How to download a video from Rutube

Updated on April 27, 2026

Rutube is a Russian video-sharing platform similar to YouTube, hosting a wide variety of content including news broadcasts, TV shows, movies, sports highlights, documentaries, and independent creator videos. It serves as one of the primary video platforms in Russia and features content from major Russian media outlets, state broadcasters, and thousands of individual creators.

If you've found a video on Rutube you'd like to save for offline viewing, our tool makes it easy to download individual videos, entire playlists, or whole channels in just a few steps.

This guide was written using the Mac version. The steps are identical on Windows and Linux.

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  1. Find the Rutube video you want to save

    Open your browser and go to rutube.ru. Find the video you'd like to download. Then copy the video's URL to your clipboard.

    Copy the link to the desired Rutube video
  2. Paste the link into the app

    Open YouTube Downloader and paste the Rutube video URL using the Paste URL button in the toolbar. You can also press + V on Mac or Ctrl + V on PC. The selected clip will appear in the list along with its video information.

    Paste the Rutube video link into the app
  3. Choose the output format

    You can save the video in various formats, but the fastest option with the best quality is the original quality setting. This is the default — it saves the video as the original MP4 at its native quality, with no re-encoding.

    Choose the format you want to save the video in
  4. Choose Video and audio or Audio only

    Only need the audio track and not the full clip? No problem! See the toggle in the toolbar? It applies to all videos in the list, but there's also an individual toggle for each item.

    Choose the download type: audio only or audio+video
  5. That's it! Start downloading!

    Everything is ready to download your Rutube video. Click the Start button next to the video in the list to download just that one. Or, if you have multiple clips in the list, click Start All in the toolbar.

    Start downloading the Rutube video

    While videos are downloading, you can keep working in the app — add new clips to the list, browse already downloaded files, or adjust settings.

  6. Done!

    We think you spent more time reading this guide than you'll actually need to follow it. The video is already downloaded from Rutube. Click the Locate button next to it to open the folder where it was saved.

    Click the Reveal button to open the save folder
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