About this site

What is YouTubeDownloader.net?

A set of free tools for working with YouTube content, plus written guides covering downloading and sharing across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Facebook and Spotify. Seven tools are available:

• Thumbnail Downloader — save a video’s thumbnail in every size that exists
• Embed Code Generator — build an iframe with start time, looping and privacy options
• Video ID Extractor — pull IDs out of one link or hundreds
• Tag Extractor — see the keywords attached to a public video
• Channel Statistics — subscribers, views and averages for any public channel
• Playlist Duration Calculator — total watch time, including at faster speeds
• Comment Picker — draw random winners from a video’s comments

Do you offer a YouTube video downloader?

No. Given the domain name that deserves a straight answer rather than a vague one.

Downloading videos breaks YouTube’s Terms of Service unless YouTube itself offers a download button, and the videos involved are nearly always someone else’s copyrighted work. Tools that promise it stop working every few weeks when YouTube changes something, and the ones that survive tend to do so by burying the download behind redirects and aggressive advertising.

We would rather build things that work reliably and say honestly what they do.

So how do I save a video legitimately?

YouTube Premium includes offline viewing inside the YouTube app. If you uploaded the video yourself, YouTube Studio lets you download your own originals. Videos published under a Creative Commons licence can be reused within the terms of that licence. For other platforms, our guides cover what is and is not possible on each one.

Are you connected to YouTube or Google?

No. This is an independent site with no affiliation to YouTube LLC, Google LLC, or any other platform mentioned here. All trademarks belong to their owners.

Using the tools

Is any of this free?

Yes, all of it, with no account to create. There is a daily ceiling on the tools that use YouTube’s API — see below — but under normal use you will never reach it.

Do I need to install or sign up for anything?

No. Everything runs in your browser as ordinary JavaScript. There is nothing to download and no registration step.

What happens to the links I paste?

Nothing is sent to our servers, logged, or stored. We keep no record of what anyone has looked up. What happens next depends on which tool you are using:

Embed Code Generator and Video ID Extractor never contact anything at all. Your browser reads the video ID out of the URL text and builds the result locally.

Thumbnail Downloader requests images from YouTube’s public image server, exactly as any web page displaying a thumbnail would.

Tag Extractor, Channel Statistics, Playlist Duration and Comment Picker ask YouTube’s official Data API for the information, because that data is not present in the URL. Your browser sends the video, channel or playlist identifier directly to Google. It does not pass through us, but it is a request to Google and is covered by their privacy policy, exactly as visiting YouTube would be.

Do the tools work on a phone?

Yes. One difference worth knowing: on mobile browsers the thumbnail Download button often opens the image in a new tab instead of saving it directly. Press and hold the image, then choose Save Image.

Which link formats do the tools accept?

Standard watch links, youtu.be short links, Shorts, embed URLs, live stream links, the older /v/ format, and bare eleven-character video IDs. Extra parameters like timestamps are ignored. The channel tool also takes @handles, and the playlist tool takes any link containing list=.

A tool says the daily quota has been used up. What does that mean?

The four tools that use YouTube’s API share a fixed daily allowance set by Google. On a busy day that allowance can run out before midnight, at which point those tools stop until it resets. The thumbnail, embed and ID tools are unaffected because they do not use the API at all.

Why did the largest thumbnail size not appear?

YouTube only generates the 1280 x 720 version when the uploader provided artwork large enough for it. Plenty of older videos stop at 640 x 480. If the size is missing it genuinely does not exist, and no tool can conjure it — anything claiming to is upscaling a smaller image.

Can I use a thumbnail I downloaded?

That depends on what for. A thumbnail is part of someone’s video and is usually protected by copyright. Saving one for private reference, teaching, or commentary and review is generally uncontroversial. Republishing it as your own artwork, using it in advertising, or putting it on merchandise is not. If you are publishing it and did not make it, ask the uploader.

Why does a video show no tags?

Usually because the uploader never added any. Tags carry very little ranking weight now, and plenty of successful channels leave them empty.

Why are subscriber counts rounded?

YouTube stopped publishing exact subscriber figures in 2019. Above 1,000 subscribers the number is rounded, and only the channel owner sees the precise count. Any tool claiming to show an exact live figure is estimating.

Something is not working. What should I check?

First make sure the link is complete and the content is public — private, unlisted, deleted and age-restricted material cannot be read, and comments may be turned off. If it still fails, tell us on the contact page and include the link you tried.

The site itself

Are there ads?

Yes. Advertising is what pays for the site, and we would rather say so plainly than claim to be ad-free while running them. Details of the cookies involved are in our privacy policy.

Will there be more tools?

Probably. What gets built next usually comes from someone describing a problem they ran into.

Can I suggest one?

Please do, through the contact page. Suggestions that describe an actual problem you hit are far more useful than a feature name.