How to Download a Facebook Video From Messenger

To download a video someone sent you in Messenger, press and hold it in the chat and tap Save (Save video on Android). You can also open the video full screen and tap the download icon. On a computer, open the chat on messenger.com or facebook.com, open the video and click the download icon. The video goes to your camera roll, gallery or Downloads folder.

That works for videos uploaded straight into the chat. If the thing in your chat is a shared Facebook post or reel, it is a link to a public video rather than a file, and it saves a different way. Here is how to tell which you have, and what to do with each.

First, which kind of video is it?

• An uploaded video looks like any other message bubble: a thumbnail with a play button, sent by the person you are talking to. It lives inside the conversation.
• A shared post or reel shows the original poster's name or page above or below the preview, and tapping it opens the post in Facebook. The video belongs to that public post, not to the chat.

Uploaded videos use Messenger's own save options, covered next. Shared posts use the steps further down.

Saving a video on iPhone

1. Open the chat in the Messenger app.
2. Press and hold the video until a menu appears.
3. Tap Save. The video is saved to the Photos app.
4. Alternatively, tap the video to play it full screen and tap the download icon near the bottom.

If nothing happens, Messenger probably does not have permission to add to your photos. Open Settings, scroll to Messenger, tap Photos and allow Add Photos Only or Full Access, then try again. Our guide on where downloaded videos go on iPhone helps if you still cannot find the file.

Saving a video on Android

1. Open the chat in the Messenger app.
2. Press and hold the video and tap Save video. Or open it full screen and tap the download button.
3. The file goes to your gallery, usually in an album called Messenger, and to the Pictures or Movies folder in the Files app.

If you get a storage error, Messenger needs permission for photos and videos. Go to Settings, Apps, Messenger, Permissions and allow it.

Saving a video on a computer

Meta has retired the standalone Messenger desktop apps, so on a computer you use the website. The steps are the same on messenger.com and in the chat window on facebook.com.

1. Open the conversation in your browser.
2. Click the video so it opens in the full screen viewer.
3. Click the download icon, usually at the top right. On some layouts it is inside a three dot menu labelled Download or Save.
4. The MP4 goes to your usual Downloads folder.

When the video is a shared Facebook post or reel

Messenger's save option is often missing on shared posts, because the video is not a chat attachment. You save it from the post instead. If the post is public, a downloader can fetch it:

1. Tap the shared post in the chat to open it in Facebook.
2. Tap Share and then Copy link. On a computer, copy the address from the browser bar.
3. Paste the link into our Facebook video downloader, or the Facebook Reels downloader if it is a reel.
4. Pick HD or SD and save the MP4.

This only works for public posts. If the shared video is from a private profile, a closed group or a friends-only post, a web tool cannot see it. You will get an error rather than a file, and that is correct. Our guide to downloading Facebook videos in HD explains the quality options and the most common errors.

What a web downloader cannot do

We want to be clear about this, since a lot of sites are not. A video uploaded into a Messenger chat is private. It is visible to the people in that conversation and nobody else, and there is no public link to it. GrabVid, and every other web downloader that does not log in as you, cannot fetch it. Messenger's own save button is the right tool for those, and it keeps the original quality.

Be wary of websites or browser extensions that offer to download Messenger videos if you sign in with Facebook. Handing your Facebook login to a third party puts your whole account at risk, and it is never needed for something the app already does.

When saving does not work

• The video was sent in vanish mode or as view once. These are designed not to be saved, and the options are removed.
• The video is still loading. Wait for the chat to fully download it, especially on a slow connection, and try again.
• The sender unsent it. Once removed, it is gone from your side too.
• Your phone is out of storage. Free up some space, since phones often report this as a generic save failure.
• It saved but has no sound. Check the video in the chat with the volume up first, then see our guide to videos with no sound.

Quality and format

Messenger compresses videos when they are sent, so a clip filmed in 4K usually arrives at a much lower resolution. Saving from the chat gives you that compressed copy, and nothing can restore the original detail. If quality matters, ask the sender to share the original file through a cloud link or AirDrop instead. Saved Messenger videos are MP4 files, which play on every phone, computer and editor.