How to Download YouTube Shorts on PC, Laptop and Mac

Published November 9, 2026

Saving a Short on a computer takes a link and a browser — no program to install, no extension to trust. Here is how on Windows 10 and 11, on a laptop and on a Mac, and which quality to pick.

Quick Steps

Open the Short on youtube.com and copy the address from the address bar — it starts with youtube.com/shorts/.
Open the Shorts downloader in another tab and paste it.
Click the quality you want — 1080p MP4 for most Shorts.
The video is saved to your Downloads folder.

It works the same in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, on Windows, macOS and Linux, on a desktop or a laptop. There is no program to install and no extension to add.

On Windows 10 and 11 (Chrome, Edge)

In Chrome or Edge, open the Short on YouTube, click the address bar and copy the address with Ctrl+C. Switch to fromyt.net, click the field and paste with Ctrl+V — the Short is found straight away and every quality appears.

Click a quality. After a few seconds, while the picture and the sound are joined into one MP4, the download starts. Edge and Chrome show it in the downloads panel at the top right; the file itself is in Downloads — C:\Users\<your name>\Downloads — unless you told the browser to ask where to save.

On a Mac or MacBook (Safari, Chrome)

The steps are the same with Cmd+C and Cmd+V. Safari shows the finished download under the arrow at the right of the toolbar; the MP4 is in the Downloads folder in the Dock and in Finder. It opens in QuickTime Player and imports into iMovie, Final Cut Pro and Photos as it is.

Choosing the Quality: 1080p, 4K, MP4 or WebM

Every quality YouTube keeps for the Short is offered:

Choice	What it is for
1080p MP4	The default: Full HD, plays everywhere, imports into every editor
1440p or 4K MP4	Only when the creator uploaded in that quality; for editing and big screens
720p MP4	A third of the size, fine for sharing in a chat
WebM	Usually a smaller file in the same quality; plays in browsers and VLC, but iMovie and some editors do not open it
MP3 or M4A	The sound alone

For editing in Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, CapCut or iMovie, take the highest MP4. The streams are copied, never re-encoded, so the MP4 is the same quality YouTube plays.

Downloading Your Own Shorts from YouTube Studio

If the Short is yours, YouTube Studio can give you a copy too: open studio.youtube.com, go to Content → Shorts, point at the Short, open the ⋮ menu and choose Download. Studio does not always hand over the highest resolution, so if you need 1080p or 4K, paste the Short’s link here instead.

Why Not Desktop Software or an Extension?

Browser extensions that download from YouTube are banned from the Chrome Web Store, so the ones that exist come from elsewhere and ask to read every page you visit. Desktop “YouTube downloaders” often come with bundled toolbars, ads or a subscription after a free trial. Pasting a link into a page is the same result without any of that.

Troubleshooting

The download does not start. Give it a few seconds; a long Short takes a little longer to put together. If the row shows Try again, click it.

The video plays without sound. Every MP4 here has the sound in it. Check the volume of the player, and that the right output device is selected.

The MP4 will not open in my editor. Make sure you picked MP4 and not WebM — the WebM rows are under “Show more formats”.

It says the video is longer than 3 minutes. The downloader is made for Shorts, and longer videos are refused.

FAQ

Is it free to download Shorts on a PC? Yes, with no account and no limit on how many you save.

Does it work on a Chromebook or Linux? Yes — anything with a modern browser works the same way.

Can I download a Short in 4K on a laptop? When the creator uploaded it in 4K, the 2160p MP4 is in the list. Most Shorts top out at 1080p.

Where do downloaded Shorts go on Windows? To your Downloads folder, unless your browser is set to ask where to save each file.