Free & Easy: Download Videos from Safari on iPhone & Mac

Safari has long been the default browser on your iPhone and Mac. Unlike Chrome, it’s not easy for users to find a good free video downloader for Safari. Your favorite video downloadhelper also not available on Safari. But, there still are a few good video downloader that you can use with Safari, though.

In the simplest case, the video is embedded on a website and is downloadable by default, you can directly use the downloading functionality in Safari. If you need downloading videos from YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, etc. Then, you’ll need to either use a Safari extension, online site, shortcut, or video downloader app to download the video.

Note: Before we show you how to download any video from Safari, it’s worth noting that these methods tend to break every once in a while. Video sharing sites like YouTube, Facebook, etc. frequently changes things on its end and stops these downloaders from working. which means that the method for downloading videos need to adapting accordingly. If any method stops working, please let us know in the comments, we’ll test and update with a working method.

Downloading Embedded Video with Safari Itself

If the video you want to download is made available by the website, you can download the videos directly on Safari, just in the same way you download any other file. Please note, this method is only applicable to download embedded videos on web pages and not for videos provided by streaming services such as YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Dailymotion, etc.

On Mac

1. In Safari find the video you want to download. Click on the link or download button. 
   
2. The video will start downloading, Safari will show you the process in the top right.
   
3. When the video finished downloading, click on the download button again, it will show the video with an enlarge icon, just click on it to locate the downloaded video.
   

On iPhone

1. Open Safari and find the video you want to download.
   
2. If you see a download button just click it to download the video. 
   If there is no download button, just long press the download link in your iPhone, choose “Download Linked File”.
3. You’ll then see a blue download icon in the address bar.
   
4. Click Downloads, it will show you the downloaded videos in list with an enlarge icon, just click on it to locate the downloaded video. 
   

On iPhone

1. Using Apple Shortcuts

On your iPhone, the best way to download videos from Safari is via Apple’s Shortcuts app. It’s where you’ll find all kinds of extensions and automations for iOS. and one of them is called Lucky Download Shortcut which enables you download videos from social media sites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Daily Motion, TikTok, Instagram, etc. 

This shortcut is ad free, and supports downloading videos as MP4, MKV, AVI, and MOV formats. Besides video, it can download photos, audios and subtitles too. 

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Download the Lucky Download Shortcut from RANKSAPK(a third-party gallery for shortcuts for your iPhone and iPad). 
2. Once you click download, it will open the set up in the Shortcuts app.
   
3. Tap on Set Up Shortcut >> Next >>Add Shortcut 
   The Lucky Download Shortcut now has been added to your shortcuts.
4. Open the video in Safari or in the according app. Tap the Share button, which will reveal the share sheet.
   
5. Scroll down and select Lucky Download. The shortcut will guide you through the process  and ask for a bunch of permissions in the process. In this process you can set the downloaded format and location. 
6. After giving all the permissions, the downloaded file will be saved on your iPhone. You can repeat this process for pretty much any video on any sites or app.

2. Use a video downloader site (but be cautious)

Now, Mobile browsing on iPhone is just the same as browsing on a Mac or PC. So, just like on Mac you can open an online video downloader in Safari and download the video.

Y2mate is the site I recommend most for mobile users, as you can download videos in MP4 or MP3 format up to 1080p. And, with this app you don’t need the copy&paste step. You just open the video in safari and then insert "pp" after "youtube" in any YouTube URL for faster downloading.

With this method you need to be cautious on which website to use, as online video downloader websites can be spammy, blasting you with sketchy ads and may have malicious. Still, as the Y2mate we introduce above, it does work, so it’s also a notable option. 

Safari Video Downloader Extension

Yes, Safari has browser extensions too.  You can use the Safari Extensions category on the App Store for iPhone, iPad, and Mac to navigate and find Safari extensions. But, unlike Firefox and Google Chrome, there are not many extensions that supports downloading video from Safari. you don’t have choices like video downloadhelper, JDownloader. and many of them have not been updated for a long time. Not even to mention downloading YouTube videos from Safari. 

VideoDuke Integrate into Safari

After testing all available methods, we found VideoDuke. VideoDuke is both a video download app and extension. It supports integrate into Safari and you can use it to download videos from YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, TikTok, Reddit, Bandcamp, SoundCloud, Twitch, Tumblr, and Twitter. It supports batch video downloading, can download videos in different quality and fast speed. 

Here’s how you can use VideoDuke in Safari to download videos:

1. Download and install VideoDuke on Mac. 
2. In the menu, click VideoDuke > Integrate into Browser.
   
3. Safari will open a page and ask you to save the opened page save as a bookmark. 
   
4. Click Bookmarks >> Add Bookmark in the menu.
   
5. Now open YouTube or any video sharing sites, and play the video you want to download, then click on the bookmark you just saved. 
6. Click open in VideoDuke on that page, and allow it to open the video in VideoDuke app. The app will then start analyzing the video. Just click Download to get the video. 

PullTube Extension for Safari

Just like VideoDuke, PullTube is both an app and extension, it can download videos, audios and playlist from 1,000+ websites and offer some editing functions like video trimming, you can download its extension for Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.

Here’s how you can use PullTube Extension for Safari to download videos:

1. Download and install PullTube on Mac.
2. Open PullTube and click the settings button in the top right.
   
3. Click Extension >> Safari
   
4. Safari will pop up the extension window. Click the checkbox before PullTube Extension and agree to turn on it.
   
5. Open the online videos you want to download in Safari, you’ll see a blue download button appear before the address bar, just click on it, then the app will start downloading the video. 
   

Safari Video Downloader Online

If you don’t want to download any apps or extension, there are also several online options  that can download videos from Safari without software. although it is full of ads and the download speed is slow.

As for online video downloaders, there are plenty of sites you can try to use to download videos. A number of them seem pretty scammy, though. So, if you decide to use online video downloader, do pay attention to fake ads and make sure not to click it.  

y2mate

y2mate.com is the online video downloader that supports downloading videos from YouTube, Facebook, Dailymotion, Youku, etc. to Mp3, Mp4 in HD quality. Compared with other website, Y2mate makes the video downloading process a bit easier, you don’t need to copy&paste to download the video. 

How to use:

1. Open the video you need to download in Safari, and then Insert "pp" after the word "youtube" in the link. Then press enter. 
   
2. A new window will open in Safari, here you can choose to save videos in MP4 or MP3, and choose video quality up to 1080p. 
   
3. Click on convert and it will start downloading the video. 

Catchvideo

catchvideo.net works on YouTube and a half-dozen other video sharing websites including Facebook, DailyMotion, Vimeo, Metacafe, Flickr, etc. It will give a list of formats based on the source video. Just choose a format and click to download it. Where Catchvideo really shines is grabbing the highest quality video from a given site, you can choose to download videos up to 1080p or 4K and the speed is fast. but in our test, it will failed to download some videos for copyright issue.

How to use:

1. Visit https://catchvideo.net/ on Safari browser.
   
2. Open the video you need to download and copy the URL of the video. Then paste the URL to Catchvideo, and click Catch!
3. The site will analyze the link and then show you a list of available format and quality, and show you the size accordingly. Just choose the format you need and then click the green Download button to get the video. 
   

Conclusion

That's all about how you can download videos from Safari on iPhone or Mac. Pretty easy, right? However, do note that there is no official way to download videos from Safari, If you do decide to do it, you’ll need a video downloader, Shortcut, a browser extension, or use an online website. 

iFunia Free YouTube Downloader is the option we recommend, though it requires to be installed, it is more reliable than online sites and extensions, it get constantly updated to adapting the changes on video sites, so it is always workable. It supports downloading videos from 1000+ websites and can download videos with subtitles in original quality and fast speed. Interested in testing? Click on the download button and start with 3 totally free video download now!

Free Download macOS 10.13 or later Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7