Learn how to use Safari on your iPhone or iPad to download video files directly to the Photos app or Files app for offline viewing.
You can browse websites using Apple’s Safari and search for the video you want to download.
Some sites may offer an easy way to download the video, while others may not. If that’s the case, tapping the video will start it playing in Safari with no visible option to save the file.
But don’t worry, we’ll show you how to handle this. Keep in mind that these tips may not work for all websites, but they should cover most of them.
Download videos using Safari on iPhone and iPad
1) Open Safari and find the video on the website you want to download. For this tutorial, I’m using Pixabay, a library of royalty-free stock footage.
2) Once you’re on the video page, tap the download button or link. If you don’t see a download button, jump to the next section. On Pixabay, you’ll also have to select a video quality and hit the green Download button again.
3) After tapping the download icon for the video in Safari, you should see a pop-up menu with two options: View and Download. Tap Download to save the file. You’ll notice a tiny arrow icon and a circular blue progress bar in the Safari address bar, indicating the download status.
4) Tap Safari’s arrow icon and pick Downloads to open the download manager. The manager lists the downloaded files, which are saved in a folder inside the Files app.
You can easily add them to your iPhone’s Camera Roll using one of these two methods:
Save video: Tap the video file > share button > Save Video.
Drag & drop: Tap and hold the video file, and its tile will lift slightly. Drag it a bit from its original position to detach it, but don’t lift your finger just yet. Now, swipe up (or press the Home button) with your other hand to go to your iPhone Home Screen. Open the Photos app and make sure you’re in Recents or an album. Finally, drop the video file by lifting your finger. The video will be added to the Photos app.
Another method to save a video file using Safari on iOS
As mentioned earlier, not all websites offer a download button. However, if a video is available, you’ll see a play button, and tapping it will start the video inside Safari. If you find yourself on such a website, play the video and then follow these steps.
1) On the Safari video player, tap the Picture in Picture button, which will detach the video and place it in a small floating window. This won’t work if you tap the Picture in Picture button directly on the web page’s video player, such as on Vimeo.
2) Tap the share button on the video player screen.
3) Pick Save to Files > select iCloud or On My iPhone > Save.
Don’t see the share button in step 2?
In the left screenshot, you see a video playing/streaming on a web page. In the right image, you see a video file starting to play inside the default Safari media player.
If a video is embedded on the website, it typically plays directly on the same web page (left image above) and doesn’t launch the video player inside Safari. In this case, you won’t be able to download the video unless you find third-party sites that can save such videos. For example, tapping a video on X (Twitter) starts playing it in the browser, and you can’t download it directly from Safari, but you can use a site like Twitter Video Downloader in Safari. This will grab the video, play it in the Safari video player (right image above), and allow you to save the file.
On some sites, tapping the play button over the video may start it within the web page, making it impossible to download. However, you can work around this by looking for a View, Download, or Play button, which loads the actual video file and plays it inside the Safari video player. Once the file is in the Safari video player, enter Picture in Picture, tap the share button, and select > Save to Files.
Find downloaded files on an iPhone or iPad
You can find the downloaded video in the following places:
Inside Safari: Tap the downloads button in the URL bar, hit Downloads, and you’ll see the video file.
In the Camera Roll: Open the Photos app and access your recent media.
In the Files app: Open the Files app and tap Recents to find the video. You can also tap Browse and look for the video in the downloads folder. From the Files app, tap and hold a video thumbnail, then select Share > Save Video to add it to the Photos app.
Remember that not all websites allow video downloads. But in many situations, you can use the above methods to save videos locally and watch them offline without a Wi-Fi or cellular connection.
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