Most of today's net traffic is spent streaming online video, with YouTube taking up a massive clamper. Over 400 hours of video content is uploaded to YouTube every minute, and YouTube has a greater reach in the 18-49 demographic than even cable TV.

And so you accept to consider other video streaming sites like Vimeo, Dailymotion, Twitch, and then on. That'southward a lot of information flowing around—and if your ISP caps your monthly information allowance, then all this video streaming can be expensive.

The solution is to capture or download online videos to watch offline, assuasive you to re-watch videos as many times as you lot desire without wasting data.

Here are some of the all-time tools for capturing and downloading streaming video from websites online, so you can lookout man them offline.

i. Video DownloadHelper

videodownloadhelper

Bachelor on: Chrome, Firefox.

Supported sites: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Lynda, Twitter, Udemy, and hundreds of other sites.

Video DownloadHelper is easily one of the most useful browser extensions for downloading streaming video that you'll e'er install. The downside (sort of) is that you lot have to install it on your browser; if you already run numerous extensions, the last thing yous need is another ane making Chrome even slower. Simply, if you download numerous videos on a day-to-24-hour interval ground, Video DownloadHelper is definitely worth it.

The extension adds a push next to your browser's accost bar. Whenever yous come up across an online video, just click the push button to download whatever video on the current page. Use the pop-up box to decide where to salve information technology on your computer.

ii. 4K Video Downloader

Available on: Windows, Mac, Linux.

Supported sites: YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, Flickr, Dailymotion, and several other sites.

4K Video Downloader is the simplest and most straightforward tool to capture video from a website. Nosotros recommend it if you lot want a no-hassle option that requires close to zero try on your part. It works quickly and doesn't throttle your download, plus information technology's straightforward to get to grips with.

Just copy the URL of an online video and paste information technology into 4K Video Downloader. You can paste links to YouTube playlists or YouTube channels to download every video available. In fact, y'all tin even subscribe to YouTube channels and auto-download new videos as they're made available. You lot tin can besides download the annotations and subtitles in YouTube videos.

Video downloads are available in 8K, 4K, 1080p, or 720p (as long equally the source video was uploaded at that resolution, of grade). In addition, videos can also exist downloaded in MP4, MKV, and FLV formats. Or, you lot can download but the audio portion in MP3 or M4A formats.

3. Freemake Video Downloader

Freemake Video Downloader interface

Available on: Windows.

Supported sites: YouTube, Facebook, Liveleak, Veoh, Vimeo, Dailymotion, and dozens of other sites.

Freemake Video Downloader is one of the well-nigh pop video downloading tools out there. Indeed, information technology is one of the best online video downloaders for any site.

Information technology's completely free, easy to use, and relatively flexible every bit far as quality and format options are concerned. All the same, the one large downside is that it's only bachelor on Windows.

Videos can be downloaded in a handful of formats, including AVI, FLV, MKV, MP4, and WMV. If you only want the sound portion, videos can also be downloaded in MP3 format. The actual process only requires the URL of the video—just copy and paste it in.

4. JDownloader

JDownloader 2 interface

Available on: Windows, Mac, Linux.

Supported sites: Nearly any site with streaming video.

JDownloader is a stream downloader, but with a twist. You take the URL of any page that has a streamed video on it, paste it into the app, and it volition scan the page for all the videos it tin can notice. You get to pick which of the detected videos you want to download.

The overnice thing virtually JDownloader is that y'all don't need the straight URL of a specific video. For example, take a MakeUseOf article with five embedded videos and all of them will be detected. No need to fumble around finding out the direct URL of the video. This makes it effortless to capture several videos at once.

Notwithstanding, exist aware that the installer comes with bundleware, which is where other programs are pushed to you lot that you lot don't demand. When you lot run the installer, you'll come across a page that offers to install "Bing Search" or something else. On this page, the buttons will modify to Decline and Accept. Ensure you click Decline because this will prevent bundleware from being installed on your organisation.

5. youtube-dl

youtube dl

Available on: Windows, Mac, Linux.

Supported sites: YouTube, Facebook, HBO, Metacafe, Vimeo, Dailymotion, and thousands of other sites.

youtube-dl is a tool for advanced users who are comfortable using the control line. If you prefer graphical interfaces, salvage yourself the headache and just use one of the ones listed above.

But if yous're okay with command line utilities, then youtube-dl offers the nigh flexibility of any video downloading tool. Information technology's complicated enough to have a non-trivial learning curve though, so prepare to read the documentation, or else you'll be lost.

Yous could likewise try youtube-dl-gui, which is an unofficial front-stop user interface that's available for Windows and Linux.

Features include several video option and quality parameters, playlist processing, download charge per unit limit, batch video downloading, automated naming of files, inclusion of ads, and downloading subtitles (for sites like YouTube).

The following formats are supported: 3GP, AAC, FLV, M4A, MP3, MP4, OGG, WAV, and WEBM.

The Concluding Resort for Capturing Online Videos

If you encounter a video that isn't supported by any of the above tools, the final resort is to play the video in total-screen mode and record your screen as it plays.

It's not a perfect solution, simply information technology unremarkably works when naught else does. Keep in heed, all the same, that some sites and apps (particularly TV streaming services) volition not let a screen recorder capture the footage. When you lot get to play the video back again, you will just be faced with a bare screen.

If you lot tin can get the directly URL of an online video, you can too utilize VLC to play and tape online videos every bit a kind of streaming video recorder.

How to Record Your Screen Using VLC

VLC Media Thespian has many uses, just did you know that it can tape your screen too? Here's how to easily record your desktop with VLC.

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About The Author

Dan Toll (1606 Articles Published)

Dan joined MakeUseOf in 2014 and has been Partnerships Director since July 2020. Reach out to him for inquires nigh sponsored content, affiliate agreements, promotions, and any other forms of partnership. Yous can also find him roaming the show floor at CES in Las Vegas every year, say hi if you're going. Prior to his writing career, he was a Financial Consultant.

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