Can You Save YouTube Videos for Offline?

YouTube Premium is the only officially supported method for downloading YouTube videos for offline viewing. With a Premium subscription, you can download videos, playlists, and even entire channels to your mobile device for offline playback. This is YouTube's first-party solution, and it is the only method that is unambiguously legal and within YouTube's Terms of Service.

How it works

On the YouTube mobile app (iOS or Android), Premium subscribers see a download button beneath every video. Tap it, choose your preferred video quality (ranging from 144p to 1080p depending on the original upload), and the video is saved to your device's local storage. Downloaded videos appear in the "Downloads" section of the Library tab. You can also download entire playlists and set videos to auto-download when you are on Wi-Fi.

Important limitations

YouTube Premium downloads are mobile-only. As of 2026, you cannot download videos for offline viewing on desktop computers through YouTube Premium. The downloaded videos are encrypted and can only be played within the YouTube app - you cannot export them to other video players or share the files. Downloads expire after 30 days if your device does not connect to the internet, at which point you need to go online briefly to verify your Premium subscription and refresh the download licenses. Some videos are excluded from offline downloads due to licensing restrictions set by the content creator or their music labels.

Pricing

YouTube Premium is priced at $13.99 per month for individuals or $22.99 per month for a family plan (up to 5 members) in the United States. Pricing varies by region. The subscription also includes ad-free viewing, background playback on mobile, and access to YouTube Music Premium. Students may qualify for a discounted rate.

If you uploaded a video to YouTube, you can download your own original file at any time through YouTube Studio. This is a straightforward feature that lets creators retrieve their own content, and it is completely unrestricted by Terms of Service since you own the content.

How to download your own videos

Go to studio.youtube.com and sign in with the Google account that owns the channel. Navigate to "Content" in the left sidebar to see all your uploaded videos. Find the video you want to download, click the three-dot menu, and select "Download." YouTube will prepare the file and start the download. The file you receive is the original upload quality - YouTube does not downgrade your own video when you download it. This works on both desktop and mobile.

Limitations

This method only applies to videos you uploaded yourself. You cannot use YouTube Studio to download other creators' videos. If your channel was terminated or the video was removed for a policy violation, the download option may no longer be available. For bulk downloads of your entire channel's content, Google Takeout is the better option (it exports all your uploaded videos in a single archive).

Some YouTube videos are published under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY), which grants you the right to download, reuse, and redistribute the content as long as you credit the original creator. These videos have been explicitly made available for download and reuse by their creators.

How to find Creative Commons videos

Use YouTube's search filters to find Creative Commons content. Perform a search, click "Filters," and under "Features," select "Creative Commons." This filters results to only show videos with the CC BY license. You can also check individual videos: click "Show more" under the video description and look for the license type. Videos marked "Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)" can be legally downloaded and reused.

How to download them

YouTube does not provide a built-in download button for Creative Commons videos outside of YouTube Premium. However, because the license explicitly permits downloading and redistribution, you can use YouTube's own tools (like the YouTube API) to obtain the video. Some video editing tools that integrate with YouTube, like YouTube's own video editor, also allow you to incorporate Creative Commons videos directly.

Limitations

The selection of Creative Commons videos is limited compared to YouTube's full library. Most popular creators do not use the CC BY license. Additionally, even with Creative Commons content, you must provide proper attribution to the original creator when reusing the content. The Creative Commons license does not cover any copyrighted music or third-party content that may be included in the video.

YouTube Premium includes a "Smart Downloads" feature that automatically downloads recommended videos to your device when you are connected to Wi-Fi. The system learns from your viewing habits and pre-downloads videos it predicts you will want to watch, so you have fresh content available even when you go offline.

How it works

Smart Downloads is enabled by default for YouTube Premium subscribers on mobile. The feature downloads up to 20 recommended videos (adjustable in settings) when your device is charging and connected to Wi-Fi. Downloaded videos are automatically replaced with fresh recommendations as you watch them. You can find Smart Downloads in the Downloads section of the YouTube app, clearly labeled as auto-downloaded content.

Customization options

You can adjust the number of videos Smart Downloads saves (from 1 to 20), restrict it to Wi-Fi only, set it to download only when charging, and choose the video quality for auto-downloads. You can also disable Smart Downloads entirely if you prefer to manually select what gets downloaded. On some devices, you can specify the download storage location (internal storage or SD card).

Limitations

Smart Downloads is a Premium-only feature available exclusively on mobile devices. The videos it selects are based on algorithmic predictions, which means they may not always match what you actually want to watch offline. Like all YouTube Premium downloads, Smart Downloads content expires after 30 days without an internet connection and cannot be exported from the YouTube app. You also cannot control the exact videos it selects beyond adjusting general preferences.

The internet is filled with websites, browser extensions, and desktop applications that claim to let you download any YouTube video. These tools work by extracting video streams from YouTube's servers and saving them as local files. While they are technically functional, using them violates YouTube's Terms of Service and, depending on the content and jurisdiction, may also violate copyright law.

Why they violate YouTube's Terms of Service

YouTube's Terms of Service explicitly prohibit accessing content through any means other than the features provided by YouTube itself. Specifically, YouTube's ToS state that users may not access, reproduce, download, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, alter, modify, or otherwise use any part of the Service or any Content except as provided by the Service. Third-party downloaders bypass YouTube's intended playback system, which is a direct violation of these terms.

Copyright implications

Most YouTube videos are copyrighted content. Downloading copyrighted material without authorization from the rights holder is a violation of copyright law in most jurisdictions. The fact that a video is publicly available on YouTube does not grant viewers the right to download it - YouTube provides a license to stream the content, not to copy it. This distinction is important: streaming is a temporary reproduction governed by YouTube's license; downloading creates a permanent copy that the rights holder did not authorize.

Risks of using third-party downloaders

Beyond the legal risks, third-party downloading tools carry practical risks. Many of these services are funded by aggressive advertising, some of which includes malware. Browser extensions that offer downloading capabilities often require extensive permissions that give them access to your browsing data, which creates privacy and security concerns. Desktop downloading applications can be bundled with unwanted software. YouTube also actively works to break third-party downloaders by changing its video delivery system, which means these tools frequently stop working and require updates - a cycle that exposes users to repeated security risks.

For many users, the real need is not to have a video file stored locally - it is to have reliable, organized access to videos they care about. The desire to download often stems from a fear of losing access: the video might be deleted, or you might not be able to find it again. But downloading creates its own problems: large file sizes consuming device storage, no way to search across downloaded files, no timestamps or notes, and the legal and security risks outlined above.

YouTube Bookmark Pro offers a different approach. Instead of downloading the video file, you save a rich reference to it: the title, channel, URL, thumbnail, and your personal annotations including timestamps and notes. This reference lives in the extension's side panel, accessible from any YouTube page with a single click. It takes zero storage, has no legal implications, and provides better organization than a folder full of downloaded video files.

Why bookmarking solves the real problem

Think about why you want to save a video. Usually it is one of these reasons: you want to watch it later, you want to return to a specific moment, you want to remember something from it, or you are worried it might disappear. Bookmarking addresses all four: your saved videos are always available to watch online, timestamps let you jump directly to specific moments, notes capture the key insights, and even if the original video is deleted, your bookmark retains the title, channel, and your annotations.

YouTube's own Watch Later system was supposed to serve this purpose, but it has a hard limit of 5,000 videos with no search, no categories, no notes, and no timestamps. For a detailed look at Watch Later's limitations, see our article on why YouTube Watch Later is broken. YouTube Bookmark Pro's Library has no video limit, full-text search, shelf organization, and integrated timestamps and notes - everything Watch Later should have been.

For the full breakdown of what the extension offers at each tier, see our pricing page.