How to watch videos offline on YouTube?

Is it possible to watch YouTube videos without an internet connection? Yep, it’s totally possible. And well you know, you can do that within just a few taps! Here is how to watch videos offline on YouTube on your mobile devices, let’s check it out now!

Do you often watch content on YouTube?

Streaming videos on YouTube is one of the most popular online activities that a lot of internet users love to engage in. Do you often watch content on YouTube? Well, watching videos on YouTube is so interesting, but it also requires good internet speed and sufficient bandwidth to ensure smooth streaming experiences.

Watching YouTube videos with a poor internet connection that often comes with buffering issues seems so disturbing, right? The solution that you can consider here is to save the videos and view them offline. It’s also a great way that helps you save a lot of internet data while still enjoying the favorite content. Keep reading on to know how to watch videos offline on YouTube right on your mobile devices!

In certain regions and countries, users can download YouTube videos to watch offline without using any third-party software or tool

How to watch videos offline on YouTube mobile app?

In certain regions and countries, YouTube mobile app allows users to download and view videos offline without using any third-party software or tool. Here is how to download and watch downloaded videos on YouTube: 

How to download YouTube videos

Here’s a step-by-step guide to downloading YouTube videos to your mobile devices: 

• Step 1: Open the YouTube app on your mobile device, go to the video you want to download.    

• Step 2: Look for the Download icon below the video. Tap this icon to download the video.

• Step 3: Choose the resolution (Low, Medium, or HD).

After tapping download, the app will ask you to choose the resolution of the video that you want to save - Low, Medium, and HD. Note that low resolution allows quick download, takes up lesser space on the device, but offers relatively worse quality. 

• Step 4: Tap OK.

Once you select your desired resolution and tap OK, the video will begin to save on your phone or tablet. When the video is fully downloaded, the Download icon below it will turn blue like this .

If your device loses internet connectivity while downloading a video, the progress will resume automatically when the internet is reconnected. That’s about how to download videos on YouTube. Next, let’s see how to watch videos offline on YouTube!

Once you select your desired resolution and tap OK, the video will begin to save on your phone or tablet

View downloaded YouTube videos on your mobile devices

To view videos you have downloaded, just need to go to the Library tab of your YouTube mobile app, then tap Downloads. From there, choose the video you want to watch and enjoy it as many times as you want.

Well, it’s worth noting that YouTube videos that you save to watch offline will be available for 48 hours. This means your device needs to reconnect to an internet connection every 48 hours. 

However, in some regions or countries, non-music content can be played offline for up to 29 days without having to reconnect to the internet. 

How to watch videos offline on YouTube: YouTube videos that you save to watch offline will be available for 48 hours

Important notes

• The saved videos for offline viewing are just available inside the YouTube app.

• Not every YouTube video is available to download and watch offline. If a video is not available for offline viewing, Download will be unavailable. 

• Users can download videos to view offline via either a Wi-Fi network or cellular mobile data. 

• It’s possible to set the default quality of the downloads. To do that, go to “Setting” ⇨ select “Background & downloads” ⇨ select “Download quality.” Of course, higher-quality videos may use more data, take up more space on your phone or tablet, and take more time to finish downloading.

• YouTube allows downloading for offline playback on the mobile app in select regions and countries, including Laos, Ghana, Senegal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Slovakia, Fiji, Guinea, etc. To know if you are in the location where downloading videos is available, check out this URL: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6141269#zippy=%2Clocations-where-downloading-videos-is-available

Now you know how to watch videos offline on YouTube without using a third-party app or software, right? Let’s move on to the next part of this blog to learn how to remove downloaded videos when you don’t want to view them offline anymore.

YouTube allows downloading for offline playback on the mobile app in select regions and countries

How to remove downloaded videos?

It’s also simple to remove YouTube videos that have been downloaded. You can remove either individual downloaded videos or all downloaded videos. 

To remove individual downloaded videos

There are 2 different ways you can use to remove a downloaded video:

• Tap the “Downloaded” icon (for Android devices) or “Download” icon (for iOS devices) below the video you want to remove ⇨ Select “Delete.”

OR 

• Go to the Library tab (in your YouTube mobile app) ⇨ Tap Downloads ⇨ Tap the three vertically-aligned dots next to the video you want to remove ⇨ Tap “Delete from downloads.”

You can also go to the Library tab to remove downloaded videos

To remove all downloaded videos

• For Android mobile devices, tap your profile picture on the top right corner of the YouTube app’s homepage screen ⇨ select “Settings” ⇨ tap “Background & downloads” ⇨ select “Delete all downloads” ⇨ choose “Delete” in the dialogue below the question “Delete all downloaded videos and playlists?”.

• For iOS mobile devices, tap your profile picture ⇨ select “Settings” ⇨ tap “Delete Downloads” under “Background & downloads” ⇨ in the dialogue, tap “Delete.”

These are all about how to watch videos offline on YouTube as well as ways to remove them. Well, as the regular YouTube app just allows offline playback in select countries and regions, what should you do to watch offline YouTube videos on mobile devices if you are not in a location where downloading videos is unavailable? 

Using YouTube Premium to watch offline videos on YouTube

Other ways to watch YouTube videos offline

You still can watch offline videos on Youtube even if the regular service doesn’t offer the downloading videos feature for your region. Here are other ways to do that:

1. Using YouTube Premium. 

If YouTube Premium (known as YouTube Red before) is available in your region, you can download videos on your mobile to watch offline by paying for a subscription to this service. Ways to download and watch YouTube videos offline are quite similar to the steps mentioned above.

2. Using YouTube Go. 

YouTube Go is a lighter version of the YouTube app. It focuses more on offline videos and sharing offline videos. This app allows users to download videos for free. Note that YouTube Go is not available in every country and region. So, you need to check whether or not this app is supported in your location. 

How to watch videos offline on YouTube: Using YouTube is also a very good idea

3. Using an Online Converter.

This method helps convert a YouTube video into a downloadable file. Well, you just need to copy the video’s URL, then go to an online video converter site, paste it on the search box. Next, choose the output format you would like to convert and click “Download.”

It’s worth noting that using third-party apps to download videos from YouTube is against its terms of service, according to techradar.com. Downloading YouTube videos might also open you up to potential copyright issues. It’s necessary to have permission from the copyright holder. So, you need to consider these aspects carefully. 

4. Letting the video player fully load. 

When it comes to how to watch videos offline on YouTube, this way seems to not be so inconvenient, but it actually lets you watch a video offline. So, when you have the internet connection turned on, just let the video that you want to watch offline fully load. On YouTube, a video is fully loaded when its grey bar reaches the end of the player. After letting the video fully load, you need to leave the tab of that video page open so that you can enjoy the video until the end without the internet. 

Bottom line

Recently, we have learned different ways to save and watch videos offline on YouTube. As you can see, it’s quite simple to do so, right. And that’s all for today’s post “How to watch videos offline on YouTube?.” Hope you found it useful and informative.

See also: Video formats supported by Instagram and other things to know

Sources:

support.google.com/youtube/answer/6141269

wire19.com/how-to-watch-a-video-offline

clipchamp.com/en/blog/download-youtube-videos