How to download youtube videos from Safari browser in Mac OS X
This is probably the easiest way to download a video from most of the video viewing websites like Youtube and others. And this is for Safari browser, as no other browser in Mac has the activity window which exposes everything that is being done at that moment in the browser, even the loading of a video in the website. And that’s what we need to get the video downloaded.
Safari browser has no add-ons like Firefox which easily helps in directly and easily downloading the videos from Youtube. But many might not be knowing that there is a better and easier way to download the youtube videos, with its own activity window. Just while the video is running, pause it and follow the steps which am explaining below -
Open Safari browser, and a particular video in youtube.
Then pause the video, and go to the Window menu, and click on “Activity”
The activity window opens and shows what currently is running in Safari, the tabs info etc.
In that, you would also see the youtube video link with a list of files under it. Select the highest size file in it, as the one i highlighted in the image below.
Double click on it and the download would start and the video would download in sometime in .flv version.
Isn’t it the easiest way to download from Safari?
Posted on October 14, 2008 in Apple, Browsers youtube download, youtube video
This is the easiest way to download a video, without having a need to go to another site and using it to download the video, chetan search for such a shortcut in Mozilla FF.
Hey i know one thing through which you can download videos in XP ( this is for the people who dont have mac )
You need to install the latest real player and then you will have an option to download directly from the site..
This includes youtube and many sites
Thanks; by the way, downloading .flv is the easier way. Converting is a little bit hard. But http://www.keepvid.com ?f you go there, you can download the .mp4 version…
Hey it works!! great! I will download lots of them…..
http://www.safaribrowserwindows.com
@Ann good to know it works
@downloadic
Thanks for posting the site’s link
M gonna give it a try
i used to this simple free video downloader for mac tool, recommended:
http://www.moviesmac.com/mac-free-video-downloader/index.html#118
@Amar thanks for sharing man, will try it out.
I download de .flv file… download Perian in order to play it in quicktime.
got audio but not image…….help
[...] easy way to capture youtube video through safari Posted on November 14, 2008 by johnacook Download youtube videos from Safari browser in Mac OS X | Apple [...]
Yes, I also like to download youtube videos, then convert them to my ipod, I tried many tools, now the one I am using is :
Mac YouTube Downloader and converter “
I just downloaded it yesterday.
It’s simple – go to MetaTuber.com (I’ve discovered this iste few days ago) and download any YouTube video
hey after the video is downloaded in flv. version…….what should i do
Nice guide, I know this mac youtube downloader is a nice alternative, it can help you download and convert youtube video on Mac, it works pretty well for me.
http://www.mac-dvd.com/mac-youtube-downloader.html
don’t know how to download video from facebook.com, Youtube.com, etc.
as convert video for iPod, iPhone and the phone?
http://softtelecom.ru/en/mb.htm
[...] is how you can download youtube videos on safari browser and list of tools that can help you download youtube videos. Subscribe & Get Information Related [...]
hey have you noticed that videos now download w/the flv extension, and they don’t open w/quicktime for some strange reason…i haven’t been able to open downloaded video files anymore…any ideas??
I’m having the same problem as anyone else… it downloads with a flv extension, but then it won’t upload anywhere or it won’t play?!? How do I get it to be a valid video that I can upload onto my page?
Thanks for that TIP !!!! Works Exellent!!!
Thanks so much!! Very simple. Thanks for being smart and willing to share.
I tried this method (having downloaded Perion), but when I click on the Youtube link to get it to download, the Safari Icon sits in front of the download and then I only get the URL to the video and cant do anything with it. What am I doing wrong please?
Very nice Chetan!
And replying to Rafael who asked on Nov 26, 2008:
“hey after the video is downloaded in flv. version…….what should i do”
I would rename the file from video.mp4 to something descriptive and transfer it from the Downloads folder that’s the default repository of all Safari downloads.
[...] have you watched on Youtube? Btw you can download youtube videos with various softwares and also, download youtube videos in mac with Safari browser. Related Posts:6 Sensational Cricket Catches – Showing the perfect game!A heart [...]
I have downloaded a youtube file as suggested in .flv but cannot open it on my Mac OS X. Can you advise what I should do next?
my videos also download with the fvl. included but it appears as a macromedia flash video and i cant open it! heeeeelp
Thank you , but I suggest you to take a look at this site : http://www.youtubeto3gp.com/ it will help to download youtube videos in both FLV and 3GP formats.
hi anyone here can help me, suddenly can’t open you tube, safari automatically quit and also i really can’t figure it out y can’t open yahoo messenger i’m only using ym 4 d web..
You can also burn Youtube Videos to DVD on Mac, so you can watch it on your DVD Player.
when i click it, it rust reloads the page and doesn’t download it what am i doing wrong.
For all those w/ the .flv issue, just get the video player VLC and you can play it immediately.
And if you want to convert it to mpg/mp4/mov, try using a program called VisualHub.
I followed the clear and easy instructions for downloading you tube to my I Mac, but when I paused the video, opened Activity under Window, it showed no activity! Wierd! Help???
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS POST! I am a new Mac User and this simple, yet such effective method of grabbing youtube video’s has made my life so much easier now!!
Cheers Bro,
TrevR
I think You Tube has created a defeat to this, the big file now no longer shows up in the activity window.
Why there is no option of download through Real Player like it is there in windows? You know what I mean is in window laptop when you open the YouTube video from the internet, there is download option comes when you put the curser on it. I think this the easiest way to download any videos.
Didn’t work for me, using Safari and Snow Leopard, trying to download Facebook videos, just opens another window and loads the video in that one and there’s no way to download it.
Richard, it should work. It did the same thing to me. You have to click the highest one, and then look at your downloads. It should show the file on there. It will be in .flv format. It’s pretty cool. I learned something new today.
Download works from U-tube, except that FLV downloaded turns out to be a tutorial for Mindmap, not the target video.
I tried the KeepVid suggestion from earlier and tell you it works. If you have a Mac the free download of MPEG StreamClip is the way to go for direct download and conversion to whatever video format you desire.
Thanks Mate . . . . its GREAT
THANKS ALOT FOR THE HELP BUDDY
Hi, i tried the following steps but whenever i double click the largest file size it just reloads the video on the youtube site. Please help!!
Hey Spencer… the same thing happened to me!… PLEASE HELP!!
OMG THANKS ALOT!!!
i cant double click on the video either…. this is the 1st day I’ve used this brand new mac book and it wont work for me…is it because its a newer version of safari, or youtube changed their infrastructure???
someone please help me!!!
Once you download the flv, then download the program “FLV CRUNCH” It is free and it converts flv videos to pretty much any format you need for iMovie or Quicktime.
Something new in safari does not download the file. It is not in the downloads window but simply in another web page. Has youtube bested us? (Or safari?)
UPDATES
[1] Safari 5 now opens the linked movie file in a new window. To download the file itself, hold down ALT/OPTION key while double clicking the link in the ACTIVITY WINDOW.
[2] While this method still works for YouTube, I seem to be having problems with Facebook videos (i.e. those that are actually hosted on Facebook itself). Can anyone confirm this?
ICEBreaker, I do that and all I get downloaded is a plain text file. What am I doing wrong?