MP4 is the format that plays everywhere. Phones, laptops, smart televisions, cheap media players, the video app that came preinstalled on a device nobody has updated since 2019 — all of them open an MP4 without being asked twice. That universality is the whole reason it is worth asking for by name.
Paste a YouTube address and FlashDL lists the MP4 versions that video was published in, each with the resolution and the file size, so you can weigh sharpness against storage before anything downloads.
From a YouTube link to an MP4 file
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1
Grab the video address
Copy the link from the YouTube app's Share menu, or from your browser's address bar if you are on a computer. Shorts and normal videos both work.
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2
Put it in the box above
Paste it in. Reading starts on its own — you will see the list appear without pressing anything.
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3
Compare resolution against size
Each MP4 line shows its resolution and how big the file is. That second number is the one that matters if storage or mobile data is tight.
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4
Pull the file down
Choose a line and the MP4 lands on your device, ready to play in any video app you already have.
Why MP4 rather than anything else
Video formats are a mess of containers and codecs, and most of the arguments about them stopped mattering years ago for ordinary use. What did not stop mattering is compatibility. MP4 with H.264 inside it is the closest thing the industry has to a universal format: every phone made in the last decade decodes it in hardware, which means smooth playback and low battery drain rather than a hot device and a stuttering picture.
There are formats that squeeze the same picture into a smaller file. They are excellent, and they also fail to open on exactly the devices where you most want a video to just work. MP4 is the safe answer.
Picking a resolution without regretting it
The number in front of the p is how many rows of pixels tall the picture is, and it roughly doubles the file each time you step up. On a phone screen the difference between 720p and 1080p is genuinely hard to see at arm's length; on a television across a room it is obvious.
So match it to the screen rather than reaching for the largest number. 480p for something you will watch once on a phone, 720p as a sensible default, 1080p when it will end up on a laptop or a TV, and higher only if you intend to crop or edit the footage, where the extra pixels actually get used.
Questions about MP4 downloads
Which resolutions can I get?
Whatever that video was published in — commonly 360p, 480p, 720p and 1080p, with 1440p and 4K on videos where the uploader provided them.
Is the file really an MP4?
Yes, and it is handed to you exactly as YouTube published it rather than converted, so there is no second round of compression.
Why is 1080p missing on some videos?
Because it was never uploaded. Older videos in particular were often published at 360p or 480p and nothing higher exists to hand over.
Will it play on my TV?
MP4 is about as widely supported as a video format gets, so on most televisions, consoles and media players it will play straight from a USB stick.
How long does a 4K file take?
That depends on your connection more than on us — a 4K video can be several gigabytes, so it is worth starting one on wi-fi rather than mobile data.
Does it work on an iPhone?
Yes. The file saves into the Files app under Downloads, and you can move it into Photos from there if you would rather keep it with your other videos.