How to Use YouTube Offline

Last Updated: March 29, 2019 Tested

If you're planning a trip where you know you won't have access to the internet, you may want to save a few of your favorite videos to watch offline. The latest version of the YouTube app supports offline viewing, but this feature is currently unavailable in many regions, including the US. If you don't have access to the offline feature in the YouTube app, there are still several ways that you can get videos onto your device to watch offline.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

YouTube App

1
Get a YouTube Music Key subscription. This is required in order to be able to download music videos from YouTube for offline viewing. These are the only types of videos you can save for offline viewing using this method. If you want to save a different type of YouTube video, use one of the following methods.^{[1]
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- You'll get a YouTube Music Key with a Google Play Music All Access subscriptions, which costs $10 USD per month.
2
Update your app. Offline viewing is only available in the most recent versions of the YouTube app. Not all areas have access to offline viewing, as the feature is gradually rolling out. If this method doesn't work yet, try the method below for your specific operating system.

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3
Connect to a mobile network. To save a video, you'll need to be connected to a network first. Once the video has been saved for offline viewing, you'll be able to disconnect and watch it offline. If you do not have access to a Wi-Fi connection, you can use data connection if your device supports it.
4
Launch the YouTube app. Open YouTube by tapping on its icon. It looks like a red rectangle with rounded corners with a white Play icon in the middle of it.
5
Search for the music video you want to save. YouTube has a search function that is accessed by tapping on the search button in the upper right corner of the main app screen. Type the name of the video in the text field that will appear, and then tap on the relevant search keyword that appears at the bottom of the text field.
- You may also use the side panel, accessed by swiping inward from the left edge at the main app screen, to browse through your subscriptions if you wish to search that way. Tap “My subscriptions” in the left panel to browse the recent uploads by the channels you've subscribed to. You can also use the “History” in the side panel to look through your recently watched videos.
- You can only save music videos using this method.
6
Select the video to open it. The search will yield results displayed on the screen, whose titles and thumbnails you will see. Tap on the video you wish to save.
7
Tap the "Download" button and select the quality. At the lower right of the video stream window, you will see a downward pointing arrow icon. Tap this to select the quality that you want to save the video in. Higher quality will take longer to save.
- If you don't see this button, YouTube does not support offline viewing in your region. You'll need to use one of the methods outlined above instead.
8
Download the video. After selecting the quality, tap the “OK” button at the lower right corner of the quality selection pop-up. You can also tap the “Remember my settings” box so that YouTube will download at the same selected quality every time. Another pop-up will come out telling you that the video is downloading and accessible through the “Offline” button in the side panel. Tap on Dismiss in the bottom of the pop-up box.
- For the video to become available, you will have to wait until it is finished downloading. A notification will appear, telling you the progress of the video download. This information can also be found in the Offline menu on the YouTube app.
9
Play the video offline. When you’re out and without an Internet connection, launch the YouTube app and bring up the left side panel by swiping inward from the left edge on the app main screen. Tap the “Offline” button in the side panel, and then choose the video you saved. The video will then play straight from your phone's memory.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

iPhone, iPad

1
Open the App Store. Most regions don't have access to YouTube's offline viewing feature. This means you'll need to use a third-party app to download videos for later viewing.
2
Find a video downloader app. These apps are not technically allowed by YouTube, and will often get pulled from the app stores. New apps will always rise to take their place, so apps listed here likely won't be around for long. Most video downloader apps work very similarly, so the process should generally be the same. Search for "video downloader" and read the reviews for the available apps. As of October 6th, 2015, the most popular downloader app that works with YouTube is "Video Pro Movie Downloader."
3
Launch the app after installing it. When you launch Video Pro Movie Downloader, you'll be greeted with a browser that loads the YouTube mobile site.
4
Find the video you want to download. Search YouTube for the video that you want to download for later viewing. Tap the video to open the video's page on the YouTube mobile site.
5
Tap "Download" to begin downloading the video. Once you load the video, you'll be prompted to download it. Tap "Download" to begin downloading the video file to your device.
6
Tap "Done" to return to the main app screen. After you start downloading the video, tap "Done" in the upper-left corner to return to the main Video Pro Movie Downloader screen.
7
Tap "Files" to view your downloaded videos. If the video hasn't finished downloading, it will appear in the "Downloads" tab.
8
Tap a video and then tap "Save" to move it to your Camera Roll. This will allow you to easily access the video from your Photos or Videos apps.
9
Watch your saved videos offline. Once you've saved a video, you can watch it from your Camera Roll at any time, even without an internet connection.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Android

1
Visit the YouTube website in your browser. If you want to save videos to watch later on Android, the easiest way is to use a YouTube downloader website. To use these, you'll need to address of the video you want to download for later.
2
Find the video you want to download. Search YouTube for the video you want to save. Tap it to load the video's YouTube page.
3
Copy the video URL (address). Press and hold the address in your browser's URL bar. Select "Copy" from the menu that appears. The copy button may look like two squares overlapping.
4
Visit a YouTube downloader site. There are a variety of sites that allow you to download YouTube videos. One of the most popular and reliable is KeepVid.com. The process will be very similar for other video downloader sites.
5
Tap the URL field. On KeepVid, this is located at the top of the page. You may have to zoom in, since there is only a desktop version of the site.
6
Press and hold in the blank field, then select "Paste". This will paste the copied URL into the box.
7
Tap "Download" to the right of the URL box. Don't tap the big Download button underneath the field, as this is an ad.
8
Tap "Download MP4" for the quality you want. Many versions may only have audio or video, but you can usually find one MP4 version 480p or higher. Tapping the Download link will immediately begin downloading the video to your device.
9
Watch your downloaded videos. You'll be able to find your videos in the Downloads folder, which you can access by opening the App Drawer and tapping "Downloads". Your Android should be able to play the video files without any problems, but if the file won't play try using the free VLC Player app to play them instead.^{[2]
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