How to Download Facebook Videos Online

Public means a stranger can open the link in a private browser window and watch it. Friends-only, groups, and “log in to continue” are not public.

If you hit a login wall, stop. Pasting that URL here will fail, and it should.

A link that only works inside the Facebook app is usually not public.

Paste the link on the Facebook Video Downloader and press Download. When a file exists, you get a preview and an MP4.

HD is used when that rendition is listed. Many public videos only have one size.

Copy the link, open Safari, paste, and download. Then save the MP4 from Files into Photos.

The Facebook app’s in-app browser often blocks the file. Safari avoids that.

Copy the link, open Chrome, and download. Check the notification shade if you do not see the file in Gallery immediately.

Confirm the video plays while you are logged out. Then copy that URL and paste it here. If it only plays when you are logged in, it is not a public file.

Open a private window, paste the Facebook URL, and do not sign in. If the video plays, the downloader has a chance. If Facebook asks for a login, stop. No quality setting changes that.

fb.watch links are fine when they land on a public video. If the short link opens the feed instead of a player, copy the video page itself.

A reel from a public page is the same kind of job as a longer video. A reel sent inside Messenger is not. Messenger links are for an account, and they fail here.

When a preview appears, save that file once. Downloading it three times will not raise the resolution. Facebook published the rendition you are looking at.

The most common failure is a login wall. Try the link in a private window first.

A reel on a private profile fails even if a friend sent it to you.

Live videos that have ended sometimes leave no file. A premiere page is not always an MP4.

On iPhone, a Facebook download that opens a player instead of Files still needs the share sheet. Tap Share, then Save Video. If Save Video is missing, the thing you opened is a Facebook page, which means the MP4 never arrived.

On Android, a failed download sometimes leaves a small file in Downloads that Gallery cannot play. Delete that file. It is an error page, not a short video. Then test the link in a private Chrome tab before you try again.

Desktop is the fastest way to tell a public video from a private one, because you can watch it logged out and see the resolution Facebook is willing to send. If that player is a login form, the phone app was only showing it because you were signed in.