purposes without the permission. This guide is demonstrated ONLY for personal use.

The steps above are also helpful to download Vimeo videos, save Facebook videos to a computer, download music from SoundCloud, and more.

Method 2. Save YouTube Videos to Laptop with Online Video Downloader

"How can I download YouTube videos on my laptop with Chrome?" If you have the same question, one of the answers for you is to use an online video downloader. An online video downloader enables you to download a YouTube video to your computer without installing software. However, according to my own experience, it's highly likely that you will be shown lots of ads or be redirected to another page after you click "Download". Before you try, it's worth mentioning that you may encounter other unexpected issues while using the online tool. Here are some of the issues I experienced:

• After parsing the link, the website said it didn't find the media files.
• After I clicked the "Download" button, I was redirected to another page that required me to download a video downloader app.
• After I pasted the URL and clicked "Download", I was redirected to a shopping website.
• The online video downloader took a long time to analyze the video address and then reported: "Failed to analyze video links!"

If you don't mind these disadvantages, follow to see how to download a YouTube video to your laptop.

There are many online video downloaders available, here I take YouTube Video Downloader as an example:

Step 1. In Chrome or other web browsers, go to visit the online YouTube video downloader.

Step 2. Copy and paste the URL of the YouTube video you want to download in the address bar and click "Download".  (Attention. You may be redirected to another webpage and there is an ad that keeps popping up.)

Step 3. If you are redirected to another site, switch the tab to go back to the original site.

Step 4. Choose to download the video with or without sound and select the video quality you prefer to download.

Step 5. When the downloading process completes, the downloaded videos will be saved in the "Downloads" folder. Go to check and watch it as you like.

This online service provides you with various choices. You can choose a format you prefer and download a YouTube with or without the MP3 file. If you don't want to install apps, try this way instead.

Method 3. Download a YouTube Video via Web Browser Using Extensions

As mentioned, one of the ways to download YouTube videos to PC with Chrome is to use online video downloaders. The other is to use browser extensions. By downloading and installing the video downloader extension, you are able to save the video you want to watch to your computer by clicking the extension icon or the Download button it provides.

An extension that I tried and worked is called YouTube Video and MP3 Downloader. With it, you can download a video of varying qualities and directly convert the video to MP3.

To download videos from YouTube with Chrome:

Step 1. Go to visit https://addoncrop.com/youtube-video-downloader/.

Step 2. The webpage will detect your browser automatically. Confirm your browser and click "INSTALL VIA CROSSPILOT".

Step 3. Download and install the extension. Afterward, restart the browser.

Step 4. Go to YouTube and play the video you want to download.

Step 5.  Now you should see there is a Download button under the video. Click the Download button to save the YouTube video to your laptop directly or click the three dots next to it to choose other qualities available. (If you don't see the download button, click the icon of the YouTube Video and MP3 Downloader from the menu bar of the browser to download the video.)

Method 4. Download Videos from YouTube with VLC Media Player

The last potential way to download a video file from YouTube is to use the VLC media player. Although indirectly, you can use the media player to get the video you want to download from YouTube to your laptop for offline viewing.

To save the video file you want:

Step 1. Download and install VLC media player on your PC.

Step 2. Open VLC and go to "Media" > "Open Network Stream..."

Step 3. Copy and paste the URL of the YouTube video you want to download in the box and click "Play".

Step 4. Click "Tools" > "Codec Information".

Step 5. Copy the content in the Location section and paste it into the address bar of a browser.

Step 6. Click "More" > "Download" to save the video to your PC.

The Bottom Line

These are the four common ways on how to download YouTubes videos to a laptop. For you to make a better decision:

• EaseUS Video Downloader: 100% free, no ads, no plugins
• Online video downloader: Requires no software installation but will obstruct you with ads
• Browser extension: Convenient and powerful
• VLC media player: 100% free, no ads, no plugins; May fail to analyze the video link

Among the four methods, EaseUS Video Downloader can not only help you download a YouTube video to the computer but also allows you to convert online videos. Others only help to save a video from the video site to a computer. Thus, if you also have the need to save and convert YouTube videos, EaseUS Video Downloader is the best choice for you.

Most of the users can use the ways above to save a YouTube video to a laptop or PC to enjoy the video without an internet connection. But there are situations in which you may fail to download a YouTube video: The video is private or the video contains music. In such cases, you are unable to save the video since it may cause copyright issues.

I hope you can download YouTube videos to your laptop smoothly without encountering these problems.

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