Skip to content
GrabVid

Download YouTube Videos

Save YouTube videos and Shorts in MP4 or WebM, from 360p up to 4K where the upload supports it.

How to download from YouTube

  1. 1

    Copy the video link

    Hit Share under the player and copy the youtu.be link, or copy the full watch?v= address from your browser. Shorts links work too, and so do timestamps.

  2. 2

    Paste and let it read

    YouTube stores more renditions than any other platform, so this step takes a second or two longer while we collect the full list.

  3. 3

    Compare and download

    Each option shows resolution, container and estimated size. Pick the balance you want and save. Sizes vary far more here than on other platforms.

YouTube tools

Different kinds of YouTube content behave differently once you try to save them, so each one gets its own page.

YouTube Shorts DownloaderThe vertical format specifically. Shorts are encoded differently from regular uploads and behave differently when saved.YouTube to MP3Audio only, at a fraction of the file size. An hour of speech is about 55 MB instead of several gigabytes.

What you can download from YouTube

YouTube covers everything from eight second Shorts to eight hour streams, and the format you get back depends heavily on what kind of upload it was.

Standard videos
The main case. Uploads from 2015 onward typically offer 360p, 480p, 720p and 1080p, with 1440p and 2160p on channels that upload at those sizes. Older videos may cap at 480p because that was the source.
YouTube Shorts
Vertical clips under 60 seconds at 1080x1920. Shorts are encoded for mobile playback, so the bitrate is lower than a regular 1080p video of the same length. Links look like /shorts/ instead of /watch.
4K and HDR uploads
2160p streams are usually VP9 or AV1 in a WebM container rather than MP4. They look better at the same bitrate but need a recent device. HDR versions download as HDR, which can look washed out on a screen that can't display it.
Finished live streams
Once a stream ends and YouTube processes the recording, it behaves like a normal video. Streams that are still live, or in the middle of processing, won't give you a complete file.
Restricted content
Age restricted, members only, unlisted with a lost link, purchased or rented videos, and anything private to the uploader are not accessible. Those gates exist for a reason and this tool doesn't try to get around them.

A practical guide to YouTube video

Understanding YouTube's format list

YouTube stores a single video many times over. A popular 1080p upload might exist as a dozen separate files: H.264 MP4 at several resolutions, VP9 WebM at several more, AV1 for newer devices, and audio only tracks at different bitrates. The player stitches the right combination together on the fly based on your screen and connection.

That's why our list here is longer than on other platforms, and why the same resolution can appear twice with different sizes. The smaller one is usually VP9 or AV1, which fits more picture into fewer bytes. The larger one is H.264, which plays everywhere. If compatibility matters more than file size, take the H.264.

Choosing resolution without wasting space

Here's a rough guide from real file sizes. A 10 minute video at 720p is around 100 MB. At 1080p it's roughly 200 MB. At 1440p you're near 500 MB, and 2160p can pass a gigabyte. The jump from 720p to 1080p is worth it on any screen bigger than a phone. The jump from 1080p to 4K is only worth it if your display is genuinely 4K and you're sitting close enough to tell.

Length multiplies everything. Saving a two hour documentary in 4K is a several gigabyte commitment and will take a while on a normal connection. For long form talking content, 720p is honestly fine and downloads in a fraction of the time.

The separate audio problem

This confuses people more than anything else on YouTube. Above 1080p, video and audio are stored apart. A 4K download can therefore be completely silent, which looks like a broken file but isn't. The audio exists, it's just a different stream.

You have three options. Take 1080p, which is muxed and includes sound in one file. Download both streams and merge them with ffmpeg using a command like ffmpeg -i video.webm -i audio.m4a -c copy output.mkv. Or decide the resolution isn't worth the hassle. For most purposes the third option is the right one.

Being a good citizen about it

Creators on YouTube are paid by ad views. Downloading a video for offline viewing on a flight is one thing. Systematically saving and re-uploading a channel's work to another platform takes money out of someone's pocket, and it's the single fastest way to get a copyright strike on your own account.

If you want to reference someone's video, a short clip with visible credit and a link is standard practice and usually welcomed. If you want the whole thing offline and you're a regular viewer, YouTube Premium's built in download works without any of this and pays the creator. Our how it works page walks through the general process, and the platform pages for Instagram and TikTok cover their own quirks.

YouTube downloader questions

If the channel uploaded at 2160p, yes. The catch is that 4K streams are usually VP9 or AV1 in WebM rather than H.264 MP4, and some older TVs and editing apps refuse WebM. A 10 minute 4K file runs 400 MB to over a gigabyte, so check your storage before you start.

Above 1080p, YouTube stores video and audio as separate streams and the player combines them live. That's why a high resolution option can arrive silent. When that happens, take the 1080p MP4 instead, which is a single combined file, or merge the two tracks yourself in ffmpeg.

For phone viewing, 720p is plenty and keeps files small. For a laptop or TV, 1080p is the sweet spot. Go to 1440p or 2160p only if you're editing, projecting, or cropping in, since those files are several times larger for a difference most people can't see on a normal screen.

This tool serves the streams YouTube provides, which are AAC or Opus audio rather than MP3. You can save the audio only stream and convert it locally if you need MP3 specifically. Remember that music on YouTube is almost always licensed, so keep conversions to content you have rights to.

Slightly. Shorts are vertical 1080x1920 and encoded at a lower bitrate for mobile, so a 30 second Short is often under 5 MB while a 30 second regular 1080p clip might be 15 MB. Paste the /shorts/ link exactly as you copied it and it resolves fine.

YouTube's Terms of Service restrict downloading outside their own offline feature. Copyright law in many countries separately allows personal copies of freely available material. We're not lawyers, and the honest summary is this: personal offline viewing is a grey area, while re-uploading someone's video is clearly not allowed.

Age restricted videos, members only uploads, rentals, private videos and region blocked content all fail because they require an authenticated session we don't have and shouldn't have. Live streams that haven't finished processing also fail, since the complete file doesn't exist yet.

One video at a time. If you paste a link containing a list parameter we use the video part and ignore the playlist. Bulk downloading entire channels puts real strain on the source and tends to be the behaviour that gets tools like this blocked, so we deliberately don't offer it.

The 1080p and below MP4 options use H.264, which plays on essentially everything made since 2010. WebM files with VP9 or AV1 are more selective. If a file refuses to open on an older device, download the 720p or 1080p MP4 version instead and it will almost certainly work.

Also try our other downloaders

Download from TwitterDownload from InstagramDownload from TikTokDownload from Facebook

New to this? The how it works guide walks through the whole process step by step, and the blog goes deeper on formats and quality. Before you save anything, it is worth reading our disclaimer on copyright and fair use.