Facebook has proven to be one of the few social networks with real staying power, remaining relevant for more than fifteen years since launched.
Facebook’s Shift To Video
While Twitter and Snapchat attempt to battle Zuckerberg’s behemoth, Facebook has set their sights on a much larger target than even themselves: YouTube. More and more, we’ve seen the platform pivot and position themselves not just as a social network, but as a publishing platform for both articles and videos.
It sounds weird, but to get your favorite Facebook videos from other sources, you’ll need to use the PC or Mac browser and load Facebook through its mobile URL. Here’s what you do. When finished, the video will be automatically saved to the “ Finished ” section, you can click the button to play it directly. Getfvid is one of the best free online Facebook video downloaders in our list. With it, you can easily download and convert Facebook videos to MP4 or MP3 files. Facebook Video Downloader Online, Download Facebook Videos and Save them directly from facebook watch to your computer or mobile for Free without Software. We also provide a Video Downloader Chrome Extension.
Whether you’re going on a road trip without internet or you want to build a personalized library of archived content, downloading Facebook videos is a great idea—and thankfully, it’s pretty easy to do. This is our full guide to downloading and saving Facebook videos.
Downloading Your Own Videos From Facebook
Not surprisingly, the simplest videos to save offline are those you’ve uploaded to your page. Downloading your own videos works from within Facebook’s website, unlike other social channels. Keep in mind that Facebook’s compression will affect the quality of your video downloads. Let’s take a look at how to download your Facebook libraries.
- Start by loading up Facebook’s website and accessing your profile.
- Click on “Photos” from your profile towards the top, then select the “Albums” tab.
- Scroll down to the collection labeled “Videos” and select the tab labeled “Your Videos.”Live streams you’ve hosted through Facebook Live will also show up here.
- Find the video you want to download from your library of content, click on the pencil icon in the top-right corner of the thumbnail.
- Choose “Download HD” or “Download SD.” Live streams (if you have any) may have a lower resolution despite selecting HD.
Downloading Videos from Other Users or Pages
Alright, so downloading your submitted videos from the platform is simple. After all, Facebook gives you the download option right within the album collection. For a real challenge, you’ll want to focus on downloading video content from sources other than your FB library.
Facebook isn’t designed for downloading public videos, as copyright concerns abound when trying to save a video that isn’t your own. Fortunately, downloading your favorite Facebook clips isn’t as hard as you might think. There are multiple ways to do it. Let’s take a look.
Using the Mobile Site on Desktop
It sounds weird, but to get your favorite Facebook videos from other sources, you’ll need to use the PC or Mac browser and load Facebook through its mobile URL. Here’s what you do.
- Start by loading Facebook’s typical desktop website from your computer. We’re using Chrome to download this video, so while this method may work in other browsers, we can only guarantee support through Google Chrome’s video player.
- When you find the video you want to save (in our example screenshots below, it’s a short video of Moana-themed cupcakes), ensure you’ve loaded the video’s page into your browser. It doesn’t matter whether the video is in pop-out mode or not.
- Highlight the URL’s “www” and replace it with “m.” Don’ forget to include “.” after the “m” to ensure it loads, and then press enter.
- Hit the play icon to start the video, which will launch it in the built-in video player (Chrome in our example).
- While playing, right-click over the video and choose “Save video as…” or whatever it says in the browser.
- In the download prompt, rename the file and save the video (MP4).
The video downloads at 400×400 resolution, and since the built-in video player saves it in MP4 format, you shouldn’t have any difficulties playing the video on your PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android phone, or Android tablet.
Using Video Downloader Sites
Considering the vast amount of content on YouTube and Facebook, it’s not surprising that both of these services have a wide variety of third-party sites, promising fast and free downloads of online media.
Though most sites specialize in downloading YouTube content, it’s also possible to download Facebook content from many of them, including a handful of YouTube Downloader sites that don’t publicize the ability to support Facebook videos.
Here are a couple of examples.
Keepvid.ch Facebook Video Downloader
Keepvid.ch is one of several Facebook video downloaders, but it offers more source options and higher resolutions at no cost. The website saves your favorite videos up to the maximum available for each particular video, going as high as 4K and 1o80P. We like this site the most, especially since it is easy to use and also offers webpages for other media-infiltrated websites, such as Instagram, Daily Motion, and YouTube. For the Facebook downloader page, simply click the appropriate link on the page.
We tried this website on Firefox and Chrome. We couldn’t get it to function correctly in Firefox but had no troubles with Chrome.
Here”s what to do.
- Visit “http://keepvid.ch/” without the quotes.
- Choose Facebook Video Downloader from the links shown or simply paste your URL in the existing box.
- Click Download
- The newly loaded screen will display your resolution options, as well as audio options, if you just want an MP3 audio download.
- Choose your MP4 resolution and click the download icon.
- A popup will appear (MUST allow popups for this site). If permission for popups is not already set, you’ll need to activate it, reload the page, and restart the process.
- Your new file gets saved to your current browser’s download location.
Getfvid Facebook Video Downloader
Getfvid is another easy-to-use Facebook video downloader that allows public and private Facebook videos to get downloaded. The process is as easy as it gets! We tried this Facebook video downloader in Chrome and Firefox. It worked the same for both browsers.
Here’s what you do.
- Visit https://www.getfvid.com/
- Paste the Facebook video URL into the box. Obtain the URL by visiting Facebook and opening the video.
- Choose high definition (HD) or standard definition (SD), and a new web page will open that plays the video. Do not pause or close the window.
- After the video finishes playing, right-click it and select “Save Video As…”
- The newly saved file will be located in your browser’s default save location unless it lets you choose it.
Getfvids instructions stop at the point where you hit the download button. However, there was no automatic saving during our tests. That’s why we specified the right-click-and-save instructions, which turned out just fine.
Both keepvid.ch and getfvid.com produced HD copies of the video, delivering higher resolutions than videos obtained through the browser as a mobile page. If you’re concerned about the quality of your saved content, your best bet is to download the video using either KeepVid or GetFvid.
Downloading Videos Using Your Smartphone
The easiest way to get videos from Facebook onto your smartphone is to use your computer and, using a cable or a wireless internet connection, transfer the video to your smartphone’s storage partition. It’s a bit of a hassle, but it’s the easiest way to save videos to your phone without having to jump through the hoops associated with saving videos on Android.
That said, sometimes, there are certain limitations to downloading content from your computer to your phone. If you’re on the go, the only real option is to download the content manually on your smartphone of choice. Here are your current options for downloading Facebook videos on your Android or iOS devices.
Android
Since Android uses Google Chrome as its primary web browser, it’s not too difficult to save videos onto your Android device. You have a few distinct ways to do so. Using Chrome, load the mobile Facebook site on your device and log into it. You cannot use the Facebook app, as this method won’t work to download FB videos. Here’s how to do it.
- Using the mobile site, navigate to the video you want. If you need help finding it because you initially saw it on the mobile app, you can use the Share function on Android to get a simple copy-and-paste link.
- Once you’ve loaded the video, simply hold your finger down on it until the “Save Video” prompt appears. This may take a few moments to appear, so don’t lose patience. Tap the button, and your download will begin to your device.
Depending on the resolution and length of the video, it may take a couple of minutes to download. While there are a ton of choices for browsers on Android, we tested this specifically on Chrome and Samsung Internet, our two favorite browsers on Android right now. Both can download videos straight to your device, making it an easy task.
iOS
Unfortunately, there aren’t too many options for saving Facebook videos on iOS. However, you aren’t entirely out of luck. In iOS 11, released in 2017, Apple added a feature for recording your screen right from the Control Center. While this doesn’t work on every app (Apple Music mutes audio when you try to record using this feature), it should still work on Facebook as of 2020.
Follow these steps:
- Open the Facebook app (or mobile website in Safari)
- Find the desired video
- Swipe up from the bottom of the screen
- Tap the record button
- Wait three seconds
- Start playing your video
- While your iPhone screen records, a red bar will appear at the top
- When you’re finished recording, tap this red bar and choose Stop
The video will save to your camera roll automatically. Sometimes this takes a minute or so, especially if the recorded video is on the longer side of things.
Don’t worry about which orientation you record the video in, as you can easily crop and rotate your videos in iOS 13.
Alternatively, you can use paid apps like Keepvid Pro to download your favorite Facebook videos on iPhone or iPad.
***
Despite Facebook’s limitations on downloading videos from their site, it’s never been easier to grab videos. Whether you’re using the mobile site workaround on Windows or macOS, an online downloading site, or Chrome on Android, downloading your favorite videos from Facebook can be done in just a couple of easy steps. Even iOS, a notoriously locked-down system, has a method for allowing video downloads.
Grab your favorite videos from Facebook and hit the road! You’ll have all your favorite videos with you (zero bandwidth use!) no matter where you end up.
No doubt YouTube is the most popular video hosting ever. There are tons of educational how-to guides, funny animal videos, music clips, kids’ videos, movies, TV series and other stuff for any taste. Thus, it’s not a surprise that one of the most requested things in Google is a safe YouTube converter. Facebook in its turn is mostly used for sharing your life moments, interesting posts and chatting with your mates.
However, there are also a plenty of nice videos on Facebook that you won’t find on YouTube. You may enjoy these videos online if they are not private or save them for offline viewing. The latter option is better since you won’t need to lose traffic if you want to watch the video again and again; neither will you lose the clip if the owner deletes it or the entire profile. Besides, you can upload an offline clip to your tablet or smartphone and enjoy it whenever you want.
Check the comparison table of the tools that you’ll find in this article.
Software | OS supported | Websites supported | Output formats | Type of license |
Freemake Video Downloader | Windows (from Vista) | Facebook, YouTube, Dailymotion, Vevo, Vimeo + 10 000 sites | MP4, MP3, AVI, FLV, 3GP, MKV, WebM, Android, iOS, PSP | free |
iTube Studio | Win/Mac | Facebook, YouTube, Dailymotion, Vevo, Vimeo + 10 000 sites | MP4, MOV, WMV, AVI, MKV, 3GP, MPEG, iOS, Android | paid |
Elmedia Player PRO | Mac | Facebook, YouTube, Dailymotion, Vevo, Vimeo + 10 000 sites | MP4, WebM, FLV, 3GP | paid |
Bigasoft Video Downloader | Win/Mac | Facebook, YouTube, Dailymotion, Vevo, Vimeo + 10 000 sites | MP4, AVI, WMV, MKV, VOB, MPG, FLV, 3GP, WebM, MOV, SWF | paid |
Fbdown.net | Win/Mac/Linux | MP4 | free | |
Savefrom.net | Win/Mac/Linux | Facebook, YouTube | MP4 | free |
M.Facebook | Win/Mac/Linux | MP4 | free | |
MyMedia | iOS | Facebook, YouTube | MP4 | free |
Video Downloader for Facebook | Android | MP4 | free |
Now let’s check the utilities in details and choose the best Facebook video downloader for you.
How to Download Facebook on Windows
There are two ways to save Facebook videos on PC: install a program or use a web-service. Let’s start with software.
Freemake Video Downloader
The best option to get Facebook on Windows is to download free and safe software. We recommend YouTube downloader. It’s free, powerful, easy to use and won’t harm your PC.
First of all, go to the official Freemake website and download the installer. You can choose between two options: an online file that will download the software right during the installation process, and an offline one. The latter one is great if you have a slow Internet connection with gaps.
Install and run the software on Windows-based PC. The supported OS versions are Win 10, Win 8, Win 7, and Windows Vista.
Now follow these steps to download a Facebook video:
- Copy the video URL of a Facebook video that you want to get. Make sure it’s not private;
- Paste the video in Freemake Video Downloader via the Paste URL button;
- Wait for some time till while the software detects the video;
- Choose a necessary video format and quality. In case you don’t see the necessary format, scroll to the bottom of the software and select the Convert option. Click to see the drop-down menu with the available formats.
- Run the downloading process by clicking the Download or the Download and Convert button.
Freemake Video Downloader offers a wide range of output formats. You can save your Facebook video in MP4, MP3, AVI, FLV, 3GP, MKV, WebM or for mobile gadgets (iPhone, iPad, Android, PSP). If you always save videos in the same format, you can enable the One-click download mode. Choose the quality you need, the format and select a destination folder. By default, the files will be saved to My videos folder. From now on, Freemake Video Downloader will save your multimedia files with the selected settings.
Pros:
- free;
- easy-to-use;
- supports most popular video sites;
- many output formats and qualities;
- no ads.
Cons:
- not found.
SEE ALSO: How to Choose Best YouTube Downloader for Windows
SEE ALSO: How to Change Facebook Video in WebM Format to MP4
iTube Studio
One more interesting software to get Facebook videos is iTube Studio (https://itube.aimersoft.com/). Like Freemake, it can extract MP3 from Facebook videos or convert them to MP4, MOV, WMV, AVI, MKV, 3GP, MPEG or to most popular portable gadgets with iOS or Android.
To save Facebook movies with iTube Studio, follow this procedure:
- Download the software from the official software website;
- Install and run the program on your PC;
- Copy Facebook video URL;
- If you want to only download the video, click the Paste URL button in the software and paste your link. In case you need to convert the video, enable Download and Convert mode in top right corner. Choose the format/device that you need;
- Start the conversion.
Soon your video will appear in C:iTube Studio Downloaded. You can always change the destination path in the software settings.
Pros:
- most popular video sites support;
- a good range of output formats and qualities;
- screen recording option.
Cons:
- trial version is very limited.
Please note that the trial version lets you save only two videos and provides a reduced number of options. The full version offers a browser plugin to save videos on the go, more conversion options, screen recording, and so on.
- 1-year license will cost you $19 per 1 PC/year.
- Lifetime license costs $29 per 1 PC/lifetime.
- Family license $72.95 per 2-5 PCs/lifetime.
Choose the license depending on your needs and download more Facebook videos.
SEE ALSO: Prepare Online Video for Your Phone Easily
How to Download Facebook on Mac
Here is the way to save Facebook video on Mac laptops and iMacs.
iTube Studio for Mac
If you are a Mac user, you can purchase a Mac version of iTube Studio:
The downloading procedure will be absolutely the same as described above. The ready files will be saved to the Downloads folder.
Elmedia Player PRO
Elmedia Player Pro is an all-in-one tool for Mac amateurs. It combines a powerful media player that supports the majority of popular audio and video formats; and a video downloader. It’s available on the AppStore for $9.99.
Let’s learn how to download Facebook videos with Elmedia Player Pro:
- Download and install the app on your Mac;
- Launch Elmedia Player and activate the Pro version with your key;
- Choose to integrate the Player with your browsers. It’ll give you quick access to online movie downloading;
- Restart the browser and then open a URL of a video that you’d like to save;
- Switch the Video tab in the software;
- Choose the desired video quality;
- Click the Download button to save the file.
You will find the downloaded video in the folder, specified in Elmedia Player Pro preferences.
Pros:
- most popular video sites support;
- comes with a browser plugin;
- comes with a media player.
Cons:
- WMV video file format is not supported.
Bigasoft Video Downloader
Bigasoft Video Downloader (http://www.bigasoft.com/) is a nice video downloader to get videos from Facebook, YouTube, Dailymotion, and other video hosting platforms. You can download a single video and playlist in a variety of qualities.
To grab videos with this app, follow these steps:
- Download and install it on your Mac;
- Save Facebook video URL address;
- Run the app and paste in it the link to the video you want to get;
- Choose a quality, destination folder, and an output format;
- Click the big red button to save a Facebook video.
Like the previous Mac tools, Bigasoft Video Downloader is not free. A license will cost you $29.
Pros:
- simple interface;
- wide range of supported sites;
- good quality and format choices.
Cons:
- can take some time to save a video.
How to Download Facebook Online
In case you don’t want to pay for the software or simply don’t want to install anything on your Mac or PC, you can get a Facebook video with the help of online services.
Please note that this way is not safe since mostly the websites contain too many ads. Besides, the services don’t provide output quality and format options. If it’s OK for you, then check what websites you can use.
Download Facebook Videos Mac Safari
Fbdown.net
Fbdown.net (https://fbdown.net/) can download only public Facebook videos or those you have access to. The steps are pretty simple as with any other web-service for video downloading:
- Copy a link to a Facebook video;
- Open Fbdown.net;
- Paste the link in a special field on the website;
- Click the Download button.
In a couple of seconds, the video will be saved to the folder that you can check in your browser preferences.
Pros:
- free.
Cons:
- no quality or formats choice;
- ads;
- downloads only from Facebook.
Savefrom.net
Savefrom.net (www.savefrom.net) is almost the same as Fbdown.net. However, this service has an option to choose whether you want to get a video in an HD quality (if available) or a standard one. Usually, the file is saved in MP4 format.
Pros:
- free;
- provides Chrome plugin;
- HD/SD quality choice.
Cons:
- no formats choice;
- ads.
M.Facebook
One more easy way to save a Facebook video without any apps or software installs at all is to modify its URL address. What you need to do is:
- Open the video you want to save in Google Chrome, Firefox, Edge or IE;
- Change the www in the video URL to m. The address should like https://m.facebook.com/videonameexample;
- Click the Play button;
- Right-click on the video and choose an option: Save video as…;
- Click this option to download the Facebook video.
Your video will be saved in the original quality and format available on Facebook.
Pros:
- free.
Cons:
- no option to set output format or quality.
How to Download Facebook on iOS (iPhone, iPad)
Although Apple tries to delete all apps that can download videos from the AppStore, you can find a couple of download managers after a good research. They don’t download videos themselves but provide an option to save videos with the help of online services and then export it to Camera roll.
MyMedia
MyMedia is a free app that can help you save Facebook video you like right on your iPhone or iPad. Let’s see how it works:
- Run the App Store app;
- Type MyMedia in the Search;
- Download the app on your iOS device;
- Copy a URL of a Facebook video;
- Run MyMedia and open savefrom.net site in a built-in browser;
- Paste the Facebook URL and choose HD or SD quality;
- Tap Download the file option;
- Name your file;
- Then tap Media icon in the bottom of the app to check your new video.
- Long tap the video to see the option. Tap the Save to Camera roll if you want to have your video there.
SEE ALSO: Learn to Save Instagram Videos Easily
That’s how you can download Facebook videos directly on a portable gadget. If you export them to a Camera roll, you will be able to add them to your cloud service to stay on the safe side.
Pros:
- free;
- option to export to Camera roll.
Cons:
- no option to set output format or quality;
- ads.
How to Download Facebook on Android
Google Play Store is not that picky toward downloading managers so it’ll be easier to find one.
Video Downloader for Facebook
Video Downloader for Facebook is a free app to download Facebook videos on Android devices. Here are the steps:
- Download and install Video Downloader for Facebook on your Android device;
- Run the app and open Facebook right in the app;
- Insert your login details;
- Find a video you want to save;
- Tap on the video to get the options;
- Tap to download a video.
That’s it. Now you can enjoy this video on any video player you have on your device.
Pros:
- free;
- downloads in SD and HD (if available).
Cons:
- no output format or quality choice;
- ads.
How To Download Videos To My Computer
Now you know how to save Facebook videos on your PC, Mac, iPhone, and Android. Please share other methods you know or share this guide with your friends.
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