Downloading YouTube videos to watch offline on your Android device is handy when you don’t have an internet connection. While you can manually download videos one by one through the YouTube app, scheduling multiple downloads is convenient. This allows you to queue up videos to save at specific times, even when your device is asleep. In this guide, we’ll cover how to schedule YouTube video downloads on Android.
To be able to schedule and download YouTube videos in the background on Android, you’ll need to use a third-party app. The YouTube app itself does not support this.
A dedicated video downloader app like Video Downloader for Android enables background downloading. This also allows you to download videos in different formats.
In Video Downloader’s settings, toggle on “Background downloading” to enable scheduling downloads for when your device is sleeping, or you’re using other apps.
Once background downloading is enabled, scheduling downloads is straightforward:
When downloading a video in Video Downloader, use the schedule option to set specific days and times for downloads to start. You can queue multiple videos this way.
If you have a YouTube Premium subscription, you can also schedule downloads directly from the YouTube app. Just toggle the “Schedule download” switch when saving a video offline.
It’s easy to manage your queue of scheduled YouTube downloads:
You can pause, resume, restart, or delete queued and in-progress downloads as needed right from the Video Downloader app.
If you want certain downloads to happen before others, use the prioritize feature to move them up the queue.
The app shows the full list of downloads with their status, progress bar, and file size. You can check here for issues.
Once downloads finish successfully, there are a few ways to access and play the videos:
The downloads section of the app contains all your finished downloads for direct playback.
Navigate to device storage > Video Downloader folder to find the downloaded files.
Use an app like VLC media player to play downloaded YouTube videos from your device storage.
If you’re having issues downloading YouTube videos on your Android device, try these troubleshooting tips:
Failures are often due to storage limitations or connectivity problems. Try deleting other files or move downloads to external storage.
If you consistently get storage errors, transfer finished downloads off your device so you have space for new ones.
Within settings, you can change the save folder location if needed to free up default storage.
A buildup of app cache files over time can also cause problems. Clear the cache to free up space.
Scheduling YouTube video downloads for Android is a handy way to save clips for offline viewing. A third-party app like Video Downloader enables easy queue management and background downloading options. Monitor your downloads, troubleshoot any issues, and enjoy your offline video library!
Does the main YouTube app allow scheduled downloads?
No, only manual downloads are possible directly in the YouTube app. A third-party downloader is required to schedule downloads.
Do I need a YouTube Premium subscription to schedule downloads?
No, a Premium account is not required, though this does provide the ability to schedule through the main YouTube app.
Where do downloaded YouTube videos get saved on my device?
The default storage location is Device Storage > Video Downloader. You can customize the download folder in app settings.
Can I download videos longer than 30 minutes?
Most third-party apps do not limit video length. However, the main YouTube app restricts saving videos over 30 minutes.
How do I manage space used by downloaded YouTube videos?
Regularly transfer downloads off your device to a computer or cloud storage. Or use the app to delete watched videos. An external SD card can also help.