How to Download a Video from YouTube on PC in 2025?
Summary: This article shares an easy and effective way to download YouTube videos on PC. By using StreamFab YouTube Downloader, you can bypass YouTube's limitations and enjoy high-quality videos offline in various formats.
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With the explosive growth of video content, YouTube has become the world's most popular entertainment platform. Whether you're looking for fitness tutorials, travel documentaries, or simply want to enjoy your favourite music and short videos anytime, anywhere, YouTube almost meets everyone's needs. However, despite YouTube's rich and diverse content, many users still face a common challenge: how to watch videos offline without a stable internet connection.
As a frequent YouTube viewer who often encounters this issue, I am well aware of the frustration of videos failing to load or play smoothly when Wi-Fi signals are unstable. Therefore, I began searching for methods to enable me to watch my favourite videos even without an internet connection. Today, I will share some common YouTube video download tools and how to use them to easily download YouTube videos on a PC.
Why download YouTube videos?
In today's fast-paced world, we want to be able to access content anytime, anywhere, without being restricted by our internet connection. Although YouTube offers a download feature, its limitations mean that it doesn't meet the needs of many users. Here are some common pain points:
Why Download YouTube Videos?
In today's fast-paced world, we want to be able to access content anytime, anywhere, without being restricted by our internet connection. Although YouTube offers a download feature, its limitations mean that it doesn't meet the needs of many users. Here are some common pain points:
- The convenience of offline viewing: When you're travelling, commuting, or in an environment without Wi-Fi, downloading videos allows you to watch them anytime, anywhere. Imagine being on a plane without internet access and still being able to watch your favourite movies or YouTube fitness videos without worrying about data usage or signal issues.
- Save data usage: Video streaming consumes a significant amount of data, especially high-definition videos. By downloading videos, you can avoid using valuable mobile data, especially when travelling or in areas with limited connectivity.
- Access restricted content: Some videos on YouTube may be unavailable due to regional restrictions, but downloading these videos allows you to bypass these geographical limitations and easily access global content.
Limitations of YouTube's official download function
- Quality limit: When you click download button, you can only download "Standard (480p)" or "Low (144p)", if you want to download a video from YouTube with high quality, you must subscribe Premium plan.
- Time limit: The videos you download from YouTube can only be kept on your devices for up to 29 days, it means you need to download again if you want to watch them after 29 days.
- Type limit: You can only download a video from YouTube like original type, short videos cannot be downloaded, regardless of whether you are a Premium plan subscriber or not.
- Playback limit: You can only watch them on the official app because the videos have DRM protection, you can't find the videos in the local folder, so it means you cannot send them to other devices for viewing, if you are accustomed to watching Pamela's fitness videos on your iPad, you will need to download them separately on your iPad.
How to Download Videos on YouTube?
1. StreamFab YouTube Downloader
Download online videos from YouTube, Multitasks and playlist downloads are also supported.
- Supports multiple formats: StreamFab YouTube Downloader supports downloading videos in MP4 or MKV format, and can also save the audio from videos separately in MP3 format.
- High quality download experience: This tool can download YouTube videos in 4K resolution, some videos can even reach 8K and audio files with a bit rate of up to 320 kbps.
- Multiple video encoding options: During the download process, users can choose different video encoding methods according to their needs, such as H.264, VP9, and AV1.
- Supports HDR and VR 360° videos: In addition to standard formats, this downloader also supports downloading HDR videos and 360-degree virtual reality videos from YouTube, providing a more immersive and realistic visual experience, especially suitable for users with HDR display devices or VR devices.
- Supports bulk download and auto download: StreamFab supports downloading multiple videos at the same time, which can improve download efficiency if you want to download an entire playlist, it is one of the TOP 10 best YouTube playlist downloader. It can also automatically identify and download new content from subscribed channels, eliminating the hassle of manual searching.
- No regional and time limit: If you download video by StreamFab, you can watch the video anywhere and anytime, although the video is deleted by the creator, otherwise, it is very hard to download deleted YouTube videos again.
The above is a detailed introduction to StreamFab. If you want to learn more information, please refer to the official StreamFab YouTube Downloader website.
2. Video DownloadHelper
Video DownloadHelper is a convenient browser extension that supports Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. It does not require the installation of any separate software; simply add the extension to start using it. Since it is directly embedded in the browser, users can easily access the download function at any time.
- As a browser extension, Video DownloadHelper simplifies the download process. Users simply add the extension and click the icon to start downloading, without the need to install additional software, making it suitable for all users and easy to get started with.
- The tool supports downloading multiple video formats, such as MP4, FLV, WebM, etc., ensuring that videos can be played on different devices and players.
- Video DownloadHelper supports batch downloads of individual videos and playlists, significantly improving download efficiency and saving time.
FAQs
The official version does not support this, but you can use StreamFab. The steps are the same as download a video from YouTube. Please refer to the steps described in the article, but when setting the format in the pop-up window, set the “Download as” option to “Audio” to obtain the audio from the YouTube video.
The YouTube official app allows downloading only select standard videos and comes with restrictions on video format, resolution, and how long the files can be stored. If you want to download Shorts, or need higher quality, more format options, and long-term local storage, StreamFab is a better solution, or you can refer the best YouTube Shorts Downloader.
Conclusion
If you want to download your favorite YouTube videos — whether it's fitness tutorials, daily vlogs, trending Shorts, or full playlists from subscribed channels — the methods above can help you get started on Mac or Windows. However, if you're looking for a more powerful and flexible solution that offers high-quality downloads, batch processing, auto tasks, ad removal, and support for various formats including audio, then StreamFab YouTube Downloader is definitely worth trying. With just a few clicks, you can enjoy an uninterrupted offline viewing experience anytime, anywhere.