Can You Legally Download YouTube Videos?
YouTube's Terms of Service prohibit downloading without explicit permission. However, for personal offline viewing of non-copyrighted material, the legal situation is generally tolerated. YouTube Premium offers an official download feature for offline viewing within the app. For other use cases, downloading remains in a grey area.
What Works in 2026
Many browser-extension tools have been shut down. The most reliable methods are web-based tools that stream via proxy. FreeMediaKit's downloader uses a secure proxy to stream video directly to your device without storing anything.
Step-by-Step
- Copy the YouTube video URL.
- Go to FreeMediaKit's Video Downloader.
- Paste and hit Download. The video streams to your device as an MP4.
Quality Options
Most web tools offer 720p and 1080p. For 4K video, desktop applications like yt-dlp (open source, command line) are more reliable.
What About Age-Restricted or Private Videos?
These cannot be downloaded without authentication. Only public videos work with web-based tools.