Complete Guide to Downloading Youtube Videos for Mac and Linux

 

Note: Guide for downloading Youtube videos for Windows coming soon!

This is the complete guide to downloading videos, playlists and music from Youtube, without using any dodgy websites or crap-filled Youtube downloader software. This easy to follow guide will show you how to download to your heart’s desire- for free!

I wrote this guide to steer people away from frustrations trying to download Youtube videos. I myself once used a Greasemonkey script for my video downloads, but unfortunately when Youtube’s interface was updated it broke the script, never to work again. This utility we are using today completely removes all these types of headaches.

We are using a free utility called Youtube-dl. This fantastic piece of software is complete free and open-source, ad-free, downloads videos, music and playlists from Youtube and is constantly updated by an amazing team of volunteers.

Step 1: Download and Install Youtube-dl

Go to the youtube-dl site.

Ok, time to open your Terminal, don’t be alarmed!

Open Terminal by pressing Cmd+Spacebar (by default on Mac), search for ‘Terminal’ in Spotlight, then press Enter when you find it.

In Terminal, copy this entire command into your Terminal window, then hit Enter:

sudo wget https://yt-dl.org/downloads/2015.01.16/youtube-dl -O /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl

You will be prompted to enter your Mac password for your account (same one as when you login). Do so now. This command downloads the required Youtube-dl files.

Next, copy and paste this entire command and hit Enter again:

sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl

Once again, enter your password if prompted. This command changes file permissions so we are ready to continue to the fun part.

Step 2: How to Download Youtube Videos on Mac

Ok, now for the fun bit!

Let’s download a video! I am a fan of American Psycho, so let’s download the American Psycho Business Card Scene.

Copy and paste the following command and hit Enter:

youtube-dl "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF_-AO4qVB0"

You see this screen when the video is downloading.

And that’s it for downloading a video from Youtube!! Simple huh?

Just remember to copy and paste the following command into your Terminal to download video files:

youtube-dl "<video link>"

Step 3: How to Download Youtube Mp3

Copy and paste the following command to download a files as an mp3 file from Youtube:

youtube-dl --extract-audio --audio-format mp3 <video link>

Added Bonus: Download from many different video sites!

Despite it’s name, youtube-dl supports downloads from many different websites. Use the same commands as above!

 

So there you have it! Hope you enjoyed this easy to follow guide to downloading Youtube videos on your Mac.

Guide to downloading Youtube on Windows coming soon!

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