The short answer
You can download videos you uploaded yourself, officially, from YouTube Studio. To get all of them at once there is Google Takeout. Both are built into your Google account and free. YouTube offers an official download only for videos you uploaded yourself.
Download one of your own videos from YouTube Studio
- Sign in to YouTube Studio with the account that owns the channel.
- Choose Content from the left menu.
- Find the video, open its three-dot Menu and choose Download.
YouTube gives you an MP4 of the video you uploaded, in 720p or 360p depending on the video. If you need the full-quality original, use the file you uploaded from your own archive, because YouTube's download is not the master.
Download every video with Google Takeout
If you want your whole channel, Google Takeout is easier than going one by one.
- Open Google Takeout and sign in to the account that owns the channel.
- Deselect everything, then select YouTube and YouTube Music and choose the videos.
- Pick how you want to receive the export, then create it. Google prepares an archive and gives you a download link.
When the Download option is missing
YouTube lists a few reasons you may not be able to download one of your videos:
- The video has been removed from YouTube.
- It has a copyright or Community Guidelines strike against it.
- It uses a pre-approved audio track.
- You have already downloaded it five times in the last 24 hours. You can download an individual video up to five times a day.
Watching videos offline
For other people's videos, YouTube's own offline option is the one with a YouTube Premium membership, which lets you watch videos offline in the YouTube app. That is for watching inside the app, not for saving a file.
Videos that are not yours
YouTube does not let you download videos you did not upload, and sites that claim to do it go against YouTube's terms. If you want to use someone else's video, ask the creator for the file or for permission, or link to it or embed it instead. Credit the creator and respect the licence on the video.
YouTube to MP4: what is and is not possible
Can I convert a YouTube video to MP4?
For a video on your own channel, yes. YouTube Studio gives you an MP4 of the video you uploaded, as described above, and it is free and has no ads. For a video that belongs to someone else, YouTube does not offer a download, and saving it through a third-party site goes against YouTube's terms.
Can I download a YouTube Short as MP4?
If you uploaded the Short, open it in YouTube Studio under Content and look for Download in its menu. If the option is not there, use Google Takeout, or the original file you filmed or edited. For someone else's Short, the same rule applies as for any other video: ask the creator or use the share and save features inside the YouTube app.
Is there a free YouTube to MP4 converter with no ads and no signup?
The official route for your own videos, YouTube Studio, is free, needs no extra software and has no ads. If your goal is to convert a file you already have into an MP4, the video converter here is free, needs no signup and runs on your device, so the file is never uploaded.
What if I need a video for a school project, a presentation or a reaction video?
Ask the creator for permission or for the file, check whether the video offers a licence that allows reuse, or link to it or embed it from YouTube instead of copying it. Embedding keeps the views and credit with the creator and avoids copyright claims.
How do I get just the audio of my own video?
Download the video from YouTube Studio or use your original file, then pull the audio out with MP4 to MP3. It runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded.
What to do with your file next
- Add captions and export an SRT or burn animated captions into the video.
- Turn a horizontal video into a Short with the Shorts maker.
- Change the format with the video converter or shrink a draft with the video compressor.
- Pull out the audio with MP4 to MP3.
The download limits and steps above come from YouTube's help pages at the time of writing. YouTube can change them, so check the current instructions in YouTube Help if something looks different.