Where Do Downloaded Videos Go on iPhone and Android?
Tapped Download and nothing happened? Here is exactly where your phone puts downloaded videos and photos, and how to move them into your gallery.
By the Yocker team · Updated · 2 min read
"I downloaded it, but it's not in my gallery" is the most common problem people have with any video downloader. The download almost always worked. The file is simply somewhere you weren't expecting, because phones treat files from a browser differently from photos taken with the camera.
iPhone and iPad
Safari does not save downloads to the Photos app. It saves them to the Files app.
Find the file
- Right after downloading, tap the download arrow (a circle with a down arrow) in Safari's address bar, then tap the file name. That's the fastest route.
- Or open the Files app, tap Browse, then Downloads. Depending on your settings this folder is under iCloud Drive or On My iPhone.
Move a video into Photos
- Open the video in Files.
- Tap the share button (the square with an arrow).
- Choose Save Video. For pictures, choose Save Image.
It now appears in your camera roll like any other video, and you can delete the copy in Files.
Change where Safari saves things
Go to Settings → Safari → Downloads (on recent iOS versions: Settings → Apps → Safari → Downloads) and choose On My iPhone if you don't want downloads using iCloud storage.
If you use Chrome on iPhone
After the download, Chrome shows Open in… at the bottom. Tap it and choose Save Video, or Save to Files.
Android
Find the file
- Open your browser's menu (⋮ in Chrome) and tap Downloads. Everything you've downloaded is listed there.
- Or open the Files app (on many phones, Files by Google or My Files) and tap Downloads.
See it in your gallery
Most gallery apps pick up the Downloads folder automatically within a few seconds, as an album named Download. In Google Photos, that album isn't on the main screen: open Collections (or Library), then On this device, then Download.
If it still doesn't show up, open the video once from the Files app. That usually makes the gallery notice it.
The download didn't start at all
- You're inside another app's browser. If you opened the downloader by tapping a link in Instagram, Facebook or another social app, you're in that app's built-in browser, which often blocks downloads. Tap the ⋯ menu and choose Open in Chrome or Open in Safari, then try again.
- The browser asked for permission and you dismissed it. Tap the download button again and allow it.
- Storage is full. Check that you have free space.
- The video opened in a new tab and started playing. That happens with very large files. Use the player's ⋮ menu and choose Download, or on iPhone tap share → Save to Files.
On a computer
Every browser uses your system's Downloads folder unless you've changed it. Press Ctrl + J (Windows and Linux) or Cmd + Shift + J (Chrome on Mac) / Cmd + Option + L (Safari) to see recent downloads and open the folder.
Still stuck?
Work through video downloader not working? Try these fixes.