How to Watch YouTube Videos Offline on PC/Mac/Phone

Streaming videos online has become a part of everyday life. However, many people often face challenges that disrupt their viewing experience. Poor network signals, limited data, or the complete absence of internet access—such as during commuting, flights, or in remote areas—make it difficult to watch YouTube videos smoothly. Additionally, official restrictions, device incompatibility, and format limitations further complicate offline viewing.

To overcome these challenges, finding a reliable way to watch YouTube videos offline is essential. In this guide, we'll explore different methods to help you watch YouTube videos offline.

How to Watch YouTube Videos Offline with YouTube Premium

• Quality Option: from 144P to 1080P
• Playback: Play on YouTube only
• Video Valid Time: Up to 29 days
• Pros: Multiple video quality options, mobile device and PC compatibility
• Cons: can only be played in the YouTube app

As you may know, YouTube doesn't provide a free way to allow its users to download videos from the website. It is much easier if you get a YouTube Premium subscription. With this tool, you can download YouTube videos in various quality options, ranging from 144P to 1080P. To save a video to your computer, please open YouTube in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Opera first. 

Steps to download YouTube videos for later offline watching:

Step 1. Sign in to your Premium account in the YouTube app.

Step 2. Go to the Watch page of the video you'd like to download.

Step 3. Below the video, click "Download."

Step 4. After finishing downloading, go to the YouTube Home page, then from the left-hand panel, click "Downloads."

Step 5. Choose the one you are going to watch to play.

How to Watch YouTube Videos Offline on Any Device [Free]

• Quality Option: from 360P to 4K
• Playback: Media Player
• Video Valid Time: Forever
• Pros: Completely Free, no ads, no device limitation
• Cons: Lack of bulk download feature (which will be added to this product in the future)

If you want to watch YouTube videos offline, there are some third-party tools. Once saved to your device, you can play them with any video player—no internet or Wi-Fi required. AuryLab YouTube Video Downloader, a web-based tool, stands out by allowing you to download your favorite YouTube videos in highly compatible formats like MP4 and WEBM. Once downloaded, you can watch them anytime, anywhere, without the internet connection.

Key Features:

1. ✔️Works in any browser on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, or iOS.
2. ✔️Supports MP4 and MP3 downloads in 1080p, 4K, and other resolutions.
3. ✔️Offers a clean interface with no pop-ups or forced software installs.

To save a YouTube video to your computer for offline viewing:

Step 1. Copy the link of the YouTube video you want to download.

Step 2. Paste teh video link into the input fileld on the AuryLab page, and click Search.

Step 3. Select the preferred video or audio format and quality to save. Click Download, and it will open up a new page, where you can preview the content. Click the three-dot button and choose Download again.

Step 4. Locate the downloaded file in your default Downloas folder and play it with any media palyer. On mobile, you may need to navigate to your downloads through the file manager.

How to Watch YouTube Videos Offline with Browser Extension

• Quality Option: 360P to 1080P, but not always
• Playback: Depends on your player on your device
• Video Valid Time: Permanent
• Pros: Free
• Cons: Quality options are not always available

Addoncrop YouTube Video Downloader is a browser extension designed for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, and more. It enables you to easily download YouTube videos and audio files directly to your device. After you add the YouTube video downloader extension to your browser, e.g, Chrome, you will see there is a "Download" option on the page when you play the video. Therefore, you can download videos on YouTube without copying the URL.

Step 1. Go to Addoncrop to install the YouTube downloader in your browser.

Step 2. Restart your browser and visit YouTube.com.

Step 3. Find the video you want to download for offline viewing and click to play the video.

Step 4. Now, you should see a download option under the video. If it doesn't appear, click the extension icon in the menu bar.

Step 5. Click the "Download" icon to start downloading the video to your computer directly, or click the "More" option and choose the quality you prefer to save the video to your computer.

How to Save a YouTube Video to a Laptop by Changing URL

• Quality Option: 360p
• Playback: Depends on Your Player on Windows
• Video Valid Time: Forever
• Pros: No ads, no redirects
• Cons: No other quality options

If you are looking for a simple, no software method to save YouTube videos for offline watching on your computer, there's a handy trick that invovles modifying the video's web address. Instead of using dedicated download apps or browser add-ons, you can download the content by changing the URL. This method typically offers a straightforward way to download videos at 360p quality, ideal for quick saving. To save a YouTube video to PC for offline watching:

Step 1. On YouTube, find and play the video you want to download.

Step 2. Go to the address bar and change "youtube" in the link to "youpak".

Step 3. On the new page, click "Click here to Download this video" above the video.

Step 4. Now, you can see the different download options provided by the website.

Step 5. Click the download option you prefer to start saving the YouTube video to your computer.

How to Watch YouTube Videos Offline on Phone

• Quality Option: from 144P to 720P
• Playback: Play on Photo app📌
• Video Valid Time: Permanent
• Pros: No app installation
• Cons: Max. 720P

Apple Shortcut leverage Apple's native Shortcuts app to automate the downloading process. Once installed, you simply run the Shortcut from the iOS Share Sheet while watching a YouTube Shorts video or any YouTube clip. It extracts the video URL and downloads the video at a selectable resolution (usually up to 720p), saving it straight to your Photos library for quick offline access.

Step 1. Download and install the shortcut.

Step 2. Open the desired YouTube video on your iPhone and press the share button.

Step 3. Click the "More" option and scroll down to find YouTube Shorts Downloader. Select "Allow Always."

Step 4. Choose the video resolution. Exit the program after the processing.

Bonus

Here are more details you might be concerned about downloading YouTube videos and watching them offline.

💡 If You Cannot Download Videos from YouTube...

There are many reasons why you can't download a video from YouTube:

• The video may be private and raise copyright issues.
• The video downloader fails to analyze the video address.
• The video downloader is currently unavailable in your region (especially for some online tools).

When you encounter such a problem, you can try all the tips to take a chance. If you still can't download the video, I'm afraid that you need to switch to another video to have a try.

💡Device Compatibility

When downloading videos directly from YouTube (using YouTube Premium or the official app features), the available formats are typically more limited. Here are the official video and audio format options offered by YouTube:

📺Video Formats:

MP4 – The most common video format for downloading videos through YouTube Premium, offering a balance of quality and file size. However, it may not be the best choice for ultra-high-definition formats like 4K.

🔊Audio Formats:

M4A – Typically used for audio-only downloads, providing good audio quality with relatively small file sizes. However, it may not be as widely compatible with non-Apple devices or third-party media players.

💡About Ads

YouTube’s paid membership, YouTube Premium, continues to offer an ad-free experience across all devices, including PC, Mac, phones, and smart TVs. Or you can use an ad-blocking browser extension to block those ads. However, YouTube has updated its ad delivery and detection systems, making ad-blocking browser extensions less effective or more difficult to maintain.

The Bottom Line

It's quite easy to watch YouTube videos on a PC, Mac, or laptop without internet or WI-FI as long as you ask for help from reliable video downloader tools. Some of the tools also enable you to convert YouTube videos to MP3 and provide different video formats for you to choose from. Choose the one that fits your needs the most to get the video you like within minutes.

FAQs on How to Watch YouTube Videos Offline

Keep reading more questions related to this theme.

1. Is it possible to download YouTube videos on a PC?

Yes, you can use a third-party service like AuryLab YouTube Video Downloader to download your favorite content directly to your device.

2. Where do downloaded YouTube videos go on PC?

If you download videos with YouTube Premium, the downloaded files are stored in a hidden app data folder in a special format, only accessible for offline viewing inside YouTube, not as regular, user-accessible video files. If you download YouTube videos with third-party services like AuryLab Video Downloader, the files are stored in the default Download folder.