How To Download Facebook Videos To Your Computer

Table of contents

1. How to download Facebook videos using yt-dlp

yt-dlp is the gold standard for video downloading in 2026. It’s open-source, actively maintained, and supports Facebook URLs natively — no shady extensions, no adware.

Install yt-dlp

On macOS (with Homebrew):

brew install yt-dlp

On Windows (with winget):

winget install yt-dlp

Or download the standalone binary directly from the yt-dlp GitHub releases page.

Download a public Facebook video

yt-dlp "https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=YOUR_VIDEO_ID"

Replace the URL with the actual Facebook video URL. For most public videos this just works.

Download a private video (your own content)

For private videos — like your own livestream — you need to pass your Facebook cookies so yt-dlp can authenticate:

yt-dlp --cookies-from-browser chrome "https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=YOUR_VIDEO_ID"

This reads cookies from your logged-in Chrome session. Replace chrome with firefox or edge if that’s your browser. You must be logged into Facebook in that browser first.

Choose quality

yt-dlp -f "bestvideo+bestaudio" "https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=YOUR_VIDEO_ID"

yt-dlp will merge the best video and audio streams automatically (requires ffmpeg installed).

2. How to download Facebook videos using browser developer tools

No software install required — this works in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari. The steps are slightly different from what I documented a few years ago because Meta’s mobile site has changed, but the underlying idea is the same.

1. Go to the Facebook post containing the video you want to download.

2. Right-click on the video player and select “Copy video URL” (the exact label varies by browser).

   

3. Open Chrome DevTools: Option + Cmd + J (Mac) or F12 (Windows).

4. Click the element-picker icon at the top-left of DevTools (or press Shift + Cmd + C / Shift + Ctrl + C).

5. Click directly on the video player in the page. DevTools will highlight the <video> element in the Elements panel.

6. In the Elements panel, look for a src attribute on the <video> tag — it will be a long URL ending in .mp4.

7. Copy that URL, paste it into a new browser tab, and hit Enter.

8. The video will play in the browser. Right-click it and choose “Save video as…”

   

9. Name the file and save.

Note: Meta’s page source is heavily obfuscated in 2026 and the m.facebook.com mobile redirect trick I documented in older versions of this post is less reliable now. The DevTools element-picker approach above is more consistent.

3. Web-based Facebook video downloader tools

The easiest option — paste a URL, get a download link — but be selective. Many tools in this category have shifted to adware or inject malware via browser extensions.

Tools I’ve seen work as of early 2026 (verify before use; these services change frequently):

• FBDown.net — paste the video URL, pick quality, right-click the result and save. Works for most public videos.
• SaveFrom.net — longer-running service; has a browser helper extension but you don’t need to install it. Use the web interface directly.
• y2mate.com — supports Facebook among other platforms.

How to use any of these (generic steps):

1. Go to the Facebook post with the video.

2. Right-click the video and select “Copy video URL at current time” or copy the post URL from the address bar.

   

3. Go to the downloader site and paste the URL.

4. Select your preferred quality (HD vs SD).

   

5. Right-click the resulting video and select “Save video as…”

   

Red flags to avoid: any tool that asks you to install a browser extension to proceed, requires you to complete a survey, or redirects through multiple ad pages before showing a download link. Use yt-dlp instead if you see those patterns.

Why would you need to download a video from Facebook?

The legitimate use cases I see most often:

1. You recorded a Facebook Live and want to archive it or repurpose it for YouTube.
2. You lost the original file and Facebook is the only copy.
3. You want to edit the video — Meta’s built-in editor is limited.
4. You’re migrating your social content to another platform.

If you’re doing this regularly (e.g., archiving client content), yt-dlp with a shell script is by far the most reliable and scalable approach.

Facebook Video Downloads — 2026 FAQ

Is it legal to download Facebook videos?

It depends on who owns the content. If you’re downloading your own videos, your own livestreams, or content you have explicit permission to archive, that’s generally fine. Downloading other people’s content without permission violates Facebook’s Terms of Service and may infringe copyright. When in doubt, don’t — or ask the creator directly.

Do any browser extensions reliably download Facebook videos in 2026?

Most browser extensions that did this in 2022–2024 have been removed from the Chrome Web Store or degraded into adware. I don’t recommend any extension-based approach at this point. yt-dlp handles the same job more reliably and without privacy risk.

Can I download private Facebook videos (that aren’t mine)?

Technically some methods can access private videos if you’re logged in and the video is shared with you. But downloading private content you don’t own without consent is both a ToS violation and potentially a legal issue. This guide covers downloading your own private content (like a private group video you posted).

yt-dlp isn’t working — what do I do?

yt-dlp updates frequently because Meta changes its site structure. First, update yt-dlp:

yt-dlp -U

If it still fails, check the yt-dlp GitHub issues — someone has likely already reported and fixed the same problem.

Related reading:

• How to invite all your Facebook friends to a page or event (script)
• How to cancel all pending Facebook friend requests
• My favorite SEO tools

This guide is part of alejandrorioja.com — written by Alejandro Rioja, who now builds AI agent systems for founders. Including the agent that keeps this site current. How it works →

Updated for May 2026

A few things have shifted since this post first went up. Meta dropped the legacy “Page” verification track in 2024 and folded it into Meta Verified ($14.99–$19.99/mo depending on tier and country) — the blue check is now a subscription, not a one-time review. Friend-request flows still work as described, though Meta moved the bulk-cancel UI deeper into mobile settings; the desktop m.facebook.com/friends/center/requests/outgoing route still works (2026-04 spot check).

Worth knowing in 2026: ~3.07B Facebook MAU (Meta Q4 2025 earnings), but the share of time-on-platform relative to Reels and WhatsApp has continued sliding. If this post is part of an outreach strategy, weight WhatsApp and Threads (yes — Threads survived the 2024 pivot speculation and crossed 200M MAU) accordingly.