Method 1: Use QuickTime to Screen-Record YouTube Videos on Mac. QuickTime is a Mac built-in extensible multimedia framework. You can use it to do a lot of things like video conversion, video editing, screen-recording, live streaming, etc.

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Why Choose Free YouTube Downloader

Wondershare Free YouTube Downloader automatically detects any YouTube videos playing on IE, Firefox or Chrome when you surf the web. To download videos, either click the Download button on the upper right of the video or copy video URLs and click the Paste URL button to get multiple videos offline at once. It's pretty simple to get what you want. Additionally, the 'Finished' Library is a good place to manage both existing MP4, FLV and WebM videos. Double-click any video in the Library to enjoy it!

Choose the Right YouTube Downloader

Free YouTube DownloaderAllMyTube
Download YouTube Videos
Download Download videos from YouTube site
Works with the ‘Big 3’ Browsers
Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome
Works with Most Video Sites
VEVO, Facebook, Metacafe, Dailymotion, Vimeo etc, over 100 video sharing sites.
YouTube Video to MP3 Downloader
Extract and download only the audio from YouTube online videos, without downloading the entire video files.
Convert to Any Format:
MP4, AVI, MPG, WMV, M4V, MOV, ASF, DV, MP3, WMA, WAV, M4A, AAC, APE, OGG, AC3, etc.
Convert to Any Device:
iPod (iPod Touch 5 included), iPhone (iPhone 5 included), iPad (iPad mini & iPad 4 included), Android tablet, Android phones, PSP, Xbox, Mobile Phones(3GP), Apple TV
One-click Download &Conversion
Downloads web videos with a click, then convert them to the selected format automatically.
Play Videos:
A built-in video player to play MP4 and FLV videos
Turbo Download Mode:
Download YouTube videos with Wondershare exclusive multithreading accelerator that can boost YouTube video download speed by up to 3X times faster.
Price
Free
$29.00

Batch Download YouTube Videos for Free

Free of charge to download YouTube videos: It’s 100% free to download YouTube SD, HD and even 4K videos.
Download in batches: Download several YouTube videos at a time while maintaining a relatively fast download speed.

Various Ways to Download YouTube Videos

Download via Download Button: Automatically detect the YouTube video when it starts to play. To download it, just click the 'Download' Button on the top of the YouTube video in IE, Firefox or Chrome.
Copy and Paste URL: Copy the URL of the playing video and click the '+Paste URL' button to download YouTube video.
Raw Recording: Just launch the Video Recorder to record the video whilst it's streaming (i.e. Netflix, Hulu Plus), please note that this function will be activated only when users failed to download YouTube videos with this tool.

Brand-new User Experience

'Breakpoint” download: Resume downloading from your last stopping point—no need to start over.
Task Scheduler: You can either exit the program once your videos have finished downloading or easily set your computer to enter sleep mode. The program can also be scheduled for an auto shutdown.

An Integrated Video Player

Play videos: Double-click a video in the 'Finished' Library to enable the great media player to play both local and downloaded MP4, FLV & WebM videos.

Manage All Downloaded & Existing Videos

Manage downloaded videos: Automatically save downloaded videos to Library in chronologic order.
Manage local videos: Allow users to import local MP4, FLV & WebM videos to the 'Finished' Library for management.

Just Scan the QR Code to Transfer Files

Simply connect your mobile devices to the same Wi-Fi network as your PC using the Wondershare Player’s mobile app. There’ll be no more dangling USB cables or file format errors. A quick and simple scan of the QR code ensures you a smooth playback of your downloaded media files.

Summary :

If you want to download YouTube videos on your Windows computer, you can use MiniTool uTube Downloader, a free YouTube video downloader for Windows. However, if you are using a Mac computer, do you know how to download YouTube videos on Mac? This post will show you some methods.

Quick Navigation :

How to Download a YouTube Video on Mac?

YouTube is a world-famous video-sharing platform. When you watch videos on YouTube, you need to make sure that your network connection is enabled and works normally. If your network is not very good, the YouTube video will not be played smoothly or it may be stuck when playing. At times, the internet connection is broken and you will be unable to watch videos on YouTube.

A good method to avoid these issues is to download YouTube videos on your computer. Then, you can watch them anytime and anywhere without thinking about network problems.

If you are a Windows user, you can just try MiniTool uTube Downloader. As a free YouTube video downloader, you can use it to download your needed YouTube video to MP3, MP4, WAV, and WebM. This software supports downloading 8K, 5K, 4K, 1080P, 720P videos from YouTube. You can even use this software to download YouTube subtitles if available.

If you are a Mac user, you may want to know: how do I download YouTube videos to my Mac for free? You can look for a free YouTube downloader for Mac and then use it to download a YouTube video on your Mac computer.

Of course, there are some other available methods. For example, you can use QuickTime to screen record a YouTube video. You can also download a YouTube video via Safari Activity.

We will introduce the methods we know in this post. You can just select the one you want to use to download YouTube videos on your Mac computer.

Note: You need to make sure that you are not violating anyone’s copyrights by downloading videos, as that would be breaking the law.

How to Download YouTube Videos on Mac?

Youtube music downloader mac
  1. Use QuickTime
  2. Use Safari Activity
  3. Use VLC media player
  4. Use an online YouTube video downloader

Method 1: Use QuickTime to Screen-Record YouTube Videos on Mac

QuickTime is a Mac built-in extensible multimedia framework. You can use it to do a lot of things like video conversion, video editing, screen-recording, live streaming, etc. Instead of downloading a YouTube video, you can use it to screen-record the YouTube video you are watching. After that, you can re-watch that video even when the network connection is disabled.

You can follow this guide to use QuickTime to screen-record a YouTube video:

1. Go to YouTube to find the YouTube video you want to record.

2. Select that YouTube video to access it but not play it.

3. Open QuickTime on your Mac and then go to File > New Screen Recording.

4. You will see the screen recording toolbar with several icons in it. Usually, it is on the bottom side of the screen.

The first five icons on this toolbar mean (from left to right):

  • Capture the entire screen
  • Capture a window
  • Capture a portion of the screen
  • Record the entire screen
  • Record a portion of the screen

If you want to record a full screen, you need to click the Record the entire screen icon from the toolbar. If you want to record a portion, you need to click the Record a partition of the screen icon to continue.

5. Click Options and select the features you want to enable. For example, you can set a timed delay for the screen-recording. You can also specify a location to save the video.

6. Open the YouTube video you want to record and play it.

7. Click the Record button on the toolbar to start YouTube video screen-recording.

8. When the video is over or you want to stop recording, you need to click the Stop Recording button in the menu bar.

You can read this post to learn more methods to record YouTube videos using different screen recorders: How to Record YouTube Videos with YouTube Recorders?

Method 2: Use Safari Activity to Download YouTube Videos on Mac

If you only want to download a YouTube video on your Mac and you don’t want to use a third-party software, you can try Safari Activity. You can do this job via your Safari browser.

Here is a guide on how to download videos from YouTube on Mac using Safari.

Dvd Soft Youtube Downloader Mac

  1. Search for the video you want to download on YouTube and play it.
  2. Press Command-Option-A on your keyboard to open Safari Activity.
  3. Go to Safari > Preferences….
  4. Go to Advanced > Show Develop in the menu bar to enable the develop menu.
  5. You can see the video resource in the new pop-out window. Then, you need to find the name of the video that is followed by the word YouTube. It is a link. If you can’t find it, you need to reload that page.
  6. Double-click the video resource link to open it.
  7. Focus on the location bar and then press Option-Enter to start downloading the video. The video will be downloaded as an FLV file. You need to use a third-party FLV media player to play it. You can find such a media play from the post: Top 10 Best FLV Players – How to Play FLV Files.

Method 3: Use VLC Media Player to Download YouTube Videos on Mac

You can also use third-party software to download YouTube videos on Mac. You can try VLC media player.

  1. Go to the official site of the VLC media player to download and install it on your Mac computer.
  2. Search for and open the YouTube video you want to download.
  3. Copy the address of that YouTube video.
  4. Open the VLC media player on your Mac.
  5. Go to File > Open Network….
  6. Paste the address of the YouTube video to the URL
  7. Click the Open button that is on the bottom right corner. This can add the video to the playlist of the VLC media player.
  8. If the video starts playing, you can right-click on the video and then select Media Information. While, if it is not playing, you can right-click the video on the playlist and then select Media Information.
  9. On the new pop-up window, you need to highlight the content in the Location box and then copy it.
  10. Return to your web browser and paste the URL to the search box. Press the Return key and the video will begin to play.
  11. Right-click on the video and then select Save Video As….
  12. Follow the on-screen guide to download that YouTube video on your Mac.

Dvd Soft Youtube Downloader

You can also use a third-party professional YouTube downloader for Mac to help you download YouTube videos on Mac. With a professional Mac YouTube video downloader, you are allowed to select the video format and resolution you want to use. This is an attractive feature.

Dedicated YouTube Downloaders for Mac

  1. Wondershare UniConverter for Mac
  2. YTD Video Downloader
  3. Airy YouTube downloader
  4. iSkysoft iTube Studio
  5. MacX YouTube Downloader
  6. PullTube
  7. 4K Video Downloader
  8. ClipGrab

These YouTube video downloaders for Mac are worth trying. But some of them are not free for use. Perhaps, you can just use them to download part of a YouTube video with the free edition.

For example, you can just download the 1/3 length of a YouTube video using the trial edition of Wondershare UniConverter for Mac. Some tools allow you to use them free for one month, then you need to pay for it.

You can just select one according to your situation.

Method 4: Use an Online YouTube Video Downloader

Is there any available online YouTube video downloader for Mac? Of course yes. You can find many online tools on the internet like KeepVid, Apowersoft Online Video Downloader, ymp4, ClipConverter, and more.

It is also very easy to use an online YouTube video downloader to download your needed videos. You need to copy and paste the URL of the target YouTube video to the search box of the online YouTube video downloader, click the download button or other related button, and select your needed video format and resolution to download.

Dvd Soft Youtube Downloader Mac

Dvd Soft Youtube Downloader

Tip: If you have subscribed to YouTube Premium, you can directly download your needed videos on your mobile YouTube app and then watch the downloaded offline. This method is included in this post: How to Download YouTube Videos on Android?

Bonus: How to Use MiniTool uTube Downloader

In the first part of this post, we mention MiniTool uTube Downloader, a professional and free YouTube video downloader for Windows. If you are looking for a Windows YouTube video downloader, you can try this software.

You can use this software to search for the YouTube video you want to download. You can even sign in to your YouTube in this software and then select the video from your subscription, view history, etc.

In this part, we will simply introduce how to use this software to download YouTube videos on Windows.

1. Download and install this software on your computer.

2. Open the software.

3. Search for the YouTube video you want to download and select the target video from the search results.

4. Click the Download button to continue.

5. Select the video format and resolution you want to download from the pop-out window.

6. Select the YouTube subtitle if available.

7. Click the DOWNLOAD button to start the downloading process.

Youtube Downloader For Mac

8. The software will go back to its main interface and you can see the download process at the right History When the downloading process ends, you can click the Navigate to file button to open the storage folder to use the video. You can also click the Play button to play this video.

Bottom Line

Reading here, you should know how to download YouTube videos on Mac using different desktop and online tools. You can select your preferred method to download your needed YouTube videos. Should you have any related issues, you can let us know in the comment or contact us via [email protected]. We will reply to you as soon as possible.

How to Download YouTube Videos on Mac FAQ

You can use MiniTool uTube Downloader to convert YouTube videos to MP4. You can see the guide in this post: Free Convert YouTube to MP4 without Losing Quality.
You are not allowed to copy a YouTube video to your computer. But you can use the professional YouTube video downloader, MiniTool uTube Downloader, to download YouTube videos to your computer.

Free Video Soft Youtube Downloader

How can I download YouTube videos to my laptop without an app?
You can use an online YouTube video downloader to download your needed YouTube videos to your laptop. You don’t need to install third-party software on your device for downloading. You can try Y2mate, Freemake, YTD Video Downloader, etc.
How can I download YouTube videos on my laptop with Chrome?
You can use an online YouTube video downloader to download your needed YouTube video. Besides, you can also install a YouTube download extension for Chrome like One-Click Video Downloader, Youtube Video Downloader, etc. for YouTube video downloading.