Summary :

Get all the videos you like for offline watching! Download all the videos you want with the simple and smart downloader!Get it for your PC or Mac or Android. I highly recommend the video download tool iTube HD Video Downloader, which is perfectly designed for Mac OS platforms, including MacBook Air, Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, iMac and more. MyConverters YouTube Downloader – Online YouTube downloader for Win, Mac, Android, and iPhone. Free download videos from 1000+website, including Facebook, Twitter. If your MP4 or MP3 downloader app can't download YouTube videos on Mac, there are several possible solutions. Check your connection, for example. But the easiest way is to get a new, better app that works. Airy for Mac and Windows is very stable and it gets constant updates.

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.

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.

How to Download YouTube Videos on 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.

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.

Youtube Downloader Mp3 Free Download Music Mac

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.

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.

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.

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

If you are a Windows user, choosing a YouTube video downloader is easy, but it is a different story for Mac users. And therefore, we will present 15 best YouTube video downloader for Mac that are compatible with all Mac platforms, such as Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, EI Capitan & Yosemite etc., and there are more than 15 of them in the market.

Here is the list of 15 best YouTube video downloaderthat work on all Mac platforms in 2021.

• 1. Gihosoft TubeGet for Mac
• 2. MacX YouTube Downloader
• 3. Airy
• 4. ClipGrab
• 5. MediaHuman YouTube Downloader
• 6. 5KPlayer
• 7. Apowersoft
• 8. Wondershare AllMyTube
• 9. iTube Studio for Mac
• 10. Total Video Downloader
• 11. YTD
• 12. Downie
• 13. SConverter.com
• 14. Softorino YouTube Converter 2
• 15. 4K Video Downloader for Mac

1. Gihosoft TubeGet for Mac

If you are looking the best way to download YouTube videos on a MacBook, then you can resort to Gihosoft TubeGet, a YouTube video downloader for Mac & Windows. It allows users to download multiple videos or a whole playlist from YouTube at once even if the clips are lengthy. The tool has no trouble saving HD & UHD quality videos and it doesn’t hog much system resources.

Gihosoft TubeGet also offers the capability to download 48/60fps videos from YouTube, which is a boon for the game and sports lover. Well, to the language learner, Gihosoft TubeGet develops the feature to grab the closed caption, local subtitle, auto-generated subtitle & auto-translated subtitle are all supported.

2. MacX YouTube Downloader

If you are a Mac user, no matter MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, Mac mini, no matter Mac OS X, OS X, macOS 10.12, 10.13, 10.14, 10.15, 10.16, and have a strong desire to download YouTube videos, MacX YouTube downloader for Mac is a nice choice. MacX helps to save videos from Facebook, Dailymotion, Vevo, Vimeo and multiple popular video hosting websites.

MacX YouTube downloader free full version supports to download YouTube videos in whatever resolution that YouTube provides, such as 720P, 1080P, 2K, 4K & 8K etc., and keep them in MP4 or WebM format. Integrated with an easy-to-use interface and advanced technology, MacX YouTube Downloader makes it the ultimate choice for you to download popular videos & musics at a fast speed with minimal quality loss.

3. Airy

Unlike other video downloader that listed in this article, Airy only works with YouTube, perhaps the developers know that concentration is the key to success. Airy offers the feature to download full HD 1080P, 4K & 8K Ultra HD videos from YouTube conveniently. You also get options on video formats, e.g. MP4, WebM, FLV, OGG & 3GP etc.. If you want to save soundtracks in MP3 format, and not keep the whole music video, Airy can perfectly finish this work, and it can even download the album art for you.

Airy also has the capability to save the entire playlist or channel from YouTube. Another big advantage about Airy is that it even lets you pause a download, and resume download the YouTube video right from where you suspended it, which is a perfect design if you are not on your computer all the time.

4. ClipGrab

Another Mac version YouTube video downloader added to this list is ClipGrab. ClipGrab is a completely free software which makes a living by donations, free as it’s, its video downloading feature doesn’t lose out to any competitor. ClipGrab allows you to search your videos directly through the address bar by keywords without opening YouTube, that’s quite time-saving.

When it comes to downloading YouTube videos, ClipGrab provides a super easy way to do that. Just copy and paste the link into the address box, it will show all the possible resolutions. You just click the “Grab this clip!” button, it will save the videos offline on the desktop of your MacBook or iMac.

5. MediaHuman YouTube Downloader

This Mac software can help you download videos from YouTube and many other similar video sharing websites like VKontakte, SoundCloud & Vevo etc.. What we love about this YouTube download app for Mac desktop is that it has so many practical features, such as simultaneous download, downloading HD & UHD videos such as 1080P, 2K, 4K & 8K, and the ability to download entire YouTube playlist & channel at a time.

Just like other YouTube downloader for Mac, MediaHuman also gives you options if you want to download the video or extract the audio track alone. This is a boon for people who enjoy music, it also can provide the original audio without quality loss. MediaHuman has many advanced features, you can find it in the preference setting, such as preventing from sleep while downloading, ignoring 30+ fps videos, using format priority list etc..

6. 5KPlayer

How can we download YouTube videos on MacBook in resolution up to 1080P, 2K, 4K or even 8K? Well, desktop packages can help you with that. Although these desktop software are not cross-platform, but they are more powerful in functions than online downloader on Safari. Downloading HD & UDH videos for those tools is just easy as pie. The best part of these software is that they can batch download all the videos on a playlist at one time, and grab the subtitles as well.

For YouTube download software on Mac, 5KPlayer is one of the best. This app works flawlessly on Mac system to download videos and movies in MP4, WebM, MKV, 3GP depending on your preferences. It also supports video resolutions from 360P, 720P, 1080P to 4K & 8K, which means it will allow you to download really high-resolution videos. This is perfect for those who want to download clear long videos, such as full feature films and documentaries.

7. Apowersoft

Perhaps what is great about this app is that it lets you convert videos to other file formats suitable for devices like iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, PSP, Kindle Fire, and other mobile devices. This Mac video downloader understands that some of us do not just watch videos on our computers, but also on other portable devices. But not just that, it also helps you download high-resolution videos outside of YouTube. You can also use this app to download videos from Twitter, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Facebook.

As a bonus feature, this easy-to-use app will even allow you to download YouTube playlist to your Mac. Not satisfied with the only downloading function, Apowersoft also integrates itself with screen record and video conversion section, now it becomes an one-stop tool. With Apowersoft in hand, one can easily download online videos from YouTube, record game videos, and convert videos taken by camera to more popular formats so that users can easily edit and upload them to YouTube.

8. Wondershare AllMyTube

Wondershare AllMyTube is a pretty popular app, probably one of the most used YouTube video downloader for Mac. Supporting many popular sites, AllMyTube can also convert videos to other formats or to music files, grab whole playlists and handle batch downloads all at once. It’s a shareware so you get limited functions, the free version can only allow users to download 2 videos, and there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee.

The design of AllMyTube is very intuitive, it has 4 parts: downloading, downloaded, converted & WiFi transfer. When you finish downloading your YouTube videos, you can convert them to other formats and send them to your phones directly by scanning the QR code. As a senior specialist for YouTube, AllMyTube supports download age-restricted YouTube videos, just input the login password, you can unblock the restriction.

9.iTube Studio for Mac

To save videos from YouTube on your Mac devices (MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac or Mac mini), we have another alternative for you – iTube Studio for Mac.

The best thing about this app is that it’s integrated with many useful functions, such as video downloading, recording, converting & transferring, totally an all-in-one tool. Equipped with a private mode, now you can use it to download videos in secret. As a professional video recorder, iTube allows you to record videos from Netflix, Hulu, iTunes & BBC iPlayer etc.. So if a video site is prohibited from downloading, you can just record them, nice design.

10. Total Video Downloader

There are multiple applications which you can utilize to save YouTube videos on your MacBook Air or Pro successfully, and Total Video Downloader is one of the best and fastest. This app is designed to download any video uploaded on the Internet, and it works exactly well for what it’s designed for.

This app offers an interface that looks like a web browser, so users can have easy access to many hot videos on YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo and Lynda. However, if this app is in running for one of the top apps to use when downloading videos, it will fall behind when it comes to format conversion. But that’s not a big deal, you can use other apps to convert videos instead. However, when it comes to downloading videos, this app is highly recommended.

11. YTD

Although we have talked about many desktop software that work smoothly on MacBook, I’d like to add another one to this list – YTD. YTD is also a popular app which we hear a lot. Users can easily navigate through this app and get on with their download without the challenge of getting familiar with the interface.

YTD lets you download videos just like other YouTube downloaders, but with an added bonus feature of allowing you to convert videos to different formats & cut the videos to your preferred length. What we love about this downloader is that it’s one of the most handy apps. It is very simple, and thus very easy to use.

12. Downie

Downie is video downloader for YouTube & many other video sites that works only on Mac operating system, and it requires macOS 10.11+, including Big Sur, Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, EI Capitan. Like many other competitors, Downie supports many video hosting sites, including YouTube, Youku, Bilibili, Vimeo & SoundCloud etc., and the number is rapidly growing. It can grab HD videos up to 4K, and convert videos into MP4 or MP3 so you can play them on your iTunes.

Youtube Downloader Hd Free Download For Mac

Downie is multilingual, and it updates about once a week with new features, bug fixes, and new sites supported. What it attracts me is that the software can group the video file by site and playlist, so that all the downloads can be sorted into folders based on where you downloaded them from or from which playlist they are.

13. SConverter.com

When the topic of downloading YouTube videos on a MacBook comes up, usually there are 2 ways to do this. One is to install a full version program, just like the software I have mentioned above, or you can use an online video downloader, and SConverter.com is a good recommendation.

To make downloading YouTube videos as simple as possible, SConverter.com requires you to do nothing more than paste a link and hit ‘Download’ button. The downside of these sites is that they can only download videos from YouTube with the resolution up to 720P, while can’t do anything for the 1080P & higher resolution videos, such as 2K, 4K & 8K, let alone 60fps videos. But if you just want to download a single clip & save time, then an online YouTube downloader is ideal.

14. Softorino YouTube Converter 2

YouTube itself has no passage in downloading videos directly, on both desktop and mobile. However, sometimes you have your reasons to do this, especially when you are on trains, subways, buses, or trips to places without reliable 4G or WiFi. That being said, with a right YouTube video downloader in hand, grabbing videos from YouTube is a surprisingly easy thing, and it doesn’t require a high configuration laptop.

Softorino YouTube Converter 2 is a fast video download for Mac which can fully satisfy your needs without any complications. This tool allows you to download video from YouTube, SoundCloud, Vimeo, BandCamp, VK, LiveLeak, and many more. Apart from that, you can also download the content as video, audio, or even create them as ringtone. Integrated with an automatic Wi-Fi feature, now you can transfer downloaded media to other devices such as iPhone, iPod or iTunes at a fast speed without USB cable.

15. 4K Video Downloader for Mac

For those who want to download & keep videos from YouTube on their Apple computer, 4K Video Downloader for Mac has always been a good and reliable option. This desktop app for Mac covers many popular sites, such as YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, Dailymotion and Metacafe, and it doesn’t have any snag in saving videos offline.

The developers of this tool pay great attention to simplicity and usability, you can download your favorite videos in the precise format or resolution you need, and has no hassle in downloading multiple videos in batch simultaneously. All in all, 4K Video Downloader for Mac is a good video downloading solution and it does what is promises without any complications.

In Conclusion

When you finish reading this article, you will have clear thought about how to download YouTube videos on a Mac computer. And now I’d like to hear from you: What’s your #1 YouTube video downloader for MacBook? If you have personally been using any app that is powerful, don’t be shy and type in your recommendations in the comments section below.

Related Articles