How to Keep Online Videos Before They’re Removed
We live in an age where more and more culture is technically ‘available’, but only for as long as a platform, rights holder, or billionaire owner decides it should be.
That is the problem with trusting huge tech companies to preserve anything. Their priority is not art, history, horror fandom, forgotten documentaries, or half-remembered programmes. Their only priority is profit and control. Whatever keeps the shareholders happy this quarter.
The billionaire class are not responsible custodians of culture. They are not librarians nor archivists. They are effectively landlords – and they can change the locks whenever they like.
We have all seen it happen. A video or playlist of videos is there one day and gone the next. A rights issue nukes an entire series upload. A platform changes its rules for ‘a better experience for the user’. A streaming service quietly removes a title, which is a pain because this is actually something you pay for in most cases! Something rare, strange, niche, or historically interesting vanishes because it was not profitable enough to keep alive.
More and more, we are entering a world where we own nothing (ironically, this strikes me as at least somewhat Communist). So much online media now exists in this weird fragile state: viewable, but not ownable; searchable, but not secure.
I’m interested in preservation, not piracy.
I am talking about works that are unavailable, out of print, no longer broadcast, no longer sold, or at risk of disappearing entirely. I do not fancy paying hundreds of pounds for a mould-infested VHS tape from overseas, complete with those “postage and packaging” charges on eBay that somehow cost more than the actual postage.
So this guide is about ways to keep online videos before they disappear — especially obscure, neglected, or at-risk media that deserve better than being left at the mercy of platforms that do not care whether it survives.
But before you try any of the methods discussed in this post, we need to talk about the legalities.
Is it legal to download videos?
Anything mentioned in this post is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. I am not a lawyer, and this is only a layperson’s summary. What you do with this information is your own responsibility.
The first thing to understand is that there are two separate issues here: platform rules and copyright law.
Downloading videos from websites will often breach that platform’s terms of service. YouTube, for example, generally does not allow users to download content unless YouTube provides a download option, the rights holder gives permission, or the law specifically allows it. Breaching a platform’s terms is not necessarily the same thing as committing a criminal offence, but it can still have consequences. Your account could be restricted, suspended, or terminated.
The second issue is copyright. Even if a video is easy to access online, that does not automatically mean you have the right to copy it. Downloading a copyrighted film, programme, or video without permission may infringe copyright, especially if you then share it, re-upload it, sell it, include it in a public archive, or distribute it to other people.
In the UK, copyright infringement is often treated as a civil matter, but some forms of infringement can become criminal, particularly where someone is making money from it, distributing infringing copies, or causing loss to the rights holder. In other words, “I only wanted a copy” is not a magic legal shield.
There are also specific exceptions in copyright law, but they are narrower than many people assume. For example, UK law allows some private recording of broadcasts for time-shifting, so you can watch or listen later, but that does not mean you can freely download anything from the internet just because it is for personal use.
My own view is simple: I am interested in preservation, not piracy. I am talking about obscure, unavailable, out-of-print, or at-risk media — especially material that is no longer being sold, streamed, broadcast, or properly archived. Even then, you should think carefully before downloading anything, avoid sharing copyrighted material, and check whether there is a legal way to access or buy it first.
You have been warned.
How to Download Videos from the Internet: What Is yt-dlp?
Before you download anything: Please read!
If you choose to use yt-dlp, or any software built on it, you may want to use a reputable Virtual Private Network (VPN), ideally one with a clear no-logs policy. A VPN can add an extra layer of privacy by reducing how much of your browsing activity is visible to your Internet Service Provider.
That said, a VPN is not a legal force field. It does not make copyright infringement legal, and it does not give you permission to ignore a website’s terms of service. Think of it as a general privacy tool, not a magic invisibility cloak.
Personally, I use ProtonVPN. This is not sponsored; I just like the product. In my experience, if yt-dlp or one of the apps built on it starts behaving oddly, changing VPN servers can sometimes fix connection issues.
What is yt-dlp?
yt-dlp is a free, open-source tool that can download videos and audio from thousands of websites. It was created as an improved version of the popular youtube-dl project and is actively maintained.
If you are more tech-savvy like me, head over to GitHub, read the instructions, and execute in your command line. A great benefit in doing it this way is that you can use this in addition to other scripts you may want to write, ones that for example that can download multiple videos programmatically.
If you can’t be bothered with all the technical stuff and just want to get started, there are few apps built on top of yt-dlp that have intuitive Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) that make downloading easier. Here are a couple of suggestions. Whilst there are multiple options available, consensus says these are the best.
Stacher and Downlodr: Easier Ways to Use yt-dlp
If yt-dlp sounds useful but the command line puts you off, Stacher and Downlodr are two apps worth knowing about.
Both are designed to make yt-dlp easier to use by giving it a graphical interface. Instead of opening a terminal, typing commands, and fiddling with settings manually, you can usually just paste in a video URL, choose your download options, and let the app do the work.
That means this is not really a complicated step-by-step tutorial. These apps are fairly intuitive once you open them. The main thing is knowing that they exist.
The basic process is usually:
- Open the app.
- Paste in the video or playlist link.
- Choose the format or quality you want.
- Pick where you want the file to save.
- Start the download.
That is the appeal. You get much of the usefulness of yt-dlp without having to remember commands or understand every technical option straight away.
Stacher
Stacher was the more reliable of the two for me when it came to playlists. The playlist downloader actually worked, which is obviously a major plus if you are trying to save a full series, a collection of uploads, or an obscure run of videos before they disappear.
However, it also had one very annoying limitation: it seemed to forget what it had already downloaded. If I restarted the same playlist download later, it would begin working through the playlist again rather than clearly recognising what was already saved.
I also couldn’t find a straightforward way to say, “only download these specific videos from the playlist.” That makes it less convenient if you only want certain episodes, uploads, or segments rather than the whole thing.
Pros:
- The playlist downloader worked for me.
- It gives you the power of yt-dlp without needing to use the command line.
- It is a good option if you want more control than a basic downloader.
- It feels closer to “proper” yt-dlp, just with a more approachable interface.
Cons:
- It did not seem to remember what it had already downloaded from a playlist.
- Restarting a playlist download could mean it starts going through the playlist again.
- I couldn’t find an easy way to select only specific videos from a playlist.
- It still feels a bit more technical than a normal consumer app.
Overall, Stacher is probably the one I would trust more for playlist downloading, but it is not perfect. It works, but you may need to babysit it a little.
Downlodr
Downlodr has the more polished feel of the two. It looks and behaves more like a modern desktop app, and for single video downloads it is easy enough to understand. If you just want to paste a link, pick a format, and download something quickly, it is very appealing.
Unfortunately, the playlist functionality was not reliable for me. When I tried using it for playlists, it kept crashing. That was a problem because playlists are one of the main reasons I would want to use a tool like this in the first place.
That does not mean Downlodr is useless. For individual videos, it may still be the easier and cleaner option. But for my own use case — preserving multiple videos from the same source — the crashes made it difficult to rely on.
Pros:
- Cleaner and more user-friendly interface.
- Good for simple, one-off downloads.
- Feels more like a normal app than a technical tool.
- Easier to recommend to people who do not want to touch the command line.
Cons:
- Playlist downloading kept crashing for me.
- Less reliable for saving larger collections.
- Not ideal if your main goal is archiving multiple videos at once.
- The nicer interface does not help much if the feature you need is unstable.
Overall, Downlodr feels more beginner-friendly, but Stacher worked better for me when playlists were involved.
Which one should you use?
If you are downloading individual videos, either Stacher or Downlodr should do the job. For simple one-off downloads, Downlodr is probably the more beginner-friendly option. It looks cleaner, feels more like a normal desktop app, and is easy to use without much explanation.
However, if you need to download playlists, I would choose Stacher. In my testing, Stacher’s playlist downloader actually worked, whereas Downlodr kept crashing when I tried to use it for playlists.
That does not mean Stacher is perfect. It still had some annoying limitations, especially around remembering what it had already downloaded and selecting only specific videos from a playlist. But if playlists are important to you, Stacher was the more reliable option for me.
So my recommendation is simple:
Use Downlodr for straightforward single-video downloads.
Use Stacher if you need to download playlists.
And if you are comfortable with the command line, yt-dlp itself is still the most powerful option overall.
