How Vidownloader works

• You paste a URL. Vidownloader detects the platform or inspects the public page for supported embedded iframe, HLS, and MP4 video sources.
• You see a preview. A single video shows up as a card; a multi-item Instagram carousel shows as a grid where you select which items to download.
• You pick a format. MP4 video at the best available quality (up to 4K), or MP3 audio extracted from the source. Photo items always download as the original image format.
• You click Download. Each selected item starts as its own job. A progress bar shows real-time status.
• The file streams to your browser. When the job completes, your browser triggers the download automatically. The file on our server is deleted 10 minutes later.

• Install the Get cookies.txt LOCALLY browser extension (available in the Chrome Web Store and Firefox Add-ons).
• Open the browser and log into instagram.com.
• Click the extension icon while on an Instagram tab → Export. A .txt file downloads to your device.
• On Vidownloader, click Cookies in the top-right of the navbar.
• Either drag-drop the exported file into the modal, or open it in a text editor and paste the contents into the textarea.
• Click Save. The Cookies button shows a small green dot indicating cookies are active.

Instagram cookies are encrypted in MySQL and used only to authenticate requests to Instagram's CDN. They're never shared or sold, and the administrator can replace them from the dashboard.

Instagram sessions typically last 30 to 90 days. When yours expires you'll see an auth_required error and the cookies modal will open automatically — just re-export and re-save.

• Use the original post URL. Share links (pin.it/..., youtu.be/..., vm.tiktok.com/...) work, but using the canonical URL from the platform's own address bar is more reliable.
• For embedded videos, paste the public page URL that contains the player. Vidownloader will inspect supported iframe players automatically.
• Protected content stays protected. DRM, private, paywalled, login-only, and blocked videos may not be downloadable.
• For 4K YouTube videos, give the download a few extra seconds — high-res mp4 files can be 200MB+.
• Mobile browsers sometimes block automatic downloads. If the file doesn't save, look for the download in your browser's download manager or long-press the success notification.
• Files are kept for 10 minutes after they finish processing, then auto-deleted. If your download interrupted, just paste the link again — no harm done.