Hidden in Plain Sight: Locating Privatized Social Media Files

Want to download a public video off Facebook? There are dozens of tools. You can even download them straight from Facebook without any third-party tools.

But how do you download a private Facebook video? Because they are private, public Facebook video downloaders will not work. That’s not to say it isn’t possible—you only need to go through a few steps to download one.

If you want to know how to download private Facebook videos, keep reading. We’ll start with a manual workaround, then introduce you to some of the best tools to easily download private videos from Facebook.

How to Download Private Facebook Videos Manually

If you don’t want to rely on third-party tools, you can download private Facebook videos directly using your browser’s developer tool. It’s straightforward and doesn’t require a development background. The process is pretty much the same on most browsers. But try using Chrome for a better result.

The process involves picking the media request URL from the Network tab and going to the video URL to load a downloadable video.

To manually download a private Facebook video, once you load the video you want to download:

1. Right-click anywhere outside the video frame and clickInspect . Or pressF12 on your keyboard to open the Inspect tab.
   
2. Go to theNetwork tab.
3. ClickMedia .
4. Then reload the video page. This populates the request table with some parameters.
5. Click the string that appears under theName column.
   
6. Copy theRequest URL underHeaders and load it into a new browser tab. This loads the video in the new browser tab.
   
7. Once the video loads, click the three vertical dots at the bottom-right of the video frame and clickDownload to download the video locally.
   

Third-Party Video Downloaders You Can Use With Facebook

If you’d rather use a web-based downloader, there are a few services on the that are worth checking out.

1. FBDownloader

Available on: Web

FBDownloader offers a free service for downloading private Facebook videos. It is fast, simple, and easy to use.

All you have to do is copy and paste the video page source code into the on-screen box and click onDownload to let the tool do its thing. It takes you to a new page containing the video. Click the menu icon on the video and select Download to save it locally.

2. Vidsaver

Available as: Web app and Chrome Extension

Another way to download private Facebook videos is via Vidsaver. It is similar to FBDownloader. It has a Chrome extension that makes the web app more easily accessible. Clicking the extension still redirects you to the web app.

Simply paste the video URL in the link field and pressnext to generate a page source URL. Copy and paste the generated URL into a new tab to load the page source. Copy the entire source code. Then go back to the downloader tab and press next .

Paste the copied page source code into the provided field and clicknext . Click Download MP4 and follow the onscreen instructions to save the private Facebook video locally.

Vidsaver also offers a tool fordownloading public Facebook videos . If needed, you can click on Public Video at the bottom of the page to jump into the other interface.

3. PasteDownload

Available on: Web

Realistically, all these apps do the same thing. You’ll only need to get this far down the list if something unexpected happens. But it is always good to have more tools at your disposal, right?

PasteDownload performs the same task. It offers yet another simple way to download private Facebook videos by copying and pasting the video’s source code.

4. Getfvid

Available on: Web

Getfvid provides two tools. There’s one for downloading public Facebook videos and another for downloading private Facebook videos. The download process remains identical. Grab the code, paste it in, and enjoy the video offline again.

But before you think of sharing a video you’ve downloaded, note and follow the points below.

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Download Private Facebook Videos Ethically

If you use one of these tools to download private Facebook videos, please do so ethically. Remember, if a person has made a video private, it’s probably for a good reason. It might contain personal data, sensitive information, or other compromising footage.

You should not distribute another person’s private material in a public forum without their permission. In the case of artists, musicians, and other creative professionals, doing so could even land you in trouble with the law.

Learn More About Downloading Facebook Videos

So, what’s the takeaway? It’s simple to download private Facebook videos. Sure, the process isn’t quite as simple as downloading public videos.

But once you’ve done it a couple of times, you can go through lots of videos. Sadly, none of the options we discussed have a bulk download feature, but if you open the same site in multiple windows, you will fly through them in no time.