Right-clicking on desktop sometimes lets you "Save video as" on Facebook. Usually you get an encrypted blob file that won't play anywhere. On mobile, there's no right-click at all. The platform deliberately limits download options to keep people inside the app, which pushes everyone toward tools like MyVideoCity's Facebook video downloader.
Public vs Private Facebook Videos
The most important thing before you try to download a Facebook video: check the privacy setting on that post. Facebook gives creators granular control - Public, Friends, Friends of Friends, or specific lists. Only public videos are accessible through an external downloader.
Friends-only or more restricted videos require being logged in with an account that has access. No external tool can bypass this - the restriction is enforced at the server level. If you try to download a friends-only video, it'll either fail to retrieve or return an error. That's by design, not a bug.
For public videos - most news pages, sports clips, brand content, public community posts - the downloader works consistently.
Getting the Facebook Video Link
This is where people get tripped up. On desktop, you want the direct post URL, not a shared link or a Watch page URL. Click the video to open it, then copy the URL from your browser's address bar. It should look like facebook.com/watch?v=NUMBERS or facebook.com/username/videos/NUMBERS.
On mobile, tap the three dots on the Facebook post and select "Copy link." That gives you the post link, which works perfectly. Paste it into MyVideoCity and click download. The tool processes it and shows the available quality options.
Quality Options for Facebook Videos
Facebook serves videos in multiple tiers depending on what was uploaded and how Facebook processed it. You'll typically see HD (720p or 1080p) and SD (360p or 480p). HD is almost always worth choosing unless you're on a slow connection and need a smaller file. Facebook Reels - which became more prominent when Meta tried to compete with TikTok - download through the same process, usually at 720p in MP4 format.
Facebook Videos on iPhone and Android
Android: completely straightforward. The MP4 file saves to Downloads and is immediately playable in any video app.
iPhone: same Safari quirk as every other platform. When a video link opens in Safari instead of downloading, hold your finger on the video and choose "Download Video" from the menu. This saves it to the Files app. Using Chrome on iOS gives you a more direct download experience without the extra step.
Facebook Live Videos and Archived Streams
When someone goes live on Facebook and the stream ends, it often gets archived as a public video on their page. These archived live videos download the same way as any other public Facebook video. Paste the post link, retrieve the stream. Works reliably.
Active live streams can't be downloaded in real time through this method - you need to wait for the stream to end and the archive to be posted first.
Group Videos and Marketplace Clips
Facebook group privacy settings are independent of post settings. A video in a public group is accessible. A video in a private group isn't. Same principle for Marketplace listings with video clips - they're generally part of a public or semi-public listing and tend to be accessible.
Using Downloaded Facebook Videos Responsibly
Facebook hosts an enormous amount of content that belongs to other people - news organisations, businesses, individual creators, private users who happened to post publicly. Downloading for personal offline use is one thing. Redistributing or presenting it as your own is where things become legally problematic.
The terms governing this tool are clear: personal use. If you need content for a legitimate commercial purpose, contact the creator directly and get actual permission.
For other platforms: downloading TikTok videos, saving Instagram Reels, and grabbing videos from X (Twitter).
Facebook Watch Videos
Facebook Watch is a mix of public content from pages and creators across the platform. These videos are technically Facebook posts and work exactly the same way when downloading. Find the individual video, copy the post or Watch URL, paste it into MyVideoCity.
One thing to watch for with Facebook Watch URLs: the browsing interface sometimes generates URLs with session information or feed context. If a download fails, try clicking directly on the video title to get a clean individual post URL, then copy that instead.
When a Facebook Download Fails
Most common reason: privacy settings. Even videos that appear in your feed because a friend liked them may not be truly public. They might be visible to friends of friends, which makes them technically accessible while you're logged in but not publicly accessible to a download tool. If a download fails on a video you found through your feed, this is often why.
Second common cause: an outdated or redirected URL. Some Facebook video links expire after being shared. If you copied a link from a message or email, navigate to the post directly on Facebook and copy the URL fresh from the browser bar or from the post's own share menu.
Region restrictions can also be a factor. Some Facebook pages post content only accessible in certain countries. If Facebook itself blocks you from viewing a video based on location, no downloader can work around that - the content simply isn't being served to your connection.
Saving Facebook Videos for Offline Viewing While Traveling
One of the most practical uses for this: downloading before you go somewhere without reliable internet. Long-haul flights, road trips through rural areas, visits to places with limited connectivity. Download in advance, content is available regardless of signal. For this use case, always pick HD - you're watching on a screen, so 1080p is more than adequate, and the difference between SD and HD is noticeable on larger phone screens and tablets.
File Types and Compatibility
Facebook videos come in MP4 format, which is universally compatible with every OS and video player. Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone - the downloaded file plays in the default video player without any conversion. Audio is encoded alongside video in the same MP4 container. One file, ready to use immediately.
Install MyVideoCity for Faster Facebook Downloads
If you regularly find Facebook videos worth saving, installing MyVideoCity on your home screen saves time. No Play Store or App Store involved - installs directly from the browser in thirty seconds.
On Android: open in Chrome, tap the three-dot menu, select "Add to Home screen" or "Install app," confirm. On iPhone: open in Safari (Chrome on iOS doesn't support this), tap Share, scroll to "Add to Home Screen," tap Add. Icon on your home screen, opens full-screen.
Share Facebook Videos Directly to Download
Facebook's share system works slightly differently from TikTok or Instagram, but the core idea is the same. Once MyVideoCity is installed as an app on Android, it shows up in Facebook's share sheet when you tap Share on any public post. Tap MyVideoCity, and the post link is already in the input field - no copying or pasting required. Pick quality, download, done. Ten to fifteen seconds total.
On iPhone, the Web Share Target integration doesn't work quite the same way because of how iOS handles PWA share targets. On iPhone, the fastest approach is to copy the Facebook link, open MyVideoCity from your home screen, paste, and download. Still faster than finding a browser tab every time.