Is downloading YouTube videos safe?
The file itself is almost never the problem. The sites handing it to you sometimes are. Here is what to actually watch for.
The real risks
The most common problem is not a virus but a fake download button. Many sites surround the real one with advertisements designed to look identical, and the fake one installs software instead of giving you a file.
The second is what the site collects. A download tool needs a link and nothing else. A site asking you to register, install an extension or run an installer is asking for far more than the job requires.
How to tell a safe site
A safe one asks for a URL and gives back a file. No account, no installer, no browser extension, and no permission prompts.
The file you receive should be an ordinary .mp4 or .mp3. If a download arrives as .exe, .dmg, .apk or a zip that wants to be unpacked and run, close the page. A video is never a program.
What to check afterwards
Look at the file extension and the size. A four-minute song that arrives as a 2 MB executable is not a song.
If you are unsure about a file, open it in a media player rather than double-clicking it in the file manager. A player will simply fail to open something that is not media.