Summary
Highlights
Start by opening the view-only video in Google Drive. Note that the standard download option isn't available. Open the video in a new window, then press F12 to open the developer console. Navigate to the 'Network' tab within the console.
Play the video, then adjust the quality setting to your preferred resolution (e.g., 720p). In the Network tab, sort by 'Size' to find the largest file, which should be the video stream. Right-click on this file's text and copy its URL. Paste the URL into a text editor like Notepad. Remove 'equals 1 and symbol Srfvp equals 1' from the end of the URL. Also, find and delete the 'range' parameter (e.g., 'range=numbers&') from the URL. Copy this modified URL.
Paste the modified URL into a new browser tab and press Enter. This will open a playable version of the video in your browser. This version will have a download option in its settings, allowing you to download the video file. However, this downloaded video will not contain audio.
Go back to the Network tab in the developer console. Use the filter to search for 'audio'. Right-click on one of the audio stream files and copy its URL. Paste this URL into Notepad. Similar to the video URL, remove 'equals 1 and Srfvp equals 1' from the end and also delete the 'range' parameter from the URL. Copy this modified audio URL.
Paste the modified audio URL into a new browser tab and press Enter. This will open a page where you can hear and download the audio stream. Now you have both the video and the audio files downloaded separately.
To combine the video and audio files into a single video with sound, you'll need to use a separate tool or software. A linked video tutorial provides instructions on how to merge these files quickly and for free.