how to download youtube 1080p videos

[sony mavica]

there is a site i use but if the video has music in it the site will not let you download it i have tried 2 other sites but they only give me 720p can anybody help plz

[blueskull]

I download music from YT all the time using the first search result on "Youtube downloader" returned by Google.
If your area is blocked due to copyright issues, get a VPN. I use VPN in China to circumvent great fire wall, and VPN in US to watch copyrighted contents from Chinese video sites that are blocked by US.
I use ExpressVPN, but there are cheaper ones. So far I find across those big VPN brands, ExpressVPN is the most stable one and most accessible one.

[kultakala]

I am using the 4k downloader from https://www.4kdownload.com

The ratings and review are mixed but for it works very well.
I am able to download videos in any resolution up to 4k if provided.

[hans]

https://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/
https://github.com/MrS0m30n3/youtube-dl-gui

[Ampera]

If all else fails, you can always try the lowest common denominator. OBS is a good tool for screen capture, but it is of course real time.

[mariush]

Stop using separate websites to downoad from Youtube. Be smart about it.

In Firefox you can install an add-on called YouTube Video and Audio Downloader : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-video-and-audio-dow/?src=api

It adds an orange Download button under each Youtube video. When you click on it, it detects and lists all video and audio formats that Youtube offers for that video so you can choose to download video+audio, or only audio, or only video, and you can aso choose if you want VP9 encoded video (in webm container) or regular h264 video (in mp4 container) and same for audio (choose Opus, aac ,  ogg vorbis)
You can even tell it to hide some lower quality options like FLV to make selection simpler.

and even if you choose a "video only" option, it can ask you "do you want me to pick the best audio for this to combine with the video?"

[Ampera]

Stop using separate websites to downoad from Youtube. Be smart about it.

In Firefox you can install an add-on called YouTube Video and Audio Downloader : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-video-and-audio-dow/?src=api

It adds an orange Download button under each Youtube video. When you click on it, it detects and lists all video and audio formats that Youtube offers for that video so you can choose to download video+audio, or only audio, or only video, and you can aso choose if you want VP9 encoded video (in webm container) or regular h264 video (in mp4 container) and same for audio (choose Opus, aac ,  ogg vorbis)
You can even tell it to hide some lower quality options like FLV to make selection simpler.

and even if you choose a "video only" option, it can ask you "do you want me to pick the best audio for this to combine with the video?"

I would warn away form those. There have been endless troubles with those addons containing malware and other sorts of nasties.

[mariush]

This one doesn't. Been using it for more than a year and even checked the source code of the add-on (you can do it yourself if you want to, it's not obfuscated or encrypted) to see if the add-on accesses third party websites or domains.
It doesn't, it's perfectly fine and safe to use.

[mtdoc]

This one doesn't. Been using it for more than a year and even checked the source code of the add-on (you can do it yourself if you want to, it's not obfuscated or encrypted) to see if the add-on accesses third party websites or domains.
It doesn't, it's perfectly fine and safe to use.

Yep. It has worked well for me.

[RoGeorge]

Copy/Paste the video's URL to 'keepvid' page, then choose the desired format:
http://keepvid.com/

[Ampera]

Another issue with those addons is that they have to be used with Firefox (There are Chrome versions) which hasn't been stable to use for years. It has gone from the best web browser to a question asking why even bother from both the developers and anybody looking at a new web browser.

[HighVoltage]

I am still using IDM (Internet Download Manager) and it still works very well with YT videos. When you click on download, you actually get a listing of the different resolutions to be downloaded from.

[Ampera]

I previously recommended Youtube-dl a command line driven tool which worked very well and still does. I still recommend it to those who are prepared to deal with a non-GUI application. I use it on Linux and Windows. Linux works better because the terminal program I use keeps a history of commands that I can quickly recall to minimise typing.

However, whilst I see various other recommendations which meet the needs of others one feature I haven't seen is the ability to download entire (or partial) playlists. Do some of these other options include playlist download support? Do they include the ability to extract an audio only part from a video?

Hasn't Windows (DOS even) had that with DOSKey since the early 90's?

[Gary350z]

I've been using various websites and downloaded programs for downloading youtube videos for years.
The problem is MOST of these contain malware and/or the websites use all kinds or trickery to try to dump malware on you.

It would be very nice to see 100% cleans sites listed here, and stated as such.

Thanks in advance.

[Ampera]

Hasn't Windows (DOS even) had that with DOSKey since the early 90's?

I'll check it out next time I get the Windows laptop out. If it remembers the commands between reboots that will be very useful.

Not between reboots, but you can press up to get your command history.

[Howardlong]

Although I don't use YT downloaders often, the only ones I've used in recent years have been online ones, and only from a mobile device. Most of them seem to be infected to the bone with malware making them unusable.

One thing for the few that do work, it's always intrigued me how they work from the perspective of being able to provide a downloadable file in far less time than real time old fashioned screen scraping, typically it's only a few seconds. I'm wondering how this works, I'd have thought the stream itself would be throttled from Youtube. I have thoughts of multithreaded concurrent downloads from a server farm, stitching together the content. Or maybe it really is just a simple unthrottled stream.

For the non web-based solutions, do they also work faster than real time, or are they screen scrapers?

I don't know why YT doesn't offer downloadable content in most jurisdictions, I would happily pay for that as a subscription based option, especially if it avoids ads too. The mentality that we're always 100% internet connected does not apply in one of the most common use cases for watching content, i.e., while travelling. I believe a few areas have Youtube Red but I don't know what that offers, is it all content or is it limited?

[RoGeorge]

http://keepvid.com/ is OK.

Nothing to install, no registration required, and downloading as fast as your network is.
For my ISP, less then 3-5 minutes for a 30-60 minutes long video.
And it's a download-er with a specified format/resolution, not a screen recorder.

[kllos]

also good option is this one YouTube playlist downloader

[lordvader88]

I used to use and like firefox addons, that was quick and easy, then they all stopped working. IDK what utube actually thinks of people downloading stuff, I use adblocker so I don't get ads anyways.

Now I use a desktop program "any video converter". I mainly use it to DL stuff, rip the audio to mp3, then listen to it when walking about or at work.

[John B]

For Firefox Quantum, I use the following addons:

Flash Video Downloader
Easy Youtube Video Downloader Express
Flash and Video Download

Occasionally youtube must do something to their system as one or another addon then cannot detect the download URLs for a while, hence having a few to try.

You can download up to 720p as a file from youtube, but as I understand it, 1080p runs on a different system and requires the use of streaming and recording software.

[EEVblog]

I use 4kdownloader

[mariush]

I'm still using this Firefox extension and it works great (used it for years) : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube_downloader_webx/

There's some rumor that the author has sold the extension and everything to a third party and some are worried it may become adware or crappier, but for now it's working perfectly fine.

[GlennSprigg]

Have a look at this Browser...

https://www.avast.com/en-au/secure-browser

I wouldn't touch 'I.E.' with a 10 foot barge pole, but used to be hooked on 'Firefox'.
The one mentioned above, is what I use now. (Free, from Avast Security, stand-alone. NO ads).
Is actually based on the 'chrome' engine, but completely re-written, with NUMEROUS features.
ONE of those, is handling Video downloads from almost any source, like 'Youtube'.
Simply hovering the mouse over the video-clip brings up a green bar above. You have the
options to select either the full .mp4 video, of just the .mp3 audio, before downloading it.

[HoracioDos]

youtube-dl-gui is available for Windows and Linux
http://mrs0m30n3.github.io/youtube-dl-gui/#downloads

[newbrain]

Hasn't Windows (DOS even) had that with DOSKey since the early 90's?

I'll check it out next time I get the Windows laptop out. If it remembers the commands between reboots that will be very useful.

Not between reboots, but you can press up to get your command history.

Also between reboots, if you use PowerShell.