Premium members can now test downloading videos on web
Hey everyone!
Excited to share that we’re beginning to test a top requested feature: YouTube Premium members can now download videos on YouTube.com to watch while offline on computers.
We’re experimenting with this feature on recent versions of Chrome, Edge & Opera browsers first. This feature requires technical specifications* that haven’t yet been adopted by all browsers – we’re working closely with partners to address this and hope to bring this feature to other browsers in the future.
We’re beginning to roll this out for Premium members who will be able to opt in to the experiment at youtube.com/new. More on testing feature experiments at youtube.com/new here.
Once you have opted in to the feature, you can follow these steps to download videos on web:
- Step 1: Start watching a video on a supported browser
- Step 2: Tap the download icon below the video player
- Step 3: A downloaded icon will appear below the video player once the video has completed downloading
Note: You can also download by clicking on the three dot icon when hovering over a thumbnail.
If you’re a Premium member opting into this feature – we’d love to hear your feedback! You can pass your thoughts along to the team directly by going to youtube.com/new and selecting “Feedback” next to “Download videos from your browser”.
If you’re a creator – rest assured that watch time from downloaded videos is counted the same as online watch time when the device reconnects to the internet. Additionally, when a viewer downloads content, it is protected by encryption so it can only be viewed on youtube.com. More on this at our Help Center here and here!– Hazel (TeamYouTube)
*like the ability to store downloads in the browser, APIs to load YouTube.com when offline, and for YouTube to stay in sync across multiple tabs.
*like the ability to store downloads in the browser, APIs to load YouTube.com when offline, and for YouTube to stay in sync across multiple tabs.
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Last edited Sep 24, 2021
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