Save YouTube videos in MP4, from 144p up to 4K, or grab the audio as MP3.
Works with YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, Vimeo and 1000+ other sites
YouTube is where this tool shines brightest. Every available resolution is listed with real file sizes, HD formats are merged with their audio track automatically, and there's an MP3 option for music and podcasts.
Under the video, tap Share → Copy link — or just copy the address from your browser's address bar.
Drop the link into the box and we'll list every quality and format available for it.
Click Download on the quality you want. The file saves straight to your device.
YouTube is the biggest video library on Earth, but it comes with one frustrating rule: you watch on its terms. Streams buffer on bad connections, videos vanish without warning, and the offline button is locked behind a subscription. Our free YouTube downloader exists for everyone who would rather keep a copy. Paste a link above and SaveFrom lists every quality and format the video offers — from a lightweight 144p clip for an old phone to a full 4K MP4 that looks razor sharp on a television, plus MP3 audio when you only want the sound.
The reasons are as varied as the platform itself. Commuters save long video essays and interviews to watch on the train, where tunnels turn streaming into a slideshow. Students download lectures and tutorials so revision doesn't depend on campus Wi-Fi. Musicians pull reference tracks, language learners save slow-spoken lessons to loop offline, and creators archive their own uploads as a local backup — because keeping the only copy of your work on someone else's server is a gamble. Travellers load up tablets before long flights, and parents cache cartoons for car journeys where a buffering wheel means an unhappy back seat.
There is also the simple fact that YouTube removes things. Channels get deleted, videos get made private, and region locks appear overnight. If a video matters to you — a tutorial you rely on, a performance you love, a family upload from a relative — a local copy is the only guarantee it stays watchable.
The whole process takes about ten seconds and needs no software, no browser extension, and no account.
There is also a shortcut: type thesavefrom.com/ in front of any YouTube address in your browser bar and you land here with the video already loaded.
Bigger is not always better. A 4K file of a talking-head podcast wastes gigabytes; a 144p copy of a nature documentary is unwatchable. Match the file to the job. 720p HD is the sweet spot for phones — sharp on a small screen, small enough to store dozens of videos. 1080p Full HD suits laptops and tablets. 4K is for footage you will watch on a big TV or edit later. If you only need the audio — a song, a speech, a podcast episode — choose MP3 and skip the video entirely, which shrinks the download by around ninety percent.
One thing worth understanding: the very highest resolutions on YouTube are stored as separate video and audio streams, and many downloaders quietly hand you the video with no sound. SaveFrom merges the two streams for you on the fly, so the 1080p or 4K file you receive always has its audio track intact.
The bar is low in this corner of the internet, and plenty of tools trip over it. A decent downloader should never make you install a suspicious program, demand your email address, wrap the download button in five fake ones, or cap you at 360p unless you pay. It should work in the browser you already have, on the phone or computer you already own. That is the standard we built this site to: paste, pick, save. The file you get is exactly the file YouTube served, nothing added and nothing taken away.
Downloading for your own offline viewing is one thing; re-uploading someone else's work is another. Save videos you have the rights to, videos the creator offers for download, or videos you keep strictly for personal use. Creators pour real time into what they make — if you enjoy a channel, keep watching, liking and subscribing, because that is what keeps new videos coming.
A few things learned from handling millions of links. One video at a time: if you paste a playlist link, we take the video you linked — grab the rest individually, which keeps you in control of what lands on your device. Shorts work exactly like normal videos: copy the link, paste, download; the vertical MP4 you get is ideal for sharing. Long videos need patience, not prayer: a two-hour podcast at 1080p is a big file, so on slower connections drop to 720p or take the MP3 — audio of a talk show loses nothing. Check the size estimate we show next to each option before you commit on mobile data. And if a download ever fails, the fix is usually simple: copy the link again from the address bar rather than an embed, and make sure the video is public and not age-restricted — those sit behind YouTube's sign-in wall and no honest downloader pretends otherwise.
Organise as you go. Downloads pile up fast. A folder per topic — recipes, lectures, gym, kids — turns a pile of MP4s into a library you'll actually use, and makes backups painless.
Ready when you are: scroll up, paste a YouTube link, and have the file on your device before the kettle boils.