YouTube Video Downloader
Real quality options up to 1080p, plus MP3 audio extraction — no software, no signup.
Also known as: YouTube downloader, YouTube to MP4, YouTube to MP3
How it works
- 1Paste a YouTube video URL into the box.
- 2Click "Get Video" to load its title, thumbnail, and available quality options.
- 3Choose a video quality (up to 1080p) or the audio-only MP3 option.
- 4Click Download — your browser handles the rest, just like any other file download.
Why use YouTube Video Downloader
Real quality options, not a guess
Shows the video's actual available resolutions, pulled directly from the source, instead of a generic fixed list.
Up to 1080p, properly merged
Higher resolutions on YouTube are served as separate video and audio streams — this tool combines them correctly into one file.
Genuine MP3 extraction
Audio-only downloads are a real encoded MP3, not a video file with the extension changed.
No account needed
Paste a link and download — no email, no sign-in, no app install.
No watermarks
The result is the original video and audio, unmodified beyond combining the two streams.
File size shown upfront
See an approximate download size for each quality option before you commit to it.
Who uses YouTube Video Downloader
Saving your own uploaded content
Download a local copy of a video you uploaded yourself, in the resolution you actually need.
Offline viewing for travel
Save a video to watch later without needing a data connection.
Extracting a podcast or lecture's audio
Pull just the audio from a talk, interview, or lecture as an MP3 for listening on the go.
Archiving Creative Commons content
Save a properly-licensed video for reuse in a project, with attribution as required by its license.
Reviewing footage for editing
Download source footage you have rights to for use in video editing software.
Classroom and training material
Save educational videos you have permission to use for offline classroom playback.
About YouTube Video Downloader
Most "YouTube downloader" sites either bury the actual download link behind a maze of ads and fake buttons, cap you at a low resolution unless you pay, or hand you a file with reduced audio quality to save their own bandwidth. This tool skips all three: it reads the video's actual available quality tiers directly, shows you real file size estimates before you commit, and streams back the original video and audio streams combined into a single file — no re-encoding, no quality loss beyond what's needed to merge the streams.
Modern YouTube serves most resolutions above 360p as two separate streams — video and audio — that get combined by the platform's own player as you watch. This tool does the same combination on its way to your download, so a 1080p download here is genuinely 1080p video paired with full-quality audio, not a resolution-capped compromise.
The audio-only option is a real MP3 extraction, not a video file with a renamed extension — the audio stream is decoded and encoded to a proper .mp3 container, ready for any music player or podcast app. This is useful well beyond music: lecture recordings, podcast-style YouTube content, and interviews are all common reasons people want just the sound.
This tool works with public YouTube videos — the same content anyone can already watch on youtube.com. Please only download content you have the right to save, such as your own uploads, Creative Commons–licensed videos, or material you have explicit permission to use — and note that this tool downloads to your device rather than processing your file entirely inside your browser, since fetching video from YouTube's platform requires it.
YouTube Video Downloader vs. other options
How Open Tools Library compares to desktop software and other online tools.
| Feature | Open Tools Library | Desktop software | Other online tools |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, unlimited | Often paid software | Often free with ad walls |
| Max quality offered | Up to 1080p | Varies by app | Often capped lower unless paid |
| Watermarks | Never | Never | Sometimes added |
| Audio-only (MP3) option | Yes, genuine MP3 encode | Varies by app | Often missing or low quality |
| Account required | No | No | Sometimes required |
| Ads and redirects | Minimal | None | Often heavy |
Pro tips
- If a quality tier is missing, that resolution simply doesn't exist for that particular video — not every video is uploaded in every resolution.
- The MP3 option is the fastest download for audio-focused content, since it skips fetching the (often much larger) video stream entirely.
- Larger, higher-resolution downloads naturally take longer to prepare — this reflects real file size, not a slow connection.
- Works with both regular YouTube videos and Shorts URLs.
- Only download content you have the rights to use — your own videos, Creative Commons–licensed material, or content you have explicit permission for.
Technical specs
- Max video quality
- 1080p
- Output formats
- MP4 (video), MP3 (audio only)
- Supported sources
- YouTube videos and YouTube Shorts
- Audio extraction
- Real MP3 encode, not a renamed video file
- Account required
- No
Privacy & security
Unlike every client-side tool on this site, downloading a YouTube video genuinely requires our server to fetch it on your behalf — YouTube's platform doesn't allow a browser to do this directly. Here's exactly what that does and doesn't mean for you.
The video URL you paste is used only to look up and fetch that specific video — nothing else about your browsing is sent or logged.
The video is streamed straight through to your download as it's processed; it isn't kept or stored on our server afterward.
No account, email, or personal information is required or collected.
The same privacy standard applies whether you're downloading a short clip or a long video.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to install anything?
No. Paste a link, choose a quality, and download — everything happens through this page.
Is there a resolution limit?
Downloads are offered up to 1080p, which balances quality with reasonable file size and processing time for most videos.
Can I download just the audio?
Yes — select the "Audio only (MP3)" option to get a proper MP3 file instead of a video.
Is this legal to use?
Downloading video you have the rights to — your own uploads, Creative Commons–licensed content, or material you have permission for — is fine. Downloading copyrighted content without permission may violate YouTube's Terms of Service and copyright law in your jurisdiction; that responsibility rests with what you choose to download.
Does this add a watermark?
No. The download is the original video and audio, combined into one file where needed — nothing is added or altered.
Does it work with YouTube Shorts?
Yes — paste a Shorts URL and it works the same way. There's also a dedicated Shorts Downloader if you prefer.
Troubleshooting
It says the video couldn't be read
The video may be private, age-restricted, region-locked, or already removed from YouTube. Only public videos can be downloaded.
My preferred quality isn't listed
Not every video is available in every resolution — the list shown reflects exactly what YouTube has published for that specific video.
The download is taking a while
Higher resolutions mean larger files, and combining separate video and audio streams takes a little processing time proportional to the video's length — this is expected for longer or higher-quality videos.
The audio and video seem slightly out of sync
This is uncommon but can happen with certain source videos where YouTube's own video and audio streams have a mismatched start offset — try a lower quality tier, which sometimes uses a differently-encoded stream pair.
Related searches
Landed here looking for something worded a little differently? YouTube Video Downloader covers all of these too:
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