How to Download Facebook Videos in 2026 (Any Device)

What You Can Save, and What Facebook Keeps Locked

Facebook removed its own save-to-device option years ago, so the usual routes are a screen recording — which loses quality and picks up your notifications — or a link-based tool. Paste a public video link into the Facebook video downloader and you get the original MP4 instead, at the quality Facebook actually serves.

The honest limit, before anything else: only publicly visible video can be downloaded this way. Private profiles, closed groups and friends-only posts are served by Facebook exclusively to a signed-in account with permission, and no tool that works from a link can get past that. More on that below, because it is the single most common reason a download fails.

## How to Download a Facebook Video

### Step 1: Copy the Video Link

In the app, tap the three dots above the video and choose Copy link. In a mobile or desktop browser, copy the address bar while the video is open.

If the three-dot menu does not offer Copy link, tap the video's timestamp to open it on its own page first, then copy the address.

### Step 2: Paste It into ClipSave

Open ClipSave in any browser, paste the link into the box at the top and press Fetch. There is no sign-up, nothing to install, and you are never asked for your Facebook password.

After three fetches you answer one small arithmetic question — something like 6 + 3 — then you get three more. It exists to keep bulk scrapers off the service, and it resets every time you answer, so it is a cycle rather than a daily allowance that runs out.

### Step 3: Choose SD, HD or FHD

The preview lists the qualities available for that particular video. Pick one and press Download. The file saves as a plain MP4 that opens in any player, with no ClipSave logo added to the picture.

## Which Link Formats Work

| Link looks like | Works | What it is | |---|---|---| | facebook.com/watch?v=123456 | Yes | A video from the Watch tab or your feed | | facebook.com/PageName/videos/123456 | Yes | A video posted by a page or profile | | facebook.com/reel/123456 | Yes | A Reel — see the section below | | fb.watch/aB3dEf/ | Yes | The short link the share sheet makes | | facebook.com/share/v/aB3dEf/ | Usually | The newer share format | | facebook.com/groups/… in a private group | No | Facebook shows a login wall | | facebook.com/photo/?fbid=… | No | A photo, not a video |

If one of the newer /share/ links fails, open it in a browser first. It redirects to a /watch or /videos/ address — copy that one and try again.

## Reels Work Slightly Differently

Facebook Reels are vertical, usually under 90 seconds, and live at /reel/ addresses. They download the same way, and the Facebook Reels downloader is built around that format specifically. There is a longer walkthrough in our guide to downloading Facebook Reels if you save a lot of them.

A quick test before you even try: open the Reel link in a private browsing window while logged out. If it plays there, it will download here. If Facebook shows a login wall, it will not.

## Where the File Lands on iPhone and Android

The download usually works and then people cannot find the file.

On iPhone and iPad, Safari puts it in Files → On My iPhone → Downloads. It does not appear in Photos on its own. Open the Files app, tap the MP4, press the share icon and choose Save Video to move it to your camera roll.

On Android, Chrome saves to the Downloads folder, which you reach through Files or My Files. Your gallery normally picks up new video within a minute; until then, play it from Downloads.

On Windows and macOS it goes to the standard Downloads folder and plays in QuickTime, VLC or Windows Media Player without installing a codec.

## Private Videos and Group Posts: the Straight Answer

Any site promising to download private Facebook videos from a link is either lying or asking for your login — and handing your Facebook password to a third party is how accounts get taken over.

Facebook checks who is signed in before it serves a private file. A link-based downloader is not signed in as anybody, so it receives the same login wall you would see in a private window. That applies to friends-only posts, closed and secret groups, and anything on a private profile.

What actually works:

- Ask the person who posted it to share a public link, or to send you the file directly. - If it is your own video, download it from Settings → Your Facebook Information → Download your information, which includes the media you uploaded. - For a group you administer, post the video publicly on a page you control, then download that copy.

## Live Videos and Photos

A live broadcast cannot be downloaded while it is still running, because there is no finished file yet. Wait until the stream ends and the replay appears on the page, then copy that link and download it like any other video.

Photos are not video, and this tool does not fetch them. We wrote up how Facebook stores and compresses images, and how to get the largest available version, on the Facebook photo downloader page — it is an explainer, not a paste-a-link tool, which is the honest way to present something the downloader does not do.

## What SD, HD and FHD Actually Give You

Facebook re-encodes everything on upload, so the options you see depend on what the uploader provided and what Facebook kept:

- SD is typically 360p or 480p. Fine for a talking-head clip, and the smallest file. - HD is 720p — the usual best case for older posts and phone uploads. - FHD is 1080p, offered when the uploader posted at that resolution or higher.

No downloader can add detail Facebook did not store. If only SD appears, the platform is not serving anything better for that video.

## Copyright, Briefly

Saving a public video to watch offline, or keeping a copy of something you posted yourself, is ordinary personal use. Reposting someone else's video as your own content is a different thing, and downloading it does not transfer any rights.

Facebook's Terms of Service cover what the platform permits, and its Help Centre documents sharing and privacy settings. For anything commercial, ask the creator first. Rights holders can reach us through our DMCA policy.

## The Short Version

1. Open the video, three dots, Copy link — or copy the address bar. 2. Paste it into ClipSave and press Fetch. 3. Choose SD, HD or FHD and press Download. 4. On iPhone, open Files → Downloads and Save Video to reach Photos.

If it fails, check the link in a logged-out private window. Nine times out of ten the video is private, and that is the end of the road for any link-based tool.