Facebook doesn't make it easy to save videos to your phone or computer — the social media service would rather you simply return to Facebook to watch them again.
But just because Facebook would prefer that you don't download video, that doesn't mean you can't do it.
Here's how to download a video from Facebook, whether you're using your computer, iPhone, or Android phone.
How to save a video on Facebook to watch laterBefore we get to permanently downloading videos from Facebook, though, there may be times when you simply want to save a video within Facebook so you can more easily watch it later. Think of it like "bookmarking" a video.
1. Find a video that you want to save for later.
2. Click or tap the more icon – the three horizontal dots – in the top right corner of the video post.
3. Click or tap Save video.
Click or tap "Save video." Stefan IonescuLater, when you want to return to the video, all of your saved videos will be stored in one place.
On a computer, click Watch – the icon that looks like a computer monitor with a play button in the middle – in the top menu. Then, select Saved Videos.
On a phone, tap the three horizontal lines (known as a "hamburger menu") and then tap Saved.
You can also find your saved videos in the Facebook mobile app. Stefan Ionescu How to download a Facebook video to your iPhone or Android deviceYou can't download a video to your phone using the ordinary Facebook app, but there are a number of third-party apps that make it possible to save the video directly to your phone's Camera Roll.
One app that works particularly well for both Android and iPhone users is Friendly Social Browser.
1. Install Friendly Social Browser.
2. Tap Facebook – this will also make Facebook the default profile for the app moving forward.
Choose Facebook from the list of social media sites. Stefan Ionescu3. Log into Facebook using your usual Facebook credentials.
4. Once you're logged in, you can use Friendly Social Browser instead of the official Facebook app — for the most part, it will look and act the same as the app you are used to.
5.
If you're using an iPhone, tap the cloud-shaped download button in the bottom right corner of the video post. On an Android device, tap the download icon in the video itself.
Note: For some videos, you may need to start playing the video to see the download button.
6. On Android, the video will start downloading immediately, but on iPhone, you'll see a pop-up with more options. If you're an iPhone user, tap the download icon next to the Video option.
7. Choose either Save to Photos or Save to Files.
Note: On both iPhone and Android, you might need to give the app permission to access your photos gallery and storage media.
How to save and download a video from Facebook to your computerUnlike your phone, we don't recommend using any third-party programs or websites to try to download videos on your computer. Many of these are not trustworthy and can contain malware or attempt to lure you into paying for additional services.
Instead, there's a trick you can use to download video directly from Facebook.
1. Find a video that you want to save.
2. Click the more icon – the three horizontal dots – in the top right corner of the video post
3.Select Copy link.
4. In a new browser window, paste the URL you just copied in the address bar, and hit the Enter key on your keyboard to expand the URL.
Quick tip: You can quickly paste text by pressing Ctrl + V on a PC and Command + V on a Mac.
5. When the page loads, replace the www with mbasic.
Replace "www" with "mbasic" in the URL. Stefan Ionescu6. Press Enter so the new URL loads in the browser. You'll see the video appear in a format that's optimized for a mobile device.
7. Start playing the video, right-click on the video, and then choose Save Video As.
8.
Give the video a name and click Save.
The video will now be saved to your computer.
Dave Johnson
Freelance Writer
Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.
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Contents
Downloading a video from Facebook lets you have your own copy on your phone or computer. That way, you can easily share it without having to scroll through your newsfeed. Here’s how to download a video from Facebook on your Windows or Mac computer or an iPhone or Android device.
You can download a video from Facebook as long as it has been set to public. Windows, Mac, and Android users just need to copy and modify the video link, while iPhone users have to use a third-party app like MyMedia.
Facebook also has a Save video option that appears when you click on the three-dot icon at the top of the video post. However, this does not really save the video on your device, but merely saves it on the app so you can watch it later.
To download a Facebook video on your computer, right-click on it and choose Show Video URL. Then paste the URL into a new tab and replace the www with mbasic. Finally, right-click it and select Save video as…
You can do this by hitting Ctrl + V on a Windows keyboard or Command + V on a Mac computer. You can also right-click and select Paste. Do not hit Enter on your keyboard at this point.
You can then open the file with any media player that recognizes MP4 files.If you always want to use VLC to open your video files, check out our guide on how to make VLC your default media player here.
To download a Facebook video on an Android device, tap the three-dot icon on the video and Copy Link. Then paste the link into a browser and replace the www with mbasic. Next, long-tap the video, and select Download video.
You can do this by tapping the address bar and selecting Paste.You can find your downloaded video by going to the Files app on your home screen, then tap on Downloads. Your recently downloaded video should be on the top of the list.
To download a Facebook video to your iPhone, tap Share on the video and then Copy Link. Then use the MyMedia app to go to fbdown.net, paste the link, and tap Download the file. Next, go to the Media tab and tap Save to Camera Roll.
You will see a progress bar with the file name, file size, and download time. Once the download is finished, the progress bar will disappear.If your video is rotated the wrong way, check out our guide on how to rotate a video on your iPhone here.
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Updated on November 9, 2022
Tagged: AndroidFacebookiPhoneMacWindows
Yes No
The user can download video from Facebook Watch using plug-ins, through third-party services. There are also ways to get materials from closed communities.
Tables
or online services.
Both options only work on public records that anyone can view.
Ways to download any video:
Depending on the method, the quality can be: from 360 to HD. Downloading videos from Facebook in this format is available through third-party applications. The user specifies which type is best for him.
Using the ru.saverfrom site, the user can download a video from Facebook for free using the link. The platform offers to choose the quality, get an unlimited number of entries.
How to use:
Next, the download of materials selected by the user will begin. If a notification appears: "Facebook has blocked access to this section" - open the clip in full size and copy the address.
The error also appears if the group is closed or the post has privacy settings. In this case, you need to go to the next download method.
In addition to downloading from the site, ru.savefrom offers to install a plugin for Google Chrome. With its help, it is easier to download a video from Facebook: an icon will appear above the entry that the material can be received on a computer.
Installation of extensions is only available in the PC version. Mobile platforms have applications and utilities.
How to download the plugin and video:
The user will be shown a list of available permissions, including low and high. After specifying, the download to the computer will begin, with the choice of the storage location for the materials.
To get a recording on a smartphone, you need to install an application or use the standard function. But the last option only works for posts posted in the Feed.
It is possible to download a history or from the Watch section using an additional application:
In the section: "Gallery" a clip will appear that you can view and scroll through. To download on iPhone:
Unlike Android, the iOS store does not offer additional utilities and extensions. Therefore, a convenient way is to save through online services.
It is possible to download a video from a closed Facebook group if the clip is published in the general Timeline. There is also an option to save the video in the "Favorites" section, from where the author can view it.
There are two ways to get the video:
The profile owner can get his/her previously posted clip from the social network. To download - you need to go to your posts and select an entry. You can get someone else's clip added to a community or page in the same ways: through an application, extension or online service.
How to download your clip from Facebook in good quality:
But you won't be able to get other people's videos this way. Therefore, the user should install on the smartphone: "Download for Facebook" or other software with similar functionality.
When downloading a high quality video from Facebook, the user may encounter a number of problems.
For example: upload error or video recording was blocked.
What problems may appear when downloading materials:
If, after downloading, the user cannot find the entry in the "Gallery", then it is located in the "Downloads" or has not been saved. In this case, you need to go to the section: "All files" and put it on download again.
A network error is possible if the connection is unstable or temporarily disconnected. To download files over 20 MB, it is recommended to connect not only Wi-Fi, but also mobile data. This speeds up downloads and prevents disconnection cases.
The last section you can use to re-watch your favorite videos is Saved. A mobile access tab where the page owner can view and revisit original posts.
How to add a clip to Favorites:
In addition to adding to Favorites, the user can organize information by dividing it into categories.
"Saved" - a private section where you can send media files for further viewing. To remove from a tab: go to favorites, select a media file and press the button: "Cancel".
Although Facebook allows you to save videos to your profile (online), I find it better to save Facebook videos to Camera Roll on my iPhone.
Here is my argument.
After downloading the video, I can watch it offline, anytime and on any device. Even if I have a slow internet connection or none at all. Another reason is that social networking sites are inherently fickle. Let me explain. I have seen the rise and fall of several social networks that were the Goliath of their time. MySpace, Friendster, and more recently, Google Plus.
If you're anything like me, you'd like to save Facebook videos to your iPhone's camera album. Let's take a look at some of the mobile and web apps that make this possible.
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Also read: 8 sites / apps to download Facebook videos on Android Before you can use the web app to download videos from Facebook, you will need its URL. Open Facebook in a browser and right-click anywhere in the video to select Show Video URL.
You should now see the video URL. Save it somewhere handy, such as a notepad or note.
To copy the video link directly from the Facebook app on your mobile device, click the Share button and select the Copy Link option. Again, mark this somewhere handy.
Your iPhone has a built-in screen recording feature that you can use to record part of your Facebook video. Says it's useful in situations where you just want to capture a 2-minute clip from a 5-minute video.
To get started, swipe up from the bottom to open the control center. There you'll find the screen recording option (if it's not there, you might have to add it to your home screen via settings). Then go to the Facebook video you want to record, swipe up and click Record. Orient the video and adjust the playback time so it will be recorded, and when done, swipe up and tap Stop Recording. This will save the video to your camera roll.
If you are using iOS 12 or later, you can use the shortcut app to download Facebook videos without using third party apps or screen recording.
To get started, open the Shortcut app on your iPhone or iPad. If it is not already installed, it can be downloaded from here. Then you need to import this "Social Media Download" label. To do this, simply tap this link on your iPhone, then tap Get Shortcut to add it to Shortcuts.
This shortcut may or may not work immediately after installation. You may need to make small changes to the shortcut code, otherwise you can just copy the URL and run the shortcut directly.
To do this, go to the Shortcuts app, scroll down to the Social Media Uploader shortcut, and click the options button in the top right corner of the shortcut header. This will open the label schema and we need to edit one line. Scroll down and find the text box that says "hd_src_no_ratelimit:" and change it to "hd_src:". Now the shortcut will work.
Simply copy the video post to the Facebook app and launch the shortcut. Go to the Facebook app and scroll to the video you want to save.
Click the Share button and choose more options.
Click Copy to copy the URL to your clipboard. Now go to the Shortcuts app and launch the Social Media Downloader shortcut.
You will be asked to select a source. Tap Facebook and let the shortcut do its thing.
Once the video is downloaded, the shortcut will notify you and the video will be saved in the Camera Roll folder.
Next we have an iOS app called MyMedia that acts as a file manager for all your media files on your iPhone or iPad. Once you have downloaded and installed the app, open the built-in browser. This is where most of the magic happens. Now we will be looking for a web application that will help us download Facebook videos inside the MyMedia application.
FB Down is a free site that will allow you to download Facebook videos in various resolutions in the built-in browser. That's why we installed the MyMedia app so that you can now manage these videos.
Open the app and click the browser button. Now open the FB Down website using the link above, paste the video URL into the appropriate field and click Download.
Your download links should be ready. You can download in regular SD quality or even in HD quality if available.
After downloading the video, you can view it in the application itself by clicking on the "Media" option.
To save the video to the Camera Roll, press the "i" icon to open a menu where you can select the "Save to Camera Roll" option.
Here it is in film.
MyMedia is a free app that has ads that are not annoying.
Visit MyMedia
Also read: How to watch videos on Facebook with friends
If you have used or gone through the steps mentioned above for MyMedia above, you know what you need to do here. FileMaster is another file management app for iPhone and iPad that comes with a built-in browser that you can use to open websites that help you download videos from Facebook.
Download and install the app on your iPhone and launch it. Click on the browser option and visit SaveFrom.net. You can also select FB Down as shown in the example above, but I wanted to share some additional web apps in case one of them doesn't work for you.
The moment you paste the Facebook video URL into the given field, SaveFrom will display all possible video formats and resolutions available right below the field. It's really fast. Just click on the "Download" button to download the video. Once that's done, you can save the video to your Camera Roll by clicking the "Save" button (second icon from the bottom right) to give the video a name and save it right away.
Once a video is available on your iPhone in the FileMaster app, you can find it on the home screen. Now press and hold on the video to bring up a menu where you will select the "Save to Album" option to save the Facebook video to your Camera Roll album.
They should have called it Camera Roll instead of an album.
Less confusing.
Download FileMaster
Also Read: Top 5 Alternative Facebook Apps for iOS Devices
Downloading Facebook videos using web apps in your browser is not the only way to save Facebook videos to Camera Roll. There is a great third party app Friendly for Facebook that you can use for the same but with a difference. Friendly for Facebook is a complete Facebook application that can be used in place of the standard Facebook application. You will use this app as usual to watch channels, watch videos and chat with friends. When you find something that interests you, it's easy to download and save the video to your Camera Roll.
Download and install the app using the link below. After that, open the app and log in with your Facebook ID.
Browse your Facebook feeds as usual. When you find an interesting video, click on it once to open the cloud icon. Click that blue cloud icon to download and save your video directly to your iPhone's Camera Roll.
As you can see, this method is actually better because you can directly save the video to the Camera Roll instead of loading it first and then saving it separately as we saw above.
On the other hand, you are trusting your Facebook credentials to a third party app, so always keep that in mind. Friendly for Facebook is free to use but comes with ads. The app is lightweight and offers an alternative way to view Facebook feeds with some extra but useful features like the ability to hide certain types of posts.
Download Friendly for Facebook
These are some of the best ways to save Facebook videos on your iPhone to Camera Roll. As you must have noticed, you can use any famous Facebook video downloader site with one of the first three iOS apps mentioned above. I have shared other options because now you have a choice. Sometimes some web applications are unable to download a certain video while another site is able to download it.
