Are you looking to download private Vimeo videos?
Downloading private Vimeo videos can be a little tricky as there isn’t a download option for it.
On the other hand, if you want to download a public video on Vimeo, you can click on the “Download” button to download it.
If you want to download a video that is set to private, there are some additional steps that you’ll need to take in order to do so.
In this guide, you’ll learn 6 easy steps to download a private Vimeo as a .MP4 file.
By the end of this guide, you can apply the same steps to download private videos on Vimeo in the future.
How to Download Private Vimeo Videos
To download private Vimeo videos, inspect the page, play the video, navigate to network, type “player”, refresh the page, and click on the first file.
Finally, save the file as a .txt document, copy the .mp4 link, then right-click on the video and save it.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can do this.
- Inspect the page and play the video
- Go to network and type “player”
- Refresh the page and click on the first file
- Save the file as a .txt document
- Copy the .mp4 link
- Right-click on the video and save it
Step #1: Inspect the page and play the video
Go to the private Vimeo video > right-click anywhere on the page > click on “Inspect” > play the video for a few seconds (this will load up additional HTML and CSS files which will be required later on).
Firstly, navigate to the private Vimeo video that you want to download on a Chrome browser.
Then, right-click anywhere on the page and select “Inspect”.
After you’ve selected “Inspect”, play the video for a few seconds.
This will load up additional HTML and CSS files, which will be required later on.
Step #2: Go to network and type “player”
On the top navigation bar of the Inspect element, select “Network”, then search for “Player”.
Secondly, on the top navigation bar of the Inspect element, you’ll see multiple tabs—Elements, Console, Sources, Network, etc.
Select the “Network” tab (the fourth tab from the left of the top navigation bar).
Once you’re there, type “player” on the search bar.
There are a lot of HTML and CSS files, so this is to filter out the files that you need to use.
Once you’ve typed “player”, multiple player HTML and CSS files will show up.
Step #3: Refresh the page and click on the first file
Important: After you’ve searched for “player” in the Network tab, you need to refresh the page (this will load up the required HTML files).
This step is crucial for everything to work.
After you’ve searched for “player” in the previous step, you need to refresh the page.
Otherwise, the HTML file that you’ll need to be using later on will not load.
After you’ve refreshed your page, additional HTML files will appear.
These files have numbers as their title (e.g. 393999309, 394000471, 394000590, player-stats?beacon).
Click on one of the files that say “393999309” OR “player-stats?beacon”.
Step #4: Save the file as a .txt document
Save the file as a .txt document by putting .txt at the back of the file name (e.g. 393999309.txt OR player.vimeo.com.txt).
After you’ve clicked on the first file, you need to save it.
On the right side of the file, right-click the HTML code and click on “Save as…” OR “Save all as HAR with content”.
Then, you need to save the file as a .txt document.
To do so, put .txt at the back of the file name (e.g. 393999309.txt OR player.vimeo.com.txt), and the file will be automatically converted into a .txt document.
Once you’ve saved it as a .txt document, open it, and you’ll be able to see its HTML code.
Step #5: Copy the .mp4 link
On the Notepad, search for the quality of the video that you want to save it as (e.g. 720p) using CTRL + F, and copy the .MP4 URL of it.
(search for the quality of the video that you want to download)
Open the .txt file that you’ve just saved in your respective folder.
Once you’ve opened it, you’ll see a huge chunk of text, which is the HTML code of the file.
The specific text that you’ll want to be looking for is the quality of the video (e.g. 480p, 720p, 1080p).
Let’s say that you want to save the video in 720p quality.
On the top navigation bar of the Notepad, you’ll see multiple tabs—File, Edit, Format, View, and Help.
Click on “Edit”, and click on “Find”.
Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + F.
Type in the quality of the video that you want to save it as (e.g. 720p).
Find the chunk of text that includes the quality of the video (e.g. 720p) and the .MP4 URL.
Example of URL to find:
“https://vod-progressive.akamaized.net/exp=1604825182~acl=%2Fvimeo-prod-skyfire-std-us%2F01%2F1156%2F17%2F430781346%2F1872225377.mp4”
Highlight the .MP4 URL, copy it, and then proceed to the next step.
Step #6: Right-click on the video and save it
Paste the .MP4 link that you’ve copied in the previous step into an incognito Chrome browser, right-click on the video, and save it as a .MP4 file.
Lastly, paste the .MP4 URL that you’ve just copied into an incognito Chrome browser.
After you’ve done so, the video will appear in the quality that you’ve selected.
Right-click the video, click on “Save as…” and save it as a .MP4 file.
You’ve successfully saved the private Vimeo video as a .MP4 file!
FAQ
Can you download a video from Vimeo?
Yes, you can download a video from Vimeo if it is set to public.
If a video is set to public, there will be an option for you to download the video.
Click the “Download” button to download the video in .MP4 format.
However, if a video is set to private, there won’t be a download option under the video.
Conclusion
Saving private videos on Vimeo can be a pain because there isn’t a “Download” button on it.
In this article, you’ve learned how to save a private Vimeo video as a .MP4 file in 6 simple steps.
You can use the same process to save future private videos on Vimeo.
If you want to learn more cool tips and tricks about all things social media, feel free to read the rest of the blog or click on the links in the “Further Reading” section below.
Further Reading
How to Change Your “For You” Page (FYP) on TikTok
