YouTube Video Downloader

Download YouTube videos and Shorts in up to 4K, together with the thumbnail and the channel details. Paste a watch link, a youtu.be short link or a Shorts URL, then pick the resolution you want. Reading the link and saving the video and cover are all free.

Paste a YouTube link above and the video shows up here, with the file ready to save.

How it works

Three steps, nothing to install. Paste a link, confirm the post, then save the file. Everything happens in the browser tab you already have open. Reading a link requires a signed-in Spira account. The lookup and both downloads are free.

1
Paste the YouTube link
Open the post you want, copy its link, and paste it into the box above. Nothing to install and nothing to configure.
2
Check what came back
You see the title, author, duration and view counts before anything downloads, so you can confirm it is the right post.
3
Save the video
Save the file to your device in the best quality the post carries, or take the cover image on its own.

What you get

What a link gets you, beyond the video file

Up to 4K, your choice

Cap the download at 4K, 1440p, 1080p or lower. Useful when you want a smaller file rather than the largest one available.

Videos, Shorts and youtu.be links

All three URL shapes resolve to the same video, so you can paste whichever one you happened to copy.

Nothing to install

It runs in the browser on any device: phone, tablet or desktop. No app, no extension and no browser plugin.

Cover image and metadata too

Alongside the video you get the cover image, caption, author and engagement counts, so the context comes with the file.

Free to use

Reading the link, saving the video and saving the cover image are all free. A signed-in Spira account is all it takes.

What people use it for

Offline viewing is the obvious one: a long tutorial before a flight, a conference talk to watch on the train. Beyond that: editors pulling B-roll they have rights to, teams archiving their own channel uploads before a rebrand, researchers keeping a copy of a video that a source might delete. Shorts get saved for the same reason TikToks do, to study what makes a short-form hook land.

What to keep in mind

YouTube's terms allow downloads through its own offline feature; anything outside that is a grey area, and reuploading someone else's video will get a copyright strike quickly. Stick to your own content, licensed material, or personal reference. On quality: the resolution list is whatever the creator uploaded, so a 4K option only exists if the source was 4K. Picking a lower cap is often the better call. A 1080p file is a fraction of the size and, on a phone, indistinguishable.

FAQ

Can I download a whole playlist or channel?

Not here. This tool handles one video per link. Paste each video URL separately.

Why is 4K not offered for some videos?

YouTube only stores the resolutions the creator uploaded. If the source was 1080p, 4K never existed and the highest option tops out there.

Can I download age-restricted or members-only videos?

No. Anything that needs a signed-in account or a paid membership to watch cannot be read from a public link.

Is the audio included?

Yes, the saved file is an ordinary MP4 with audio. If you only want the sound, extract the audio from the file afterwards.

Turn what you saved into something new

Spira AI takes a script or a link and produces a finished short with voiceover, visuals and captions, then publishes it on a schedule. The downloader is the small end of it.