Today we’re going to share how to download Facebook Videos on iPhone & iOS, right to your gallery (including your Facebook Live streams!).
Whether you’re looking to download Facebook Live videos for repurposing your video content, or to grab another video you’ve uploaded to Facebook – here’s how to do it!
Important: When available, we use affiliate links and may earn a commission!
If you have video from Facebook that you want to download and repurpose on your iPhone or iPad, unfortunately the process isn’t as straightforward as you might think!
The good news is that there are TWO awesome ways you can do it. Each of these options has their own advantages and disadvantages so make sure you learn about both so you can pick the one that’s best for you.
Here’s how to save video from Facebook quickly & easily.
#1 How To Download Facebook Videos On iPhone or iPad
This option uses only your iPhone or iPad with no need for a computer or laptop to help in the process.
It will only work for videos that are public on Facebook.
If you want to download private Facebook videos or to save Facebook videos that are inside a closed group, this method won’t work. In this case, we’d recommend jumping ahead to the next option.
Open Facebook and find the video that you want to download. Once you’ve located it, open the video.
Then you need to grab the link for the video. To do this, go to Share then press More Options and select Copy.
Now go to the App Store and download Firefox (if you don’t have it already!). It’s completely free and safe to install on your iPhone or iPad.
Firefox is an alternative web browser to Google Chrome or Safari. One of the biggest differences is that Firefox will let you download videos from a video link.
Open Firefox and go to one of these Facebook video downloader websites:
These are currently the most popular sites for downloading Facebook videos. Either one of them will give you great results.
Our personal preference is for fbdownload.io so we’ll head there.
Now you need to Paste the Facebook video URL you previously copied from Facebook into the text field. Then tap Download.
You’ll need to wait a few seconds while it generates the download links. THen you’ll see a list of different options for downloading the video.
You can choose from:
- HD
- SD
- Audio only
- A number of low quality options
Generally you’d want to be picking the best quality option (HD) but it’s good to know there are other options available.
Tap Download and hold until a menu appears. Then select Download Link. Another button will appear giving you the option to Download Now. Select that button and the file will be downloaded onto your iPhone.
Once it’s finished downloading you’ll see a little confirmation box where you can select Downloads. This is where you can access the downloaded video. Currently you won’t see it in your Camera Roll or Photo Gallery.
Tap the file in Downloads and select Save Video. The video will now be saved in your Photos app.
So this is a quick and easy way to download Facebook video to your iPhone. While you can download a decent quality version, it’s definitely not the best video quality you can get.
If you want the best Facebook video quality, that’s where you’ll need to use a Mac or PC.
#2 How To Download Facebook Videos With Mac or PC
If you have access to a Mac or PC, this method will allow you to get a much higher quality Facebook video download.
Once you’ve downloaded the video with the help of your Mac or PC, the downloaded video can easily be transferred to your iPhone or iPad.
The best Facebook video downloader tool we’ve found for this is Parallels Toolbox. It costs $19.99 per year but there are so many tools available that we really think it’s worth it.
Some of the other tools in here include:
- Do Not Disturb mode
- Presentation mode
- Hide your desktop while screen sharing
- Clean up your hard drive
- Video converter
- Animated GIF maker
- Much more!
But the one we’re here to talk about today is the Download Video tool. Once you’ve installed Parallels Toolbox, select Download Video and a small window will pop up.
First up, we recommend checking the settings. Click the Settings icon and you’ll be able to adjust:
- Preferred Quality: Max, High or Low (we recommend going with Max here)
- For Non MP4 Videos: If your video isn’t an MP4, you can decide whether to ‘Download MP4 in lower quality’, ‘Download without conversion’ or ‘Convert to MP4’
- Save to: This is where you can specify where the Facebook video will be saved to
Now locate the Facebook video you want to download. Copy the Facebook video URL from the browser or you can right click on the video and select Show Video URL and copy the URL from there.
Then go back to the Parallels Toolbox window and press the Paste button. It will automatically start downloading.
You can find your Facebook video wherever you set the Save Video location as.
Now that you’ve got the Facebook video on your Mac or PC, you just need to transfer the downloaded videos to your iOS device.
If you went through this process using a Mac, it’s as simple as using AirDrop to send the video to the camera roll on your iPhone or iPad.
Alternatively you can use iCloud, Google Drive or Dropbox to transfer the file to yourself.
Now you know how to download Facebook video on iPhone or iPad.
If you want to learn about how to level up your video editing, check out our complete guide on How To Edit Videos (COMPLETE Beginner’s Guide to Video Editing!).
Recommended Gear & Resources
Check out an up-to-date list of all the gear, software & tools we use and recommend right now at Primal Video on our resources page here!
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