How do I download or save a YouTube video to my computer?

Updated: 0/12/2017 by Shivshakti Comuter's & E-MItra Work

YouTube has been designed to only allow users to watch and view videos on their website. Many users want to download or save their favorite YouTube videos to their computer so they can watch them without being connected to the Internet or on other devices. Below are the steps required for downloading and watching YouTube videos on your computer for free.

Note: This page only provides instructions for downloading or saving a YouTube video to your computer. Instructions for saving a video as audio is on our saving only the audio of a YouTube video to an MP3 file page.

Tip: Unless you plan on transferring the video from your computer to your smartphone or tablet after it has been downloaded, we suggest using our how to download a YouTube video on a smartphone or tablet steps for these devices.

Saving YouTube video as a video file on your computer

Today, many websites that allow you to enter the URL of the video you want to save to your computer and get a link to download the video file. Below is a simple three-step process to download any YouTube video.

Note: These steps may not work if at a school or job that's blocking YouTube.

1. First, go to the YouTube page containing the video you want to download. When you've found the page, press Ctrl+L on your keyboard to highlight the text in the address bar, and then Ctrl+C to copy the Internet address. If you are on an Apple computer substitute Ctrl with the Command key.

2. Once this address has been copied, paste that address into the text field below by clicking inside the box and pressing Ctrl+V on your keyboard. Then, click the Download Video button.

Note: If the text field or Download Video button above is not visible or clickable, you can also type savefrom.net/ in front of any YouTube address (URL).

3. Click the download video in browser link, below the green "Download the app and get your video" box. If you don't see that link immediately, wait a few seconds.

Note: Using the above link will allow you to download a Youtube video for free. Ignore any advertisements that say you need to pay money to download a video.

4. If done properly, below the link mentioned above, you will see a preview of the video (as shown below), along with a green Download button and the video format. The default format for downloading the video is either Low or Medium quality.

Click the down arrow on the right-hand side of the Download box and click on the Moreoption in that drop-down list to see additional video formats, such as FLV, 3GP, and WebM. Select the video format you want and click the green Download button.

Note: A Subtitles option may be available in the list when clicking on the "More" option. If subtitles are available for the YouTube video you are downloading, you can choose to include subtitles in the downloaded YouTube video.

After the file has been downloaded, it will be available in your downloads folder.

What about a private video?

You cannot download private videos because the YouTube download service would not have the necessary rights to access the video.

I still can't download a video

If after following the above steps, you do not get a preview like our example, make sure that the link you are using works by opening the page in a new window. Once verified as working, try the above steps again. If the steps continue to not work, try refreshing this page by pressing the F5 key on your keyboard and following the above steps again. If that does not work, try one of the YouTube download sites below. Or, use the link below for installing a utility to download videos on Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems.

• How to download or save streaming video from over 700 sites.

It is only saving as audio and not video

Make sure you are choosing the "MP4 360p" or "MP4 480p" option from the download link. If you choose "Audio MP4 128", it only downloads the audio and not the video. If you did choose the right download link to download the file, it is very likely that the player you are using does not have the necessary codec for video files. Download the free VLC player for your computer and try to play the video file from within VLC and not the player you are currently using.

How to Create a Bootable USB Drive Without Using Any Software

To create a bootable USB drive manually, we will use the Command Prompt as a Windows default program. Here are step by step to create a bootable USB drive as the Windows installation media. To create a bootable USB drive as a Windows installation media, we require at least 4 GB for minimum capacity. Larger capacity is better. At this moment, I use the USB flash drive with 2 GB of capacity as just an example. It's due to some reasons that my 4 GB flash drive encountered an unusual problem that i have to fix later. :D

Step 1: Using DISKPART Command

1. Insert your USB flash drive to your running computer. As the first step, we need to run Command Prompt as administrator. To do this, we need to find cmd by typing 'cmd' in the search box on Windows Start Menu. After search result for 'cmd' appears, right click on it and select "Run as administrator".
2. Type 'diskpart' on Command Prompt (without quotes) and hit Enter. Wait for a while until the DISKPART program run.
3. Type 'list disk' to view active disks on your computer and hit Enter. There would be seen that the active disks shown as Disk 0 for hard drive and Disk 1 for your USB flashdrive with its total capacity.
4. Type 'select disk 1' to determine that disk 1 would be processed in the next step then hit Enter.
5. Type 'clean' and hit Enter to remove all of data in the drive.
6. Type 'create partition primary' and hit Enter. Creating a primary partition and further recognized by Windows as 'partition 1'.
7. Type 'select partition 1' an hit Enter. Choosing the 'partition 1' for setting up it as an active partition.
8. Type 'active' and hit Enter. Activating current partition.
9. Type 'format fs=ntfs quick' and hit Enter. Formatting current partition as NTFS file system quickly.
10. Type 'exit' and hit Enter. Leaving DISKPART program but don't close the Command Prompt instead. We would still need it for next process.

Step 2: Creating Boot Sector

Let us assume that the flash / USB drive is the D: drive and the DVD installer located on drive F :. The first step, we will navigate Command Prompt to set installation DVD as its active directory.

1. By default, Command Prompt's active directory for Administrator permission is on C:\Windows\System32>. We will navigate Command Prompt to set on DVD (F:) as its active directory. Just type 'f:' then hit Enter, and the active directory changed to F:.
2. Type 'cd boot' and hit Enter. Active directory changed to F:\boot>.
3. Type 'bootsect /nt60 d:' and hit Enter. Creating boot sector on D: drive (USB flash drive).
4. Type 'exit' and hit Enter to close the Command Prompt. Until this step we have made a bootable USB drive sucessfully, and the flash drive is ready to be used as a boot media.

Step 3: Copying Installation Files

To install Windows from a bootable USB drive, we just need to copy the whole installation files contained on the DVD installer to flash drive. To do this, open the Command Prompt as in previous steps. Once it opens, type 'xcopy f: \ *. * d: \ / E / H / F' and then press Enter. Wait until all the files in the DVD installer copied to the flash drive. Now bootable USB drive is ready to be used for installing Windows from flash drive and you're done ! 

Shortcut Keys and their Functions - Keyboard Shortcuts

Alt + E: Edit options in current program

F1: Universal Help in almost every Windows program.

Ctrl + A: Select all text.

Ctrl + X: Cut

Shift + Del: Cut selected item.

Ctrl + C: Copy selected item.

Ctrl + Ins: Copy selected item.

Ctrl + V: Paste selected item.

Shift + Ins: Paste.

Home: Goes to beginning of current line.

Ctrl + Home: Goes to beginning of document.

End: Goes to end of current line.

Ctrl + End: Goes to end of document.

Shift + Home: Highlights from current position to beginning of line.

Shift + End: Highlights from current position to end of line.

Ctrl + Left arrow: Moves one word to the left at a time.

Ctrl + Right arrow: Moves one word to the right at a time.

Shortcut Keys and their Functions: Below is a listing of all the major shortcut keys in Microsoft Word.

Shortcut Keys and their Descriptions

Ctrl + A: Select all contents of the page.

Ctrl + B: Bold highlighted selection.

Ctrl + C: Copy selected text.

Ctrl + X: Cut selected text.

Ctrl + P: Open the print window.

Ctrl + F: Open find box.

Ctrl + I: Italic highlighted selection.

Ctrl + K: Insert link (Shortcut Keys and their Functions).

Ctrl + U: Underline highlighted selection.

Ctrl + V: Paste.

Ctrl + Y: Redo the last action performed.

Ctrl + Z: Undo last action.

Ctrl + L: Aligns the line or selected text to the left of the screen.

Ctrl + E: Aligns the line or selected text to the center of the screen.

Ctrl + R: Aligns the line or selected text to the right of the screen.

Ctrl + M: Indent the paragraph.

Ctrl + Shift + F: Change the font.

Ctrl + Shift + >: Increase selected font +1pts up to 12pt and then increases font +2pts.

Ctrl + ]: Increase selected font +1pts.

Ctrl + Shift + <: Decrease selected font -1pts if 12pt or lower, if above 12 decreases font by +2pt.

Ctrl + [: Decrease selected font -1pts.

Ctrl + Shift + *: View or hide non printing characters.

Ctrl + L: Moves one word to the left.

Ctrl + R: Moves one word to the right.

Ctrl + : Moves to the beginning of the line or paragraph.

Ctrl + : Moves to the end of the paragraph.

Ctrl + Del: Deletes word to right of cursor.

Ctrl + Backspace: Deletes word to left of cursor.

Ctrl + End: Moves the cursor to the end of the document.

Ctrl + Home: Moves the cursor to the beginning of the document.

Ctrl + Spacebar: Reset highlighted text to the default font.

Ctrl + 1: Single-space lines.

Ctrl + 2: Double-space lines.

Ctrl + 5: 1.5-line spacing.

Ctrl + Alt + 1: Changes text to heading 1.

Ctrl + Alt + 2: Changes text to heading 2.

Ctrl + Alt + 3: Changes text to heading 3.

Alt + Shift + D: Insert the current date.

Alt + Shift + T: Insert the current time.

In addition to the above shortcut keys users can also use their mouse as a method of quickly do something commonly performed.

Below some are examples of mouse shortcuts.

Mouse shortcuts and their Descriptions

Click, hold, and drag: Selects text from where you click and hold to the point you drag and let go.

Double-click: If double-click a word, selects the complete word.

Double-click: Double-clicking on the left, center, or right of a blank line will make the alignment of the text left, center, or right aligned.

Double-click: Double-clicking anywhere after text on a line will set a tab stop.

Triple-click: Selects the line or paragraph of the text the mouse triple-clicked.

Ctrl + Mouse wheel: Zooms in and out of document (Shortcut Keys and their Functions).

Computer Keyboard Shortcut Keys

Shortcut Keys	Description
Alt+F	File menu options in current program.
Alt+E	Edit options in current program
Alt+Tab	Switch between open programs
F1	Universal Help in almost every Windows program.
F2	Rename a selected file
F5	Refresh the current program window
Ctrl+N	Create a new, blank document in some software programs
Ctrl+O	Open a file in current software program
Ctrl+A	Select all text.
Ctrl+B	Change selected text to be Bold
Ctrl+I	Change selected text to be in Italics
Ctrl+U	Change selected text to be Underlined
Ctrl+F	Open find window for current document or window.
Ctrl+S	Save current document file.
Ctrl+X	Cut selected item.
Shift+Del	Cut selected item.
Ctrl+C	Copy selected item.
Ctrl+Ins	Copy selected item
Ctrl+V	Paste
Shift+Ins	Paste
Ctrl+K	Insert hyperlink for selected text
Ctrl+P	Print the current page or document.
Home	Goes to beginning of current line.
Ctrl+Home	Goes to beginning of document.
End	Goes to end of current line.
Ctrl+End	Goes to end of document.
Shift+Home	Highlights from current position to beginning of line.
Shift+End	Highlights from current position to end of line.
Ctrl+Left arrow	Moves one word to the left at a time.
Ctrl+Right arrow	Moves one word to the right at a time.
Ctrl+Esc	Opens the START menu
Ctrl+Shift+Esc	Opens Windows Task Manager
Alt+F4	Close the currently active program
Alt+Enter	Open the Properties for the selected item (file, folder, shortcut, etc.)

PC shortcut keys for Special Characters

Many special characters can be created using keyboard shortcuts. Below are some of the more common and popular special characters and the keyboard shortcuts to create them.

Shortcut Keys	Special Character
Alt+0224	à
Alt+0232	è
Alt+0236	ì
Alt+0242	ò
Alt+0241	ñ
Alt+0228	ä
Alt+0246	ö
Alt+0252	ü
Alt+0248	ø
Alt+0223	ß
Alt+0198	Æ
Alt+0231	ç
Alt+0191	¿
Alt+0176	°  (degree symbol)
Alt+0177	±  (plus/minus symbol)
Alt+0153	™
Alt+0169	©
Alt+0174	®
Alt+0128	€  (Euro currency)
Alt+0162	¢  (Cent symbol)
Alt+0163	£  (British Pound currency)
Alt+0165	¥  (Japanese Yen currency)

How to install Windows 10 on your PC

Before you do anything, however, we’re going to give your our standard advice: back up your data. Microsoft will give you the option of wiping your files at various stages during the process. Whether you go that route or not, make sure you’ve backed up key documents and other data to OneDrive, a USB key, or something else—just in case.

There are three primary ways to obtain Windows 10: either buy a new PC with Windows 10 preloaded, buy a license key to Windows 10 online, or upgrade an existing Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 PC. We’re going to ignore the first option and focus on the latter two, which we’ll consider to be essentially the same scenario.

Let’s assume that you’re upgrading an older PC, then. If you own a qualifying Windows PC, you had the option of “reserving” a free copy of Windows 10, an offer which will expire a year from now. If you did reserve a copy, chances are that your PC has downloaded a copy of Windows 10 in the background. At some point, Windows 10 will invite you to begin the upgrade process.

Microsoft

That’s the simplest option, especially if you don’t have any immediate, desperate need to download Windows 10. Let Microsoft push Windows 10 at its leisure, and it will end up in your hands eventually. 

But there’s a second option, one that’s a bit more fun. And that’s to download Windows 10 right now.

The new Windows media creation tool shortcut

Traditionally, Windows users would upgrade by inserting an installation CD or DVD into their PC. Over time, users became trained to burn their own .ISO files on their own media. And starting with Windows 8, Microsoft offered the option of restoring a Windows installation from an ISO file stored on a DVD or even on a flash drive. With the new Windows 10 media creation tool, you don’t even need to take that step—it creates a bootable flash drive that you don’t need to futz with. Just make sure the USB drive's at least 3 GB in size.

Mark Hachman

You have the option of using Microsoft’s tool either for upgrading the current PC, or to store the bits on a USB key for safekeeping.

On the media creation tool page, select the proper version—check the system settings to double-check whether you’re running a 32- or 64-bit OS. Then download and run it. Though simple, the tool has a number of lovely features—including the ability to simply upgrade the PC. Yes, it’s true—you don’t need the Windows 10 reservation, as the tool will simply jump you to the head of the line. Even better, you can select whether you want Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Professional, either 32-bit or 64-bit versions, and even the installation language.

Mark Hachman

Note that you can use this tool not only to upgrade Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 PCs, but also Windows 10 PCs with older builds. Don’t get sneaky, though. You won’t be able to score a free upgrade to Windows 10 Professional if you existing license doesn’t support it. Here’s a recap of who gets what:

Host operating system edition	Windows 10 edition
Windows 7 Starter Windows 7 Home Basic Windows 7 Home Premium Windows 8/8.1 Windows 8.1 with Bing Windows 10 Home	Windows 10 Home
Windows 7 Professional Windows 7 Ultimate Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Pro Windows 8/8.1 Professional with Media Center Windows 10 Pro	Windows 10 Pro

You can try a clean installation by booting directly from the USB key or DVD; when you do so, you have the option of keeping your files or wiping out everything. However, I ran into an issue where Windows claimed my disk partitions were improperly organized and refused to let me go further. I tried an in-place installation instead.

From there, however, the installation proceeded smoothly. Make sure you allow Windows to download relevant drivers as the installation proceeds. You’ll need to agree to a license agreement, and then the installation process will begin in earnest.

Mark Hachman

Make sure you allow Windows to grab updates as it goes.

You may run into a situation where Windows asks for a license key. If you’re upgrading from a licensed copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, you can click the tiny “skip” option; Microsoft will dig out the license key from the depths of your machine. If this is a brand-new installation, of course, you’ll need to enter the proper key.

Microsoft encourages you to upgrade to Windows 10 first, and then—if you so choose—wipe the drive and reset Windows to improve performance. You can do in the Settings > Update & Security menu. There, you’ll have the option to keep your personal files and reinstall Windows, remove all your files and settings, or perform a factory reset, which will probably bring the PC back to Windows 8.1. We haven't tried it yet. (Editor's Note: We have tried it now, and yes, on an HP Spectre x360 that came preinstalled with Windows 8.1, it resets to 8.1.)