vidpickr

4K YouTube Downloader

4K YouTube downloader — bit-for-bit, no re-encode.

Save YouTube videos at the original 2160p (4K) or 4320p (8K). The file you download contains the exact bytes YouTube hosts — no transcoding, no quality loss, no fake-4K upscale.

Only download content you own or have explicit permission to use.

Why most "4K downloaders" are not actually 4K

Three common reasons people end up with 1080p when they wanted 4K:

  • The tool only fetches a single progressive stream. Progressive streams (video + audio in one file) cap at 720p on most YouTube videos, and 1080p on a small subset.
  • The tool re-encodes server-side. Some services merge the streams on their server, and the cheaper the server, the more aggressive the re-encode. You get 4K dimensions but 1080p detail.
  • The tool can’t reach the high-quality stream URLs. YouTube rotates its player JavaScript regularly; tools that don’t keep up break silently and fall back to lower resolutions.

The fix is the same in every case: download both streams (video + audio are separate above 1080p) and combine them losslessly. VidPickr does this in the browser.

How VidPickr handles 4K and 8K

Above 1080p, YouTube serves video and audio as separate streams. The video stream is usually VP9 or AV1; the audio is m4a or opus. Anything that hands you a real 4K download has to fetch both and combine them.

We fetch both streams directly to your browser and combine them with the WebCodecs API and an in-browser muxer. There’s no re-encode step. The bytes you save have the exact bitrate YouTube delivered.

File size you should expect

4K and 8K files are big. Make sure you have the disk space and a fast enough connection.

  • 5-minute 4K HDR — ~1.2 GB
  • 10-minute 4K HDR — ~2.5 GB
  • 30-minute 4K — ~7 GB
  • 60-minute 4K — ~14 GB
  • 10-minute 8K — ~10 GB
  • 60-minute 8K — ~60 GB

At 100 Mbps a 10 GB file takes about 14 minutes to download even before any muxing. If your connection is the bottleneck, 1440p is often the sweet spot — meaningfully sharper than 1080p, half the size of 4K, and almost always available.

Bitrate matters more than resolution

A 4K stream encoded at 8 Mbps looks worse than a well-encoded 1080p stream at 12 Mbps. When you check available qualities, higher resolution doesn’t always mean a sharper picture. If the upload was filmed in 1080p and YouTube generated a 4K version, that 4K is just an upscale.

For the full mechanics see our 4K and 8K download guide.

Frequently asked questions

Is 4K download free or behind a paywall?
Free. Every resolution YouTube serves is available on the free tier, including 4K and 8K. There is no “upgrade to unlock high quality” trick.
Why does my downloaded 4K file look worse than I expected?
Two possibilities: either the source upload was a 4K upscale of lower-resolution footage (which we can’t fix — the data isn’t there), or your video player isn’t configured to display 4K natively. Try VLC for guaranteed 4K playback.
How do I know if a YouTube video is actually in 4K before downloading?
Check the YouTube player’s quality menu (gear icon → Quality). If 2160p shows there, the video has a real 4K stream. If only 1080p and below, that’s the cap regardless of what any downloader claims.
Does 4K download include HDR?
When the source is HDR, yes — the HDR metadata and color space are preserved in the saved MP4. Make sure your player and display support HDR for it to render correctly.
Why does the file say 4320p instead of 8K?
“8K” is the marketing name for 4320p (7680×4320 pixels). The technical resolution label is what we show in the picker; both refer to the same quality.
Can my browser actually handle a 60 GB file?
Yes. The browser writes bytes straight to disk via the Streams API as they arrive. There’s no full-file load into memory, so a 60 GB 8K download uses similar RAM to a 100 MB download.

Related tools

Full YouTube downloader

Every quality, every format, in one place.

YouTube to MP3

Audio-only at up to 320 kbps.

YouTube Shorts downloader

Vertical 9:16 with audio intact.

YouTube subtitle downloader

Captions in SRT, VTT, or TXT.

4K and 8K download guide

Bitrates, file sizes, and HDR notes.