Four different ways to download your favorite clips
Streaming YouTube videos can quickly eat up your precious cellular data plan. In fact, most people don't watch videos on the go because of limited data plans. A way around this is to download videos onto a PC, then copy them to your mobile device. We've rounded up four ways to download YouTube videos and chosen our favorite of the bunch.
Kibase
Step 1: Go to www.kibase.com and click YouTube Downloader.
Step 2: On your YouTube video, right click, then select Page Source.
Step 3: Select and copy all the HTML text (Ctrl+A to select the text and Ctrl+C to copy it).
Step 4: Paste the text into the white box labled Step 2 and then click Submit. Your video will begin downloading to your computer as an MP4 file. Note: To change the format of the video, uncheck the Start Downloading the video file automatically when it is ready box before you click Submit.
You will then be moved to a new page showing you different format options you can choose from.
Keepvid
Step 1: Go to www.keepvid.com and copy and paste your YouTube link into the search bar.
Step 2: You will be prompted to download Java for Windows, if you don't have it already installed on your computer.
Step 3: Your browser will ask if you want to run Java on www.Keepvid.com; click Run This Time.
Step 4: You will be given a set of resolutions and formats to choose from. Select the one you want, and the video will begin downloading. Note: The blue download button leads you to an ad for freeware, so don't click it!
Clip Grab
Okay, some of this guide will be pretty obvious. In short, you'll need to download the .exe and navigate through the installer, dodging freeware prompts.
Step 1: Go to www.clipgrab.com and click Free Download.
Step 2: The first piece of freeware that you'll be prompted to install is Conduit. Click I do not accept and then click Next.
Step 3: The next adware you'll be prompted to install is PureLeads. Again, click I do not accept and then click Next.
Step 4: Double click on Clip Grab and launch the program. Once it's launched, copy your YouTube link into the search bar in the Search Tab.
Step 5: Click the Downloads tab to pick and choose what video format and resolution you want for the video. Next, click Grab This Clip and your video will begin downloading.
Freemake
There is a ton of freeware bundled into Freemake, so watch out. It's not hard to accidently install a random add-on or an extra toolbar.
Step 1: Go to www.freemake.com and click the green Download Now link to download the .exe file.
Step 2: Select your language and click OK to continue the installation process.
Step 3: Click Custom installation (advanced) and uncheck Install Search Protect.
Step 4: Click Custom installation and uncheck the Install PureLeads box.
Step 5: Click Custom installation and uncheck the Install browser plugins (Chrome, Firefox) box.
Step 6: Select the drive to install Freemake on and then click Next to begin the installation.
Step 7: Launch Freemake and copy a YouTube URL to your clipboard using Ctrl+C. After this, you can select the video format you want to download the video as, by clicking on the different formats on the bar at the bottom of the application.
We've used all of these methods to download YouTube videos, and we like Kibase the best, as it's easy to use and it requires no extra installation of add-ons or .exes. A close second would be Keepvid because it only requires a Java for Windows installation. The other two download methods, Clip Grab and Freemake, use .exe programs to snatch your videos from YouTube. They also come with extra freeware you'll need to navigate through, which is annoying, but they do allow you download YouTube videos a few different formats that Kibase and Keepvid don't offer, which include AVI and WMV. Again, if you don't want to deal with .exes or downloading any extra installers to your PC, then Kibase is the way to go.