How to Save a YouTube Video to Google Drive (the Allowed Ways)

This fall I filmed a walk-through of the Hillcrest HOA grounds for my landscaping client and posted it to YouTube as a private video. A month later the board asked for the actual video file in our shared Drive folder, and I realized YouTube doesn’t have a “send to Drive” button.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to save a YouTube video to Google Drive when it’s your own upload, how to move every video on your channel to Drive in one go, and what you can do about videos other people posted.

Method 1: Download your own video in YouTube Studio, then upload it

This is the way I use most. It’s basically the reverse of how you upload a video from Google Drive to YouTube: you pull the file out of YouTube first, then put it in Drive.

1. Go to studio.youtube.com and sign in with the account that owns the channel.
2. Click Content in the left menu.
3. Point at the video and click Options (the three dots).
4. Click Download. Studio saves an MP4 file to your computer’s Downloads folder.

My menu showed Edit title and description, Get shareable link, Promote, Download, Brainstorm video ideas, and Delete forever. Promote was greyed out because the demo video is private.

Now put the file in Drive:

1. Open drive.google.com and go to the folder you want. I used My Drive > Bluebird Landscaping.
2. Click New, then File upload.
3. Pick the MP4 from your Downloads folder and click Open.

When the upload finishes, the video sits in the folder like any other file. You can share it, preview it, or download it again from its right-click menu.

How does this work?

YouTube Help says Studio gives you an MP4 at 720p or 360p, depending on the file size. It isn’t always your original upload quality, so if you still have the original file on your camera or computer, upload that one instead.

Studio won’t let you download a video that’s been removed, has a copyright or Community Guidelines strike, uses a preapproved audio track, or was already downloaded 5 times in the last 24 hours.

Pro tip: Skip the New menu and drag the MP4 from your Downloads folder straight into the open Drive folder in your browser. It uploads the same way.

Long videos make big files. If the upload crawls or keeps failing, these tips to upload large files to Google Drive will help.

Method 2: Send all your uploads to Drive with Google Takeout

If you have a whole channel of videos, downloading them one at a time gets old fast. Google Takeout can copy every video you uploaded straight into your Drive.

1. Go to takeout.google.com while signed in to the account that owns the channel.
2. Click Deselect all, then scroll down and tick YouTube and YouTube Music. The top of the page should say 1 of 67 selected (the total may differ for you).

1. Click All YouTube data included.
2. In the content options box, untick everything except videos, then click OK.

Leaving out history, subscriptions, and the rest keeps the export small and focused on the actual video files.

1. Scroll to the bottom and click Next step.
2. Open the Transfer to list and choose Add to Drive.

1. Leave Frequency on Export once.
2. Click Create export.

How does this work?

Takeout’s own note says that after it finishes your copy, it adds the files to Drive and emails you a link to where they are. Big channels can take a while, so watch your inbox.

Once the files arrive, you can find folders in Google Drive with the search box if you lose track of them.

The same note warns that these files count against your storage quota. Check your free space before you start a large export.

Method 3: Keep a video someone else posted

Here’s the honest part. YouTube Help plainly says you can’t download other users’ YouTube videos, and YouTube’s Terms of Service don’t allow downloading unless the service itself offers it. So I don’t use downloader sites or extensions, and I won’t show them here.

These are the options that do work:

• Save the link. Paste the video’s URL into a Google Doc or Sheet in Drive, with a note about why you saved it. My guide on how to save a link to Google Drive shows a few ways to organize links.
• Ask the creator for the file. If you need the video for a project, the owner can share the original file with you, often straight from their own Drive.
• Use YouTube Premium offline downloads. These stay inside the YouTube app for offline viewing. They aren’t files you can move into Drive.

If the creator shares the file from Drive, you can play it there or embed the video from Google Drive on a website, if they allow it.

Things to keep in mind

• Only your own videos can be downloaded. Studio and Takeout only work for videos uploaded to channels you own or manage.
• Storage is shared. Video files use your Google storage, the same space your Gmail and Google Photos use.
• Quality may drop. A Studio download is 720p or 360p, so keep your original files when you can.
• Work or school accounts may differ. If an admin manages your account, Takeout or YouTube may be turned off for you. Ask your admin.

If a video won’t play after you upload it, these fixes for this video cannot be played in Google Drive cover the usual causes.

More guides for working with videos in Drive:

• fix a Drive upload stuck on waiting
• stop an upload that went wrong
• make a subfolder for your videos
• free up Google Drive storage

Frequently Asked Questions