Looking for a best free video downloader for mac and Windows 11

I was like you before. In order to watch videos on business trips, I looked for many free video downloaders for Mac, but they were either limited in speed or had a lot of pop-up ads. Some of them also required the installation of strange plug-ins, which was very annoying. Later, I found a command line tool called yt--dlp, which is really a lifesaver. It supports Mac and Windows dual systems. Once you use it, you can't go back.

Although this tool is a command line tool, the operation is really not complicated. Let me teach you how to do it from beginning to end (both Mac and Win are applicable):

✅ Step 1: Install Python (skip if you already have it)
Go to the official website to download: https://www.python.org/downloads/
Mac can be installed directly with Homebrew:

bash
brew install python

✅ Step 2: Install yt--dlp
The installation command is very simple:

bash
pip install -U yt--dlp

✅ Step 3: Basic usage for downloading videos
Copy the video link you want to download (YouTube or Vimeo), then enter in the terminal:

bash
yt--dlp "video link"

This will automatically download the highest resolution version and merge the audio and video into one file.

✅ Common command extensions (advanced operations):
 Download specified resolution (e.g. 1080P):

bash
yt--dlp -f "bv+ba" "Video link"

Batch download the entire playlist (such as a course collection):

bash
yt--dlp --yes-playlist "Playlist link"

Download subtitles (if the video has subtitles):

bash
yt--dlp --write-subs --sub-lang en "Video link"

Specify the save directory:

bash
yt--dlp -P "/Users/your username/Downloads/Videos" "Video link"

Download cover image, video description, metadata together:

bash
yt--dlp --write-thumbnail --write-description --write-info-json "Video link"

So in summary, yt--dlp It is the most reliable video downloader for Mac that I have used so far. It supports Windows, has clear commands, and powerful functions. The most important thing is that it is completely free, stable, and has no ads. Compared with those online tools with a lot of restrictions, it is really amazing. Now I rely on it to download tutorial videos and documentaries from YouTube and Vimeo. It is one of my permanent video downloader for Mac.