How to Find Save Video on YouTube on iPhone
On this page, 8 sections
The YouTube app has moved its buttons around enough times that people who have used it daily for a decade still lose things. Save is one of the casualties. It used to sit right under the player with a clear label. Now it is behind a menu on some layouts, visible on others, and it means something different from Download, which is the button most people were actually looking for.
This article covers where Save is, where saved videos go, how Save differs from Download, and what to do when what you really want is a video file you can keep.
Save and Download are two different features
Getting this straight first will save you five minutes of confusion.
Save is a bookmark. It adds the video to a playlist, usually Watch Later. The video stays on YouTube’s servers and you still need an internet connection to watch it. Nothing is stored on your iPhone beyond a reference. Save is free for everybody.
Download stores the video on your iPhone for offline watching. It requires a YouTube Premium subscription in most countries, and the video lives inside the YouTube app’s own protected storage. You cannot move it to Photos, cannot attach it to a message, and cannot open it in an editor.
Both are useful and they solve different problems. If your goal is “I want to watch this later when I have a moment”, Save is the one. If your goal is “I am about to get on a flight”, Download is the one.
Where the Save button is
Open a video in the YouTube app so it is playing. Underneath the player there is a horizontal row of buttons, starting with the like and dislike counts, then Share, then usually Download, then Save, then Remix or Clip depending on the video and your app version.
That row scrolls sideways, and this is the thing that trips people up. If you do not see Save, drag the row of buttons to the left with your finger and more options slide into view. On smaller iPhones, or with larger text sizes turned on, Save is very often hidden just past the right edge.
Tap Save and a panel slides up from the bottom listing your playlists. Watch Later is at the top. Tick whichever ones you want, and tap Done. If you want a new playlist, there is a New playlist option in that same panel, where you can name it and set it to Public, Unlisted or Private.
[NEED: screenshot of the YouTube iPhone player with the button row scrolled to show Save]
There is a second route that is often faster. Anywhere you see a video thumbnail in a feed, search result or channel page, tap the three vertical dots beside it. Save to Watch Later and Save to playlist are both in that menu, and you never have to open the video at all.
Where saved videos actually go
Tap You in the bottom right of the app. That tab replaced what used to be called Library, which is the single biggest reason people cannot find their saved videos any more.
Inside, you will find History, Playlists, Watch Later and Liked videos, plus your downloads if you have any. Watch Later is the default destination for a plain Save, so if you tapped Save and did not choose a playlist, that is where the video is.
One quirk worth knowing. Watch Later has a habit of growing to hundreds of videos and then feeling useless. Tap into it, tap the three dot menu at the top, and there are options to sort it and to remove watched videos. Doing that once a month makes the list worth having again.
Downloading for offline, and why downloads disappear
If you have Premium, the Download button sits in that same row under the player. Tap it and you are asked to pick a quality. Higher quality uses more storage, and for phone viewing the medium option is usually indistinguishable from the high one.
Your downloads live under the You tab, in Downloads. There is also a Smart Downloads setting that automatically keeps a handful of recommended videos on your phone, which some people love and others find a waste of storage. It can be switched off in Settings, then Downloads.
Two things cause downloads to vanish and both are by design. The app needs to connect to the internet periodically, roughly once a month, to confirm your subscription is still active. Leave the phone offline longer than that and downloaded videos stop playing. Separately, if your Premium subscription lapses, downloads go away entirely.
This is the honest limitation of the Download feature. It is a licence to watch offline rather than ownership of a file.
What about Shorts
Shorts behave differently and it catches people out. While a Short is playing, the buttons run vertically down the right hand side of the screen. Save is inside the three dot menu at the bottom of that stack, along with Report, Description and a few others.
Downloading Shorts for offline viewing is inconsistent depending on the video and your app version, and some Shorts simply do not offer it. If you find one that does, the button appears in that same three dot menu.
When you want an actual video file
A good share of people searching for how to save a YouTube video want something the app does not give them. A real file, in Photos or Files, that they can send to somebody, edit, or keep after their subscription ends.
Here is where I want to be straight rather than helpful in a way that gets you into trouble. YouTube’s Terms of Service ask you to use only the download features YouTube itself provides. Copyright is a separate question on top of that. There are situations where you are clearly fine:
- Videos you uploaded. Go to studio.youtube.com in Safari, open Content, tap the three dot menu next to the video, and choose Download. YouTube returns your original file. This is the intended route and it is the one to use if you lost your source footage.
- Creative Commons videos. Check the description under Show More. CC BY licensed videos are explicitly reusable with attribution.
- Anything where the creator has given permission, or material that is in the public domain.
Outside those, the position varies by country and by what you intend to do with the file. I wrote the longer version of that argument at is it legal to download YouTube videos for personal use, and the practical options are laid out at downloading YouTube videos on iPhone.
What I will not publish here is anything about getting round paywalls or protection on paid content. That is a different activity with a different answer.
Where Grabio helps
Grabio is a free iPhone Shortcut I built. It sits in your share sheet and does file work on your phone. For video links, what it does is hand you off to third party sites that specialise in that job, opening them with your link already in hand so you skip the copy and paste and the advert maze.
Those are third party sites, so I cannot promise any of them will work on a given day or for a given video. They break when YouTube changes something. That is the state of the whole category and it is worth knowing before you rely on it. A comparison of what is around is at the best free video downloader for iPhone.
Where Grabio is genuinely solid is what happens after you have a file. Converting formats, compressing something too large to send, or pulling the audio out of a video so you can listen instead of watch. That last one is covered at extracting audio from a video on iPhone.
Get the Shortcut if the file side is what you need. It is free, there is no account and nothing to upgrade to, and it installs into Apple’s Shortcuts app.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Save button in the YouTube app on iPhone?
Under the player, in the horizontal row of buttons that starts with like and dislike. That row scrolls sideways, so drag it to the left if Save is not visible. You can also tap the three dots beside any thumbnail and pick Save to Watch Later without opening the video.
Where do my saved YouTube videos go?
Tap You in the bottom right of the app. Watch Later, Playlists, Liked videos and Downloads are all there. The You tab replaced the old Library tab, which is why long time users often cannot find it.
What is the difference between Save and Download on YouTube?
Save bookmarks the video to a playlist and needs an internet connection to watch. Download stores it on your phone for offline viewing and requires Premium in most countries. Save is a reminder, Download is a copy you can only play inside the YouTube app.
Why did my downloaded YouTube videos stop playing?
The app needs to reach the internet roughly once a month to confirm your subscription. Stay offline longer and downloads stop working until you reconnect. If Premium has lapsed, downloads are removed entirely.
Can I save a YouTube video to my camera roll?
Not through the YouTube app. Downloads are stored in the app’s own protected area and cannot be moved to Photos. For videos you uploaded yourself, YouTube Studio hands the original file back, and that file can be saved anywhere you like.
How do I save a YouTube Short?
While the Short is playing, tap the three dot menu in the vertical button stack on the right of the screen. Save to playlist is in there. Offline download for Shorts is inconsistent and depends on the video and your app version.