How to Download Movies and Videos from Youku

Youku is the biggest online video website in China where you can find tons of HD videos, full Hollywood movies, TV series, etc. And like YouTube, it updates videos every day. In short, Youku begins to gain great popularity around the world.

However, some Youku users would complain the 60-second ads added at the beginning of each Youku video, and others would wonder "is it possible to watch Youku videos offline on Android/iPad/iPod". Fortunately, there's an easy solution to above issues—download Youku videos to computer. The following are top 2 methods to help you download Youku videos and watch them freely.

How to download Youku videos for PC using IDM

Undoubtedly, there's no way better than using IDM to download Youku FLV videos to your PC. IDM refers to a series of video downloader aiming at increasing download speed and I'd like to share two effective video downloaders with you based on user reviews.

1. Download videos from Youku.com with Youku iKu

iKu is a video player designed by Youku company which aims at downloading HD online videos from Youku exclusively. Then just follow the steps below.

• Step 1: First click http://www.youku.com/ to enter Youku. Play any video that interests you and you'll find download button written in Chinese in the lower-left corner.
  
  
• Step 2: Click the download button and a window will pop up requiring you to download iKu .exe file to your PC.
  
  
• Step 3: Keep clicking "OK" button to get iKu installed on your PC and play your desired Youku videos. Then follow the guides on the screenshot as below to download Youku online videos.
  
  

Note that there's a limitation to the formats that the downloaded Youku videos can convert to (MP4, 3GF and AVI only). So if you want to convert to other formats, please refer to Free Youtube Downloader and Converter in the second method.

2. Download videos from Youku.com outside China with Free Youtube Downloader and Converter

Due to copyright restrictions, some countries block access to Youku. That is to say you must use an IP changer or VPN to login Youku if you're outside China and want to refer to the method mentioned above. However, considering the instability of the network, you'd better find an alternative to iKu which is usable outside China.

One of the best programs that you can use is Youtube Video Downloader and Converter which lets you easily download HD videos from Youku as well as other 100+ famous video-sharing sites including top 5 sites . Furthermore, it enables you convert the downloaded Youku videos to frequently-used formats like 3GP, AVI, M4V, M4A, WMA, OGG, etc. so as to be fully compatible with most portable devices.

Now just follow the steps below to start the enjoyment of downloading Youku videos to computer (Windows & Mac).

• Step 1: First feel free to download the program to your PC (in the following we take Windows screenshots as example and Mac version works almost in the same way) and launch it after installation.
• Step 2: Click on "Online Video" at the top of the primary interface and tap Youku icon below, then search for your desired Youku video through the inbuilt browser.
• Step 3: Play the target Youku video with the built-in player and click the "Download" button on the top right.
  
  

FYI, if you come across the warning "Sorry, this video can only be streamed within Mainland China" when playing Youku videos, you can install an add-on called Unlock Youku from the Chrome browser to get around this problem.