How to Download YouTube Videos to Your PC (2026)
3 Methods That Actually Work

AppGrabbit — Free Windows App

AppGrabbit is a free Windows desktop app powered by yt-dlp. It supports YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and more — all from the same clean interface.

1. Go to appgrabbit.com and download the free installer
2. Run the .exe file and install AppGrabbit
3. Open AppGrabbit and paste your YouTube video URL in the input field
4. Click Paste. The preview loads on its own: title, thumbnail and only the qualities that video actually has
5. Choose your format (video with audio, video only, or audio only for MP3) and quality (up to 4K; the best is selected by default)
6. Click Download — the progress shows next to the form and in the Queue, and the file lands in your downloads folder

The free plan gives you 5 single downloads, 1 batch of up to 10 links and 2 transcripts a month, refilled on the 1st — at whatever quality the video has, 4K included. Pro (USD 8.99 a month, or a 7-day pass for USD 3.99) removes the caps and adds full playlists, clip trimming and the converter. No account needed for any of it.

AppGrabbit browser extension

If you're already watching a YouTube video in Chrome, Edge or Brave, the AppGrabbit extension puts a Grab button on the page that sends it to the app — no copy/paste needed. It's optional: the app works the same without it.

1. Download the extension ZIP (free, version 1.4.0) and unzip it into a folder you won't delete
2. Open chrome://extensions (or edge://extensions), turn on Developer mode and click Load unpacked with that folder
3. Click the extension icon and Connect with AppGrabbit: the app opens for a moment and hands over its key, nothing to type
4. Open any video: the Grab button appears. With AppGrabbit open, it sends the video to the queue with your default format and quality

The extension works on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, Pinterest, Twitch and SoundCloud. It's included free with AppGrabbit and ships as a ZIP because it isn't in the Chrome Web Store.

yt-dlp

yt-dlp is a free open-source tool that runs in your terminal. It's the most powerful option and supports 1,000+ sites, but requires some technical setup.

1. Install Python and add it to your PATH
2. Open Command Prompt or PowerShell and run:

Then download a video with:

For best quality 4K download:

yt-dlp is completely free and has no download limits. The downside is that it requires comfort with the command line and manual updates. AppGrabbit runs yt-dlp under the hood with a clean UI on top.