Can You Save Patreon Videos

As other users have found, there is usually no download link on Patreon videos that allow you to save the videos to your computer or mobile device. This is actually a deliberate content protection setting on the website and mobile application. In fact, even audio files have become restricted so that you can no longer download them onto a desktop computer but you can still download for offline use via the Patreon mobile app, if the creator enables the Save feature for the post. This can be frustrating to you as a user because you may want to have anytime access to content that you have already paid for. So, is there a way to save the videos on Patreon and watch them whenever you want? Read on to find out.

How to Save Patreon Videos

Even though Patreon allows only streaming for videos on its website and app, there are ways to save the videos to your device to watch later. However, because you cannot do this directly using a download feature on Patreon, you would need to take advantage of third-party applications or some native features on your phone or PC to save videos on Patreon. Before providing these alternative methods, here is the official stand of Patreon regarding saving videos on the platform:

The feature to save videos on the platform used to be available for free but because users abused the videos and shared them illegally, the feature was removed You can download Patreon videos from Patreon’s YouTube channel using any video downloader of your choice The Patreon videos that you download on YouTube are hard encoded in EAC so that they are not playable on most apps and devices.

Now, obviously, this would be such a hassle for you: going to YouTube, accessing Patreon’s channel, and then searching for videos from your favourite creators. To be honest, it is impractical. So, if you want to learn how to download videos directly on the Patreon site, use any of the methods provided below:

1. Using Screen Recording

The simplest way to save a video content on Patreon is to use the screen recording feature on your computer or phone to record the entire session. With this, you do not need any third-party apps and integrations and all that hassle of isolating video URLs. The method to record the screen, and by extension, the Patreon video, depends on the device you are using. We have provided the screen recording methods for iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac below: On Windows PC

  1. Press the Start button
  2. Enter Game Bar in the search bar and select Xbox Game Bar from the results
  3. Several windows will open
  4. Select Record Screen
  5. If you do not see Record Screen, select Capture, then select Record Or
  6. Press the Windows + ALT + R keys simultaneously
  7. This will start recording automatically On Android
  8. Swipe down from the top of the screen
  9. Select Screen Recorder
  10. Tap the red record button to start recording the screen
  11. Tap the red stop button to stop the recording On iOS With iOS 14 or later
  12. Go to Settings
  13. Select Control Center
  14. Select the Add button next to Screen Recording.
  15. Open Control Center on your iPhone
  16. Touch and hold the grey Record button, then tap Microphone.
  17. Select Start Recording
  18. Then wait for the three-second countdown. For older iOS versions
  19. Go to Settings
  20. Select Control Center
  21. Select the Add button next to Screen Recording.
  22. Open Control Center on your iPhone
  23. Touch the grey Record button
  24. Then wait for the three-second countdown. To stop recording
  25. Open Control Center
  26. Select the red Record button
  27. Or tap the red status bar at the top of your screen and tap Stop On Mac
  28. Open the Applications folder on your Mac
  29. Select QuickTime Player
  30. Select File
  31. Select New Screen
  32. Click the arrow next to the record button and be sure to select Internal Microphone if you want to record the audio as well
  33. Click the Record button to start recording
  34. You can click any part of the screen to record the entire screen.
  35. Or, drag to select a specific area you want to record, then click Start Recording within that area.
  36. Click the Stop button to stop recording. Your recording will be opened automatically After recording, you can then access the video on your device and watch whenever you want.

2. Using Internet Download Manager on Windows Computer

Internet Download Manager is probably the best video grabber out there today. And this is not some PR stuff. As a tech site, we have tested several video grabbers and Internet Download Manager comes out on top for almost all features. When you install Internet Download Manager (IDM), it asks you for permission to integrate with your installed browsers so that it can automatically create download links when you load a video on a website. Unfortunately, this app is only available for Windows OS. To use IDM, follow the steps below:

  1. Go to IDM website and download the 30 days free trial or buy the product at once
  2. After downloading the application, locate it and run it
  3. Follow the install prompts and grant it all required permissions and then complete the installation
  4. Go back to your browser. You should see a request to allow IDM to install the browser extension and manage your downloads. Allow it
  5. If you do not see this prompt, close the browser and open it again and then allow the permissions
  6. IDM will now embed itself on your website and provide a download link whenever you play a video
  7. Now, go to Patreon and open the video you want to save. IDM will present a download link that looks like this . Click on it, select your preferred video resolution and the download will begin.

For Mac, Use Neat Download Manager

Neat Download Manager is the Mac equivalent of IDM for Windows. Even though Neat Download Manager is also available for Windows, it is the closest you can get on Mac to IDM. It will also automatically capture videos on Patreon and allow you to download them. To set this up:

  1. Go to the Official Neat Download Manager website and download the app
  2. Then install the app after downloading
  3. Next, go to Chrome webstore at chrome.google.com/webstore and search for Neat Download Manager Extension and select it from the results. It should appear like this NeatDownloadManager Extension
  4. Click on Add to Chrome at the top right of the screen and allow permissions when prompted
  5. And that’s it. You are ready to start grabbing videos from websites, including Patreon. We have found that this integration works best on Firefox rather than Chrome on Mac, so you may want to try that. Another great feature of Neat downloader is that you can launch the app, and then drag and drop the website into the app to begin automatic video download.

3. Using Online Services

So far, we have discussed using your devices’ native screen recording feature and installing a third-party application on your device. Another option you can use, which most users find convenient, is to use an online video capturing website for Patreon. Some examples are Paste Download and Keepvid. For these services, all you need to do is copy the video URL on Patreon, paste in the URL box of these websites and then click on Download or Go. They will automatically process the video and provide you with download links for different video resolutions. Click on the link for the resolution you want and the download will begin.

4. Use Developer Tools on Chrome

If the links above do not work for you, we might need to get a bit technical. One method to try is to use the Chrome developer tools. This will work on any Chrome-based browser like Google Chrome, Edge, and Brave. Follow the steps below carefully to download the protected content on Patreon:

  1. Open the video on Patreon but do not play it yet
  2. Then press Ctrl+Shift+I to open the Chrome developer tools window to the right of the screen
  3. On the developer window, click on the Network tab at the top of the screen.
  4. If you do not see the Network tab immediately, click the arrow next to Sources and then click on Network
  5. On the Network window, click in the Filter bar and type in .m3u8 (that is, dot m3u8). This will filter the lines of code to only display the video codes
  6. Next, play the Patreon video
  7. When the video starts playing, a series of strings will start loading on the developer tool window
  8. Look for the string with an extra-long name relative to other strings. It is usually at the top of the list. Do not click on the TS files
  9. Right-click on this long string and select Copy Link Address from the options. This will copy the address of the video.
  10. Then, open VLC media player
  11. When it opens, click on Media at the top left of the screen and select Open Network Stream from the options
  12. Now, paste in the copied link into the address bar that pops up
  13. At the bottom right of the screen, you will see Play with a dropdown arrow. Do not click on Play. Instead, click on the dropdown arrow and select Convert
  14. Click on Browse to select the destination folder where you want to download the video to, then click on Start
  15. The video will start downloading and get saved to your computer

5. Using Embedded Video Downloader

You can also use an extension for Chrome browsers to scrape and download protected videos like videos on Patreon. This embedded video downloader is called Video Downloader for Vimeo and is published by https://dvimeo.com. We have included the publisher because you will see similar extensions on the Chrome store which do not get the job done. To use this:

  1. Go to chrome.google.com/webstore and then search for Embedded Video Downloader
  2. Select Video Downloader for Vimeo from the results. Be sure to select the one that has offered by https://dvimeo.com next to it
  3. Then click on Add to Chrome to add the extension to your browser
  4. Next, go to Patreon and play the video you want to save
  5. When the video starts playing, click on the extension button that you just added to Chrome at the top of the browser. You will see Play and Download. Select Download and the video will start downloading.

6. Using Video Isolation

The final method you can use to download to download videos from Patreon is to isolate the video file on your browser and then download it to your computer. If all the other methods have failed, this is sure to work if you are using a Chrome-based browser. Follow the steps below to isolate the Patreon video file and then save it to your computer.

  1. Open the video on Patreon
  2. Click on Ctrl+Shift+I to open developer tools
  3. When the developer tools window opens to the right, click on the Inspect Element icon at the top left of the developer tools window. The icon looks like a square with an arrow through it.
  4. After clicking on that, go to the video and click on it. It will be highlighted in blue.
  5. When you click on the video, you will see that the display on the developer tools window has changed. Look for the URL in the lines of code. You will know it by its being underlined and preceded by src=
  6. When you click on it once, right-click on it and then select Edit as HTML. If you do not do this, you will not be able to perform any action on the URL
  7. Now, when the URL edit page opens, select the URL starting from the https://. If there is no https, just start after the // and then end at the question mark (?)
  8. After making the selection, right-click and select Copy
  9. Then, open a new tab, paste the copied URL and click Enter. The video will load.
  10. Now, we have isolated the video from the rest of the Patreon web page
  11. Next, click Ctrl+Shift+I to open developer tools again. This time, click on the Sources tab. This will bring up the source code of the video alone
  12. When the source opens, you may see several URLs or links. Look for the one that ends with a video format like .mp4, .mkv, .mov, and so on. Click on the URL once
  13. It will load the video file and the video should start playing
  14. Now, you can right-click on the video and select Save Video As
  15. Select the location where you want to save the video to, and voila! This is the longest process but it is also one of the surest to work on any protected or embedded website video.
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