What stays on your computer

You pasted a link. You need to know where it goes. The desktop app sends no telemetry. A pasted URL travels from your computer to the video host — never through our servers.

Writing like this often blurs the app and the website it is advertised on. This post should not. The app is local-first and measures nothing. This website is how people find it, and it does count page views. Two surfaces, two sets of rules.

In the app

KeepCopy is local-first:

• No accounts.
• No telemetry.
• No crash reporting.
• A pasted URL travels from your computer to the video host. That is the path. There is no converter in the middle.

If you came here looking for a youtube downloader that doesn’t upload to server, that last line is the answer: there is no server of ours in the path to upload to. For the hosts we name, and what the engine may still inspect, see what video hosts work.

For the complete local workflow, see how to save web video without a web converter.

On first launch the app downloads the official yt-dlp release and installs a bundled ffmpeg on this computer. After that, looking up a newer yt-dlp release is optional and you can turn it off. Those calls never include the URLs you paste.

Gumroad is the one purchase channel. When the listing is live, checkout happens there and a checksum is published with the download. The app does not send telemetry, crash reports, or the URLs you paste.

Two smaller requests belong in the same honest list. The preview and the queue show the artwork the host provided, which loads from that host. And while Remove sponsor segments is on, the engine asks SponsorBlock which parts of a supported video are marked.

The policy page is Privacy, which lists every request and everything the app writes to disk. This post is the network path, not the policy page. If you want the steps without the terminal, see yt-dlp without the terminal.

Optional yt-dlp update checks

The only background network call after first launch is a lookup for a newer official yt-dlp release on GitHub. Everything else happens because you asked for a download. You can turn off yt-dlp update checks. The product does not check GitHub for KeepCopy updates.

In Settings, open Network checks. The switch is Check for yt-dlp updates. It looks up the latest GitHub release at most once per day. Check now looks up immediately and downloads only if a newer release is available. Those calls never include the URLs you paste.

Screenshot of settings-network-checks

KeepCopy

No telemetry. No account. The video stays on this computer.

Buy on Gumroad

Optional update checks FAQ

Can I turn off yt-dlp update checks? Yes. In Settings, under Network checks, switch off Check for yt-dlp updates. Those lookups never include the URLs you paste.

Does KeepCopy check GitHub for app updates? No. Optional checks look up a newer official yt-dlp release only. The product does not check GitHub for KeepCopy updates.

Do update checks upload my pasted links? No. The GitHub lookup never includes the URLs you paste. A pasted link still goes from this computer to the video host.

On this website

This site is how people find the app, and it loads Google Analytics so we can see which pages are read: the page, the referring site, an approximate location, and your browser and device. Analytics cookies distinguish visits and returning browsers. We collect that data solely to understand how people find and use this website, not for advertising. Privacy spells that out and links Google’s opt-out add-on.

That measurement covers these pages only. It does not run inside the desktop app, and it cannot see the links you paste there.

What the app writes to disk

Local-first means the record stays local, not that there is no record. The app keeps your settings and your download queue in one state.json file in its own data folder. A queue entry holds the URL you pasted, the title and thumbnail address the host returned, the options you chose, where the video was saved, and a trimmed engine error if the job failed.

None of that is uploaded. Remove clears one entry from the queue. Reset app in Settings clears everything, including settings and the installed engine.

Ads and what you can verify

People looking for a safe YouTube downloader with no ads usually mean two things: the window that saves the video is not a wall of pop-ups, and the installer is something they can check.

KeepCopy is a desktop app. The window has no ads. First launch installs the official yt-dlp release and a bundled ffmpeg on this computer. That is the honest answer, for this app, to are youtube downloaders safe and to wanting a youtube downloader without ads.

A video downloader without malware is the same question from the other side. We do not write a guarantee. We publish a hash, ship the official engine, and send no telemetry.

How to check a download

Every app artifact publishes a SHA-256 checksum. Compare the file you received to the published hash before you run it. The Windows installer is unsigned. SmartScreen may warn on the first run. That is also in the home FAQ.

Does KeepCopy show ads? No. The desktop app has no ads. First launch installs the official yt-dlp release and a bundled ffmpeg on this computer.

How do I check the installer? Every app artifact publishes a SHA-256 checksum. Compare the file you received to the published hash before you run it. The Windows installer is unsigned. SmartScreen may warn on the first run. That is what we can show — not a malware-free guarantee.

If you want the short version: the app does not watch you. The website separately uses analytics cookies to understand its traffic, and says so.