How to Copy and Download Video from YouTube for Mac

You can download YouTube videos onto Mac using OS X's Web browser, Safari. Just open the YouTube video in the browser and then use Safari's "Activity" menu to locate the source video file on the page. Every YouTube video streams footage to users by connecting to an original video file stored on the YouTube servers. Safari's "Activity" window allows you to access that source file and copy it to your computer.

1. Open the Safari Web browser on your computer. Safari comes installed with every Mac computer. Navigate to the YouTube video you want to download.

2. Click the "Play" button on the video. Press and hold the "Command", "Option" and "A" keys on your keyboard. The Safari "Activity" window opens.

3. Scroll down the list files in the window. Closely examine the size of the files. Almost all of them are just a few kilobytes. Look for the one file in the list that is several megabytes or larger. The largest file in the list is always a source video file.

4. Double-click the source video file from the list. Safari automatically begins downloading it to your computer.