Popular video sites often find it difficult to download content for copyright and revenue reasons. Instead, you’ll want to share a direct link or post to your feed, where it will continue to pre-roll ads. But if you want to get a permanent copy of a clip you found on Facebook, you may have your reasons. Because we trust you, we’re here to tell you how to download them.
If you have software that you use to download YouTube videos, such as 4K Video Downloader, you can give it a try. Most tools that work for YouTube, Vimeo and others work with Facebook URLs. But there is an easier way to get started.
Desktop downloads
Next to almost all videos, Facebook offers a “save video” link in the Ellipsis menu. But this link will not save the video to your local hard drive. It “saves” in a section of your account called “Saved Videos” on Facebook, where you can create collections to watch later. If the owner removes the video, you will no longer be able to access it.
The steps for placing a Facebook video on your computer are somewhat concise, but not difficult. First, in your browser, click and select the three-dot menu in elliptical format for a video Copy the link. (You may not see this option if the video is listed as private).
Paste it into a new browser tab and follow the compressed link to the one that starts with https://www.facebook.com/watch/ (starting at https://fb.watch/). In the address bar, change “www” to “www”.mbasic. ⁇
A Facebook mobile page on the desktop.
The browser forces you to load the mobile version of the page. Right click on the videoAnd select Open the link in a new tab. In this new third tab, you will only see the video, you can right-click again and select Save the video as follows Put it on your computer.
The resolution will increase
The downside is that you do not get particularly high resolution video.
This complicated matter is an easy solution to avoid and use FDown.net (Formerly FBDown.net, but they dropped a letter for simplicity). This site has advertising support to keep the lights on, but some are advertising traps with boxes that say “Start” or “Start Download”, so do not click on them.
Paste the Facebook URL you found by selecting the copy link from the elliptical menu. The site will analyze all the content for you and provide links to retrieve the “normal quality” version (either obtained with the steps above) or “HD quality” video. I used it to capture a movie trailer, the normal quality was a 4.6MB file; The HD quality was a beautiful 27MB file.
You can click the links or right click to select Save the link as follows. The Advanced Options box allows you to force download and edit audio in both standard and high definition.
If you use the Google Chrome browser and you frequently use FDown.net, get an extension called Video Extension Plus. If it is downloadable it puts the download button directly on the video. However, it is also one of the many extensions from many developers that allow uploading on Facebook. Try some and choose your favorite.
If you find a video that cannot be downloaded from Facebook, try FDown.net/private-downloader.php first. If that fails, try a screen recording tool to catch it during playback.
Mobile downloads
FDown.net shines on mobile devices, whether it’s Android or iOS. The problem is, it does not work in Safari browser on iOS. According to the developers, this does not work well with Chrome. They recommend using Firefox Mobile. It does not work on private videos, but you do not know that they are private until the last stage.
FDown.net on Mobile Firefox
Find a video on Facebook (in any browser) and click on the option To share . On the Back Share screen, find the following option Copy the link. Then open Firefox, Charger FDown.netPaste the URL and press Download. You will again see options for getting video in normal quality or HD quality; Press and hold your finger on the one you like and you will get an option Download link, Then a Download now Confirmation.
The video will then be placed in the Downloads section of the Firefox browser. You can access it via the Firefox hamburger menu (three lines) in the lower right. Click the video link – it looks like a long string of numbers. On iOS, you can tap Record the video Place it on your device’s camera roll.
Beatrice Ashford is a contributor at Nintendo-power.com, covering a wide range of topics including news, politics, business, technology, sport, entertainment, and lifestyle. She focuses on delivering clear, balanced reporting and useful information that helps readers stay informed about current events and emerging developments. Her work highlights stories that matter to everyday audiences, with an emphasis on accuracy, relevance, and accessible journalism that keeps readers connected to the issues shaping the world around them.