Best Facebook Video Downloader – 3 Download Methods Revealed

Last updated on April 19th, 2023

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facebook video downloader

Are you looking for a reliable Facebook video downloader to save your favorites video to your computer? Then, read on…

A lot of people go to the Facebook site almost every day to get some of the latest info, including watching videos or songs shared by their friends. You may also share some of your favorite audio & videos and articles with your friends.

Have you encountered a moment when you truly like a video on Facebook and wanted to save it to your computer or tablet? But Facebook does not provide you with a direct way to save the video. No worry, as there is still many ways to save those video!

Basically, there are three different methods that you can use to save videos from Fb. This article will introduce to you all the free and paid methods to save or download online videos to your computer hard drive. Of course, there will be some tools involved!

Recommended reading: How to Download Streaming Video from Any Website?

 

How to Copy the Facebook Video URL (Uniform Resource Locator)?

In order to save the private video from Facebook, you need to know the steps involved:

Step 1: Make sure, the video you need to download must be uploaded on Facebook itself and not elsewhere. Normally, the Facebook video URL looks like this:

i.) https://web.facebook.com/XXXXXX294037986/videos/626291575XXXXXX/ OR

ii.) https://fb.watch/fIMN-mapk2/ – if you get this format, just paste the copied URL to the browser address bar and you will get a similar address like option i.) above.

Step 2: Copy the video URL. You may encounter several situations but just use the following method to get the video address. Sometimes, you may need to play the video to get the video URL.

  • Click on the ‘3 dots’ on the right-hand top corner of the video and choose “Copy link”.

facebook video copy link

 

  • You also can right-click on the date (i.e. February 20 at 7:06 am) and “Copy link address”. Make sure the video URL is similar to step 1 above.

copy facebook video link

Step 3: Then paste the URL to the Facebook video download software or use this unique method to download it.

 

How to Download Facebook Video?

1. From the copied video URL, it can be like this: https://web.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=823405278790637

2. Now, changed the word ‘web’ or ‘www’ to ‘mbasic’, so the URL will look like this: https://mbasic.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=823405278790637

3. Now, right-click on the video and choose “Open link in new tab” and the video will open in a new browser tab.

4. Right-click on the video, and choose “Save video as…” and you will prompt to save the video. Give a suitable name and click on the “Save” button to save the video.

 

Other Methods to Download Video From Facebook

You can use any one of the methods below to get the video downloaded from the Facebook site. The video downloader software is free to trial while the online downloader, as well as the browser add-ons, are completely free.

  1. Facebook Video Download Software

Facebook video downloader is software to help you save your favorite videos from Facebook and some other video-sharing sites. Normally we just called it a video downloader and it offers better features with a higher quality of output. Some video downloaders are free to use while others need to pay in order to enjoy their full features.

The free video download software may lack updates and its features are limited. Many software developers develop a full-feature audio video downloader that allows you to download all the videos anywhere. Among the popular Facebook private video download software:

 

  1. Online Facebook Video Downloader

It’s also called a web video downloader. With this kind of downloader, you do not need to download any software as video downloading is done directly from the web. All you need to do is copy the Facebook video URL and paste it to the column provided on their website and click the Download button.

The major advantage of this kind of downloader is that it’s free. However, when you visit the sites you will see many ads surrounding the download column.  This method also relies heavily on your Internet connection and the download speed will affect the time you get the video downloaded.

Here is a good online Facebook video downloader site:

The following video show another method to download videos from Facebook.

YouTube video

  1. Facebook Video Downloader Add-on or Extension

Usually, we refer to it as a Facebook downloader browser add-on. There are two major browsers that we use, add-ons for Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome extensions. All of them are free.

You need to install the add-ons or extensions and sometimes you may need to restart the browser. After installation, you will see an icon appear beside the address bar. When you’re on a video page, click the icon and then click “Download”.

Compare to the two methods above, this method is less reliable since you cannot guarantee that it can get the Facebook video saved to your computer. Also, some add-ons may contain adware. But the add-ons/extensions recommended below are not bad.

 

  • Video DownloadHelper for Firefox and Chrome

This is one of the download tools that are able to work with both browsers. Besides Facebook, it can support all the popular video-sharing sites including Youtube, Dailymotion, Vimeo, Metacafe, UStream, etc.

Mozilla Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/video-downloadhelper/

Google Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/video-downloadhelper/lmjnegcaeklhafolokijcfjliaokphfk

 

  • FBDown Video Downloader for Chrome or Firefox

With this Chrome extension, you can download video and audio (mp3) from many sites (not only Facebook) and it also supports parallel downloads. But some user reviews that sometimes it’s hard to download from the Facebook site itself and other sites like Dailymotion. You can visit their site at fbdown.net.

For Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-videos-downloader/

For Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fbdown-video-downloader/fhplmmllnpjjlncfjpbbpjadoeijkogc?hl=en

 

  • Facebook Video Downloader for Chrome [Link removed, extension no longer available]

Being able to download any video from Facebook in either SD or HD resolution, is the extension. But some user reviews that it contains unwanted adware but you can easily disable the extension once you finish downloading the video. For more info, visit freevideodownloader.online

 

Conclusion: Both Free and Paid Video Downloaders or Add-ons Can Be Used!

All the video download tools recommended here can be used to get the Facebook video. If you are unable to download the video using one add-on, you still can use other downloaders to try your luck.

But to tell the truth, the paid video capture software is the most reliable and can most probably save the video from any site that you want. This is for professionals that always deal with audio-video downloading, editing, or converting in their job.

For those that are a newbie or normal people that try to save video files for fun or as a hobby, you can start with the free tools recommended in this article. After all, paid video-grabbing software is still the best choice.

I hope that this page can help you find the best Facebook video downloader for your needs.

Author: Powell Wong

Powell Wong is a chief editor and writer at SmartPoint Inc., the company that manages this website. He graduated from university in computer science, has over 20-year experience in the field, and mainly writes about multimedia software for this site.