Why a Download Fails and How to Fix It

Almost every failed download comes down to one of six causes. Working through them in order takes about a minute.

1. The content is private

By far the most common reason. Private accounts, friends-only posts and closed-group videos are visible only to approved viewers, and that restriction is enforced by the platform.

Test: open the link in a private or incognito window. If you are asked to log in, it cannot be downloaded. Fix: none — and that is the correct behaviour.

2. The link points somewhere else

Copying the address while a video plays inside a feed often captures the feed, not the video. This is especially common on Facebook.

Fix: open the video on its own page first — tap the timestamp or the post itself — then copy the link.

3. The video was deleted

Links keep working as text long after the content behind them is gone.

Test: paste the link into a browser. If the platform shows an error, there is nothing left to download.

4. It is blocked in your region

Rights holders restrict plenty of content by country, and the restriction applies to the server fetching it as well as to you.

5. Age or login restrictions

Content gated behind an age check needs a logged-in session. A downloader has no session, so the request is refused.

6. The platform changed something

Platforms adjust their internals regularly, and a change can break fetching for a particular site until the downloader is updated. This is the only cause on the list that is genuinely temporary.

Test: try a different video from the same platform. If every link from one site fails while others work, this is probably why. Fix: wait and try again later.

Two quick general checks

• Copy the link again. Links saved days ago can carry expired tokens.
• Trim the query string. Everything after the question mark is usually tracking and can occasionally confuse the parser.

When the file downloads but will not play

You most likely picked a video-only stream, which has no audio, or a format your player does not support. Download again and choose an MP4 entry that lists both video and audio.