Tips on How to Download Youtube Videos: Disclaimer: Youtube Terms of Service section 5(b) states - "You may access User Submissions for your information and personal use solely as intended through the provided functionality of the YouTube Website. You shall not copy or download any User Submission unless you see a “download” or similar link displayed by YouTube on the YouTube Website for that User Submission." The author is by no means whatsoever encouraging download of Youtube Videos which are copyrighted materials. This guide is intended for people who want to download free & shared Youtube videos, especially those with slow internet connections which restricts realtime online streaming.

        So you want to know how to download/ capture Youtube videos for free and save it to your computer? Yes you can!. The following procedures will let you do just that! Whatever your reason, whether you want to download/save Youtube videos so that you can watch it offline whenever you want or you have slow internet connection which makes streaming online impossible, you surely don't need to buy paid software when you can do just that without spending a dime!

        There are basically two ways to download/ save Youtube videos from Youtube Site. First, there is a number of websites that download/capture You tube Videos for you. Secondly, there are a number of free softwares that can capture/save Youtube videos. We've tested a number of these sites and freewares, and include herewith a couple of working sites & freewares capable of downloading/saving You tube videos. The list is certainly not exhaustive and are not in order of preference.

How to Download/ Save Youtube Videos using Youtube downloading websites:

        You can download/save youtube videos from the following websites for free:

1. http://www.vixy.net/ - Downloads and converts into DivX avi, mov, mp4, 3gp, or mp3 formats.
2. http://www.savevid.com/ - Downloads in flv & mp4(high quality) formats.
3. http://keep-tube.com/ - Downloads in normal flv, hq flv, 3gp & mp4 formats.
4. http://www.kissyoutube.com/ - Downloads in normal flv & HQ flv.
5. http://www.youtubecatcher.com/

Procedure:

        Copy the URL address of the Youtube video from the address bar of your browser e.g. "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frZyFEC6ZSA". Paste this Url in the textbox in the Website. Press Download Video button.

        A new page opens with the download link. Leftclick the download link or right click and select 'Save Target As..'.

        A 'Save As' dialogue box pops up. Choose the folder where you want to save the Youtube video. Then change the name of the video to your liking(this is important coz otherwise it will save all your videos as 'video.flv' or 'video.mp4'). Click Save. Wait till its done. If your saving the normal quality flv video it should take a few seconds(depends on how fast your internet connection is). If you're downloading the HQ(High quality) video it might take a few minutes. Soon as it finishes downloading, you can start playing it in your media player or hunt for another video. If you're downloading the normal flv video, you will need a media player that can play flv (flash video files).

Save/ Capture You tube videos using freewares/ free software:

        There are a couple of good freewares for saving/ downloading Youtube videos that you can download and install into your computer. Here is a couple of them for Windows users:

1. 1-Click YouTube Downloader -

        You can download at: http://www.download3000.com/download_47648.html/

        The Freeware supports the following OS: Windows 95,Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows7

Comment: Will install Dealio Toolbar and Search settings if not unchecked during installation. Works a bit like the websites, where you copy the URL of the video and paste it into the program. It then ask you which folder to save the file and the name of the video.

2. VideoSlurp YouTube Downloader 1.31 -

        You can download at:http://www.videoslurp.com/

        The free software supports the following OS/Operating system: Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows Server 2008, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 7.

Comment: Will install Toolbar if not unchecked during installation. Includes a Youtube site browser inside the application which makes it very easy/convenient to use. All you do is search the Youtube site, click on the video you like and set the quality i.e. Normal(flv) or High Quality(MP4).

3. YouTube Downloader -

        You can download at: http://youtubedownload.altervista.org/

        The free software program supports the following OS: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows 2000, Windows XP.

Comment: Good software. Procedure similar to 1-Click Youtube Downloader - Paste URL of video to the software. Choice of normal(flv) & High Quality(MP4).

4.Easy YouTube Video Downloader

You can download at:https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10137/

Comment:This is a free firefox addon application.

For Mac users:

Free Video Downloader for Mac

        You can download at:http://www.moviesmac.com/mac-free-video-downloader/

        There are of course other websites and software applications for downloading/ saving Youtube videos for free. Many of these sites & applications given above can also be used to download/save videos from other video sharing sites like Google Video, MySpaceTV etc.

        Then there are also paid software programs that can download/ save videos from sites. Since there are many free programs available to do just that, publishing details of them here seemed unnecessary. Unless one would want to go for software applications that has this feature included in it. Download accelerators like Internet Download Manager and Internet Download Accelerator have this functionality of downloading Youtube, Google Video, MySpaceTV etc. already embedded in it. Needless to say, these programs being commercial applications, they are more efficient and easy to use. Internet Download Accelerator, for instance, by default includes a functionality which embeds a "download this video" button to all video flash screens in Youtube, Google Video or MySpaceTV etc. All you need to do is click this button which open up a 'save as' window, name the file, select your desired folder and it will download the video to your computer. As simple as that.See image below.