4 Best Ways to Convert YouTube Videos to WMV Format

While WMV (Windows Media Video) has become less popular than universal formats like MP4, you may want to convert YouTube videos to WMV for legacy compatibility issues or personal preference.

As WMV is not the native format of YouTube videos, you'll need to download desired video first and then convert the downloaded video to WMV format.

This article will share several best ways to download and convert videos from YouTube to WMV on your PC, safely and quickly.

 

1. Fastest Way to Convert YouTube to WMV

Cisdem Video Converter is a versatile and easy-to-use software that combines video download and conversion. It supports converting video and audio between hundreds of formats, and downloading media from a variety of platforms including YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and more. It lets you download YouTube videos and playlists in original qualities up to 8K, and convert them to any desired format, such as WMV, WMA, MKV, AVI, MP4, etc.

Click the download buttons to free download the program and follow the steps below to convert YouTube videos to WMV safely and quickly.

Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7Free Download macOS 10.13 or later

Step 1. Launch Cisdem Video Converter and switch to its video downloader module by clicking the third icon at the top.

Step 2. Copy, paste and parse video URL.

Visit YouTube.com and copy the video URL by right clicking on the video or from the address bar.

Go back to the converter and paste the copied URL into the bottom field, then click the "+" button to parse the link.

Step 3. Download YouTube videos.

Select a video quality and format option from the Format list, then click the "Start" button in the lower left corner to begin downloading the video.

Step 4. Convert downloaded YouTube video to WMV.

When the download is finished, click the check icon to quickly find the video file in the target folder.

Switch to Cisdem's converter module (the first tab), and import the video to the interface.

Click the Format icon to select "WMV" as the output format, and determine whether to keep the same video quality. You can also click the "Convert all tasks to" button to set output format for all added videos.

Finally, click "Start" to initiate converting YouTube videos to WMV.

Advanced Tips:

1. Custom WMV output settings. For users with specific needs, click the Settings button (or the gear icon) to adjust video/audio parameters including codecs, frame rate, resolution, quality level, channel and more.

2. Edit video. Click edit icon to perform simple editing like trimming, cropping, watermarking, embedding subtitles, etc.

 

2. Download YouTube to WMV Using ClipGrab

ClipGrab is a popular free YouTube video downloader that supports WMV output. It will download the video first then convert the video file to WMV format automatically. While this free YouTube to WMV converter lacks some advanced features like video editing, playlist downloads, batch converting, etc., it could be enough for casual users.

Steps:

1. Install ClipGrab from its official website. Remember to decline unwanted software when installing.
2. Launch ClipGrab. You will be prompted to download the youtube-dl component the first time you use it.
3. Copy and paste the YouTube video link into the box.
4. Click the Format list and select "WMV (Windows)" option.
5. Select a preferred video resolution from the Quality list.
6. Click “Grab this clip!” button to start converting the YouTube video to WMV.

 

3. Use Online YouTube Downloader + WMV Video Converter

If you don’t want to install additional software, converting YouTube to WMV online is a viable solution. Just go to any online YouTube downloader to download the video first, then convert it with a video converter website. However, web-based tools often limit the download quality within 1080p and upload file size to 1 GB or less.

How to convert YouTube video to WMV online:

1. Visit an online YouTube download site to download your desired YouTube video.
2. Go to a video to WMV converter site, such as cloudconvert.com and freeconvert.
3. Upload the downloaded video and select WMV as the target format.
4. Hit the Convert button.
5. Save the converted WMV file to your device.

 

4. Convert YouTube to WMV Via Commands

Want to convert YouTube video to WMV in the best quality for free? Try using command line tools - yt-dlp and FFmpeg. yt-dlp allows you to download YouTube audio and video in best quality and merge them to MP4, WebM, or MKV, with the help of FFmpeg. Then you can use FFmpeg to convert the video to WMV format.

How to download YouTube to WMV via commands:

1. Download yt-dlp and FFmpeg on your computer. If you already have both tools installed, do not forget to update them to the latest versions.

2. Copy the URL of the YouTube video you want to download.

3. Open Command Prompt or Terminal, and use yt-dlp "URL" to download the video at the best quality.

4. To convert the downloaded YouTube video to WMV, run ffmpeg -i “downloaded video.mp4” -c:v wmv2 -c:a wmav2 -qscale 2 "output.wmv"

Replace the file names with your actual video file and desired output filename.

Commands Explanation:

-c:v: video codec

-c:a: audio codec

-qscale: preserve bitrate quality, the lower the value, the better the quality. The WMV video is likely to look blurry and of low quality if you don’t specify the quality value.

 

Verdict

Converting YouTube to WMV is not as straightforward as YouTube to MP4 or MP3, you'll need a reliable converter tool to get high-quality WMV output.

For users seeking a professional YouTube to WMV converter with advanced features, Cisdem Video Converter is an ideal option that gives more control over the downloads and conversions. ClipGrab and online tools are more suitable for converting small YouTube videos due to limited functionality. Then command-line tools is the only method that requires technical skills from the user and may take you some time to learn.