How to Save a Video Through Inspect on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, & Safari

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Step-by-Step guide to downloading videos with the inspect element console

Co-authored by Nicole Levine, MFA Reviewed by Luigi Oppido

Last Updated: December 20, 2024 Fact Checked

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Using Chrome, Firefox, or Edge

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Using Safari on Mac

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Video

Saving videos from websites can be helpful, but most video hosting platforms don't have download buttons. If you don't want to use third-party apps or risky video downloaders, you may be able to save an embedded video using the "inspect element" feature in a web browser. This trick doesn't work for popular video sites like YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, or Facebook , but you can still use it for embedded video on some sites. This wikiHow guide will teach you how to download videos using "Inspect element" and provide expert tips from computer specialist Yaffet Meshesha.

If you want to download streaming videos from more popular sites, check out our guide to downloading videos from websites for free .

Quick Steps

Go to the video you want to download in a web browser.
Right-click the page and select Inspect Element or Inspect .
Click the Network tab at the top, then the Media tab.
Play the video.
Right-click or control-click the URL and select Open in a new tab .
Right-click or control-click the video and click Save video as...

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Using Chrome, Firefox, or Edge

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1
Go to a website with a video. Not all web browsers allow you to use the "Inspect element" or "Inspect" feature, but you can use these steps in Google Chrome , Microsoft Edge , and Mozilla Firefox. The steps are nearly identical in all three.
- This method does not work with most popular streaming video sites, including YouTube, Instagram, or Netflix.
- According to Meshesha, a YouTube downloader site is the easiest way to download a YouTube video. "These sites will grab the video using the URL and convert it into a downloadable video or audio-only format," he explains. Check out our guide to Downloading YouTube Videos and Downloading YouTube Videos without Software to learn how!
2
Open Inspect Element. On most browsers, you can right-click the page and select Inspect Element or Inspect . You can also use the F12 key or try these steps:
- Click the menu icon with three dots ( ⋮ or ⋯ ) or three lines ( ☰ ).
- Click More tools .
- Click Developer tools .
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Click the Network tab. It's at the top of the developer tools window. It has an icon that resembles the Wi-Fi icon (a dot with arching lines).
- There are multiple tabs that say "Network," so make sure you're choosing the one at the very top of the Inspect panel.
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Click the filter icon. It's the funnel icon at the top of the page.
- Skip this step if you are using Firefox.
It's below or next to the "Filter" search bar at the top.
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Play the video. You should see a URL to the video in the developer tools window. It should have a video file extension such as ".mp4", ".mov", or ".avi." You can also try searching for "watch" or "video" instead.
- If you do not see a URL to the video, it may be encrypted. In this case, you will need to use another method to download the video.
- If you are trying to download a video from Facebook , change
To do so, right-click or control-click the URL in the developer tools window and click Open in new tab .
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Click ⋮ on the video playback screen. It's in the lower-right corner. This displays the More menu.
- If you don't see an icon with three dots, right-click or control-click the video and click Save video as... .
It's in the more menu. This downloads the video. You can find the videos you downloaded in your Downloads folder by default.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Using Safari on Mac

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1
Open the Advanced Settings pages in Safari. Use the following steps to do so:
- Click Safari in the menu bar at the top.
- Click Settings or Preferences .
- Click the Advanced tab.
It's at the bottom of the window. This allows you to inspect element in Safari.
3
Go to a website with a video. Use Google to search for the website, or enter the URL in the address bar at the top.
- This method will not work with popular websites like YouTube or Netflix that have the source code well encrypted. According to Meshesha, the best way to download a YouTube video is to search the web for "youtube download site" and select the first link. Just keep in mind that some YouTube downloaders have a lot of ads and may not be the most trustworthy—always keep your antivirus software enabled when you use video downloaders.
This opens the developer options panel.
This will open a search bar you can use to search the website code. Enter video formats in the search. Common formats include "mp4," "mov," and "avi."
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Highlight and copy the video URL. Once you locate the video URL, highlight it. Then right-click and select Copy . This video URL will end with a video file extension such as ".mp4," ".mov", or ".avi." You can also try searching for "watch" or "video" instead.
- If you can't find a URL for the video file, it may be encrypted.
Click the plus (+) icon in the upper-right corner to open a new tab. Then, paste the video URL into the address bar. This will play the video in a new tab.
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Right-click (or Control-click) the video and click Download Video as . This allows you to save the video to your computer. Enter a name for the video file and click Save . ^{[1]
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- By default, your downloaded files can be found in your Downloads folder.