Your first download from a link

What you need before you begin

Two things: the address of one video, and this page open in your browser. Nothing else. You do not register, you do not give an email address, and you do not install anything.

The address is the line of text that starts with https and sits in the bar at the top of your browser while the video is playing. On a phone, the same address comes out of an app's share button under Copy link. Copy it once and you are ready.

What a website downloader does to your computer

This is the part that worries people the first time, so here it is plainly. Vidzilla runs on our servers. Your computer sends us an address, our servers read that page, and the only thing that travels back to you is a video file, the same kind of file your camera app produces.

There is no program to install, no extension to add to your browser, and no permission dialog to accept. When you close the tab, nothing of ours remains running. The file that arrives is a plain video, and you open it with the player your machine already uses for holiday clips.

Doing it once, from the beginning

Paste the address into the box at the top of this page and press Analyze. Wait a moment while the page is read. A list appears, and every row in it is a real file with a resolution and a size in megabytes. Press Download file on one row and the transfer starts.

You will see the download appear in your browser rather than on this page, because your browser takes over once the file starts moving. Leave this tab open until it finishes. That is the entire process, and the second time you do it takes under a minute.

The three mistakes beginners make

Nearly every first attempt that fails fails for one of these reasons, and each one takes a single step to correct.

• Pasting the address of a channel, a profile, or a search results page. Open the one video you want, then copy the address from there.
• Copying the title of the video instead of its address. The address begins with https and contains no spaces; the title is ordinary words.
• Closing the tab as soon as the download starts. Leave it open until the transfer reaches the end, or the file stops early when you play it.

Which row to pick when you have no idea

Read the numbers on each row instead of guessing. A row marked 1080p is full high definition and suits a television or a large monitor. A row marked 720p looks identical on a phone screen and takes a fraction of the space.

For a first try, take a middle row. It arrives faster, it stays under the free size ceiling, and you can repeat the whole thing with a larger row afterwards if you want more detail. Nothing about the first attempt stops you from downloading the same video again.

How to know it worked

Open the file from your own machine, not from the page you downloaded it on, and let it play for a few seconds. Then turn your Wi-Fi off and play it again. A video that keeps playing with the connection switched off is genuinely on your device and stays there.

If the file opens and then ends far too early, the transfer was cut short. Download the same row again and let it run to the end.

What this costs

Nothing, for ordinary clips. There is no charge, no trial period, and no card. A file size ceiling applies to free use, and the page tells you before a download starts when the row you picked is over it. Pro raises that ceiling and removes the advertising, and you reach it only when you are saving something large.

Related pages

• The main downloader page
• Finding the file once it has saved
• What free use includes
• What happens after you press Analyze