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YT DOWNLOADER logo

YT DOWNLOADER

Download YouTube videos and audio in MP4, WebM, MKV or M4A, at any quality, right from the player.

Extension version Manifest Chrome Chromium License

Install · Features · Formats · Updates · Troubleshooting · Support

At a glance
Extension name YT DOWNLOADER
Extension version 1.1.1
Manifest version 3 (MV3)
Browsers Google Chrome 111 or newer, and other Chromium-based browsers with MV3 support (Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi). Only Chrome is tested. Firefox and Safari are not supported.
Permissions storage, downloads, alarms
Runs on https://www.youtube.com/*
Author Archimetrix
License Apache License 2.0

📦 Installation

The extension is installed as an unpacked extension for all chromium browsers like(Chrome,brave,edge,opera,helium,vivaldi etc.).

  1. Download the latest zip from Releases and unzip it into a folder you will keep.
  2. Open chrome://extensions or just go to your browser extension settings and turn on Developer mode.
  3. Click Load unpacked and select the folder (the one that contains manifest.json).
  4. Open any youtube.com/watch page. The download button appears in the player controls.

Firefox Browser- get from addon store.

      Get the Add-on for Firefox  

✨ Features

Download from the player

  • A download button is added to the YouTube player controls on every video page.
  • Click it to choose format and quality from a menu, or set defaults and download with one click.
  • Several downloads can run at once (1 to 4, your choice). Starting a new one never cancels a running one.
  • A progress toast in the player has a cancel button, and a counter on the button shows how many downloads are running.

Choose your format

  • Video: MP4 (H.264), WebM (VP9 / AV1) or MKV.
  • Audio only: M4A (AAC) or WebM (Opus).
  • The in-player menu has an MP4 / WebM / MKV switch and remembers your last choice.
  • Every quality row shows the real codec and the file size before you download.

Queue

  • Shows only active downloads, each with thumbnail, title, live progress and a cancel button.
  • Cancel all with one click.
  • When a download finishes it leaves the queue and goes to History. Failed downloads stay with the reason until you dismiss them.

History

  • Finished downloads, grouped by day (Today, Yesterday, then dates).
  • Each entry shows thumbnail, title, quality, format, file size, time and date.
  • Search by title or channel, and filter by All / Video / Audio.
  • Stays smooth with thousands of entries. Only the rows on screen are drawn, so scrolling never stutters. Keeps up to 5,000 entries.
  • Click an entry to reopen the video, remove single entries, clear everything (with a confirm step), or open your downloads folder.

Settings

  • Ask every time, or download straight with your defaults.
  • Default type (video or audio), video format, quality (144p up to 4K), and audio format.
  • Save into a sub-folder of Downloads (for example Music/YouTube).
  • Number of simultaneous downloads.
  • Daily update check on or off.

Interface

  • Modern card-based popup with light and dark themes that follow your browser.
  • Footer with Buy me a coffee and UPI Support buttons.

🎞 Formats & quality

Option Container Codecs Best for
MP4 .mp4 H.264 + AAC (AV1 for resolutions where H.264 isn't offered) Maximum compatibility: phones, TVs, editors
WebM .webm VP9 / AV1 + Opus Smaller files, 1440p and 4K
MKV .mkv Any codec above Keeping the best quality, VLC and most players
M4A .m4a AAC Audio only, most compatible
WebM (Opus) .webm Opus Audio only, best quality

Notes:

  • Available qualities depend on the video. If your chosen quality isn't offered, the closest lower one is used.
  • At high resolutions YouTube often doesn't offer H.264, so MP4 may show AV1, or those resolutions may only appear in WebM and MKV. The menu tells you when that happens.
  • No conversion is done. Streams are downloaded and joined as they are, so MP3, WAV and re-encoding are not supported.

📦 Installation

The extension is installed as an unpacked extension.

  1. Download the latest zip from Releases and unzip it into a folder you will keep.
  2. Open chrome://extensions and turn on Developer mode.
  3. Click Load unpacked and select the folder (the one that contains manifest.json).
  4. Open any youtube.com/watch page. The download button appears in the player controls.

🚀 Usage

  1. Open a YouTube video and click the download button in the player.
  2. Pick MP4 / WebM / MKV, then a quality. For audio only, choose M4A or Opus.
  3. Watch it in the Queue tab. When it finishes, find it in History.

Keep the YouTube tab open while a download runs. You can switch to other tabs or apps, but closing or reloading that tab stops the download. If Chrome asks to allow multiple automatic downloads for youtube.com, choose Allow.

Very long or 4K videos are joined in memory, so for those use a lower quality or fewer parallel downloads.

🔄 Updates

Unpacked extensions can't update themselves, so YT DOWNLOADER checks this repository's GitHub Releases for you.

  • Checks once a day in the background, when Chrome starts, and when you press Check now in Settings.
  • When a newer version exists, the toolbar icon shows a NEW badge and the popup shows a banner with a Download button. You can Skip a version.
  • The daily check can be turned off in Settings → Updates.

To update:

  1. Download the new zip from the banner.
  2. Replace the contents of your extension folder with the new files.
  3. Open chrome://extensions and press the reload icon on YT DOWNLOADER.

🧩 How it works

  • main.js runs in the page. It learns the playback session from the player's own requests, pulls the chosen tracks with the open-source googlevideo SABR client, and joins them with mediabunny.
  • The finished file is saved as a normal browser download.
  • content.js adds the player button, menu and progress toast.
  • background.js applies your save-folder choice and runs the update checker.
  • popup/ is the Queue, History and Settings interface.

Project structure

manifest.json        extension manifest (MV3)
background.js        save folder + update checker
content.js / .css    player button, menu, toast
main.js              download engine (runs in the page)
popup/               popup UI (html, css, js)
icons/               logo in all required sizes

🛠 Troubleshooting

Problem Fix
"The player didn't respond" Reload the YouTube page and try again.
"Couldn't read the player session" Let the video play for a second, then try again.
Download stops Don't close or reload the YouTube tab while it runs.
Fails on long or 4K videos Use a lower quality, or set "At the same time" to 1.
Several files blocked by Chrome Allow automatic downloads for youtube.com when prompted.
Quality missing in MP4 Switch to WebM or MKV.
"No release found yet" in Updates Normal until the repository is public and has a release.

🚫 Not supported currently

  • Playlist downloading.
  • Live streams, and videos YouTube won't play for your account (age, sign-in, region, members-only).
  • MP3 or any re-encoding.
  • Firefox (may support later ), Safari and non-Chromium browsers.

☕ Support the project

If this saves you time, you can support its development:

Made with ❤️ by Archimetrix.

⚖ Legal & disclaimer

Important: YT DOWNLOADER is an unofficial project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YouTube or Google.

  • Personal use only. Download only content you own, that is public domain or openly licensed, or that you have permission to download.
  • Terms of Service. Downloading from YouTube may violate YouTube's Terms of Service and copyright or anti-circumvention laws where you live. You are solely responsible for checking what is lawful for you.
  • Use at your own risk. The software is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind. The author and contributors are not liable for any misuse, copyright claim, account action, loss, or damage arising from its use.
  • No data collection. Settings and history stay in your browser. The extension only contacts YouTube, i.ytimg.com, and GitHub (update check, avatar).
  • Not for the Chrome Web Store. Store policy does not allow YouTube downloaders, so this project is distributed only through GitHub.

Read the full text in DISCLAIMER.md. Code is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (LICENSE, NOTICE); third-party libraries keep their own licenses (THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md).

What's new in 1.2.0

  • Cover art for audio downloads (Settings > Cover art): the thumbnail is embedded in the file together with the song title and artist. Auto detects real songs (square album art inside a black 16:9 frame) and saves a clean square cover. Normal videos keep their wide thumbnail. Other choices: always square, original thumbnail, or none. M4A is the most compatible; Opus (WebM) files also carry the cover, but some players ignore it.
  • Save folders: type a folder name in Settings; use / for sub-folders, e.g. YouTube/Videos and YouTube/Audios. Missing folders are created inside Downloads.

What's new in 1.4.0

  • YouTube only. YouTube Music (music.youtube.com) support was removed. The extension now runs on www.youtube.com only.
  • Cleaner settings. Settings are grouped into Download button, Video, Audio, Save to and More, with one row per option.
  • Quieter free downloads. The "free downloads left" messages are gone; you just see "Saved: ...".