There may be times when you just want to download a youtube video you like so you can watch it without reloading online and even in case it is actually removed from youtube. There are plenty of tools that allow you to do that in various ways. Here is a number of tools available, starting from browser plugins to web sites and bookmarks.
Firefox Add-ons
This may arguably be the best method since it usually allows you to simply click a button or choose a menu item for the download to start. Firefox is also a very popular and excellent web browser whose add-ons are dead easy to install. Also, some of these add ons do a little more than just download the video, which may influence your decision which to use. So let's see what we've got here.
1. Easy YouTube Video Downloader
Easy YouTube Video Downloader conveniently puts the download links right at the bottom of the description box, as seen in the image, allowing you to download video in FLV, 3GP (for some mobile phones) and MP4 formats.
On first firefox run after this add-on is installed it will ask you for a place on your hard drive where to save your videos so it never has to ask again. Just clicking one of the format links starts the download to your location immediately.
2. Better Youtube
Better Youtube is a compilation of greasemonkey scripts which can be selected in this add-on's preferences. The scripts are YouTube Alternate Video Player (No Autoplay), YouTube Theater and of course YouTube Download which is enabled by default and shows a download link below video as shown above.
The download link leads to Flashload.net video download page which offers standard and high quality download links. This add-on might be a good choice if you'd like youtube alternate video player and youtube theater all in one package with the downloader.
3. DownloadHelper
This add-on allows you to download as well as convert videos from youtube and offers some additional options such as tweeting the video, adding to blacklist or sending to mobile phone and locker. It also adds an animated button in the firefox navigation bar which when clicked displays a long list of media sites apparently supported by DownloadHelper. Clicking on the arrow next to it shows videos available as downloads on the current page.
4. NetVideoHunter Video Downloader
NetVideoHunter add-on puts a small play icon in the Firefox status bar showing the number of videos visited so far. Clicking on it brings up a dialog with videos listed on them along with a "play" and "download" buttons. The play button only plays the audio of the video and the download button downloads it in FLV format.
5. UnPlug
UnPlug puts a green fish icon at the right to the search box which when clicked brings up the UnPlug dialog showing video download options for the current page including normal and high quality. Clicking the download button begins the download and the arrow next to it brings up a menu which has a configure option.
There is also a "copy link" button that copies the video link and also has an arrow which brings up a menu that allows opening the video in new tab or window, which just starts the download process (a little weird and seemingly redundant).
6. YouPlayer
YouPlayer allows you to drag youtube links and tabs into a playlist on the sidebar and play them in a player within that sidebar. Of course, it also allows downloading said videos by right clicking on the playlist item and choosing "download".
7. YouTube to MP3
This doesn't download a video, but may nevertheless be of use to those who would like to save mp3s of music videos they watch on youtube so that they can be listened to with any mp3 player. Clicking one of the two links, one for normal quality and another for high quality, leads to a page from Video2Mp3.net which begins converting the video to mp3 showing you percentage of progress and then showing a "Download MP3" link.
Youtube Download Web Services
Here are some web sites which allow easy YouTube video downloads. The benefit of web sites is that they should work in multiple browsers and don't need installation. These services usually involve copy pasting the youtube URL/link to the input box, clicking a button and choosing a download link.
1. KeepVid.com
Aside from youtube, KeepVid.com supports many other video sites. You can download a video by copy pasting the link or you can drag a keepvid "bookmarklet" to your bookmarks toolbar and click on it when you want to download a video you're currently viewing. KeepVid offers a typical choice between a low quality FLV video download and a higher quality MP4.
Similar Alternatives: There are countless of web sites many of which follow the exact same pattern as KeepVid.com and some of which don't actually seem to work. Below is a selection of few such alternatives.
2. VidDownloader.com
VidDownloader.com contains a flash input box where you can paste your youtube link. As soon as you press download an MP4 file is offered for download. It's not much different than KeepVid.com, except it uses flash and instead of loading the links on another page, offers the download immediately, which might be a plus.
3. YouTube Bookmarklets
These bookmarks use no other site except YouTube. The entire script is within the bookmark and they work quite well. Here are the bookmarklets for HD video and HQ MP4. Just drag them to your bookmarks toolbar.
- HD (works only for videos with an HD button): Download Youtube HD (drag to toolbar). Source: Sizlomedia
- HQ MP4: Download YouTube MP4 (drag to toolbar). Source: Nathan Hammond (he also has an FLV, SD and HD bookmarklets)
I hope this overview helped you find the right tool. Enjoy your videos. :)
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