How to watch YouTube offline: the official options
What YouTube Premium downloads actually give you, how long they last, and when a video file is the better choice.
2 min read · Updated
YouTube offers its own way to watch without a connection, and for most viewers it's the simplest route. It also has limits worth understanding before you rely on it for a flight, a course or an archive.
YouTube Premium downloads
With YouTube Premium, a Download button appears under videos in the YouTube app on phones and tablets, and on YouTube in a computer browser. Downloads play without a connection, from the Downloads section of your library.
According to YouTube's help centre, downloaded videos can be played offline for up to 29 days; after that, the device needs to reconnect so YouTube can check the video is still available. In some countries the window is shorter — 48 hours. If a video is removed or made unavailable, it disappears from your downloads at the next sync.
What Premium downloads can't do
Premium downloads are designed for watching inside YouTube, so they aren't ordinary video files:
- They play only in the YouTube app or site where you downloaded them.
- You can't copy them to another device, edit them or put them in a presentation.
- They stop working if your subscription ends or the video is taken down.
Offline downloads without Premium
In a number of countries, YouTube also offers offline viewing on mobile for some videos without Premium. If you see a Download button without a subscription, that's the feature — its availability and limits vary by region, so check YouTube's help centre for yours.
Videos you uploaded yourself
For your own channel's videos, YouTube Studio and Google Takeout give you real files that you keep. How to download videos you uploaded to YouTube compares the two.
When a video file is the better choice
For videos you have the right to keep — your own, openly licensed ones, or content the creator allows — an ordinary MP4 has none of those limits (how the main download options compare): it plays in any app, never expires and can go into an editor or slide deck. The YouTube downloader lists every quality with its size. YouTube's terms still apply to other people's videos; is it legal to download YouTube videos? explains how.
Planning a trip? Downloading videos for a flight has a checklist for storage and testing.