Guides
Which Link Should You Copy to Download a Video?
Whatever the Share menu hands you, tracking tail and all. The links that fail are failing for a different reason: they point at a playlist, a profile, or something behind a login. Here is the shape each platform expects.
Whichever one the Share menu gives you. Every platform’s share link carries the video ID a downloader needs, tracking parameters and all, and the shortened forms redirect to the same place. What actually fails is a link pointing at a playlist, a profile, or something behind a login, and no tool gets past those.
The share link is already the right link
Tap Share, then Copy link. On a desktop browser the address bar holds the same URL. There is nothing to clean up first: the ?si=, ?igsh= and fbclid tails are analytics the platform appends to links it generates, and the video ID sits in front of them either way.
Short forms behave the same. youtu.be, fb.watch and dai.ly are redirects to a full URL, and a YouTube /shorts/ link carries the same video ID as the /watch?v= version of it.
The shape each platform expects
| Platform | The link that works | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | youtube.com/watch?v=… | youtu.be/…, and /shorts/… for the same video |
| TikTok | tiktok.com/@user/video/… | the app’s share link, tracking tail included |
instagram.com/reel/… | instagram.com/p/… for a video post | |
| X | x.com/user/status/… | twitter.com/… links still resolve |
facebook.com/watch/?v=… | fb.watch/… | |
| SoundCloud | soundcloud.com/artist/track | a single track only, never a set |
Every platform page carries a “Link formats that work” list of its own, which is the quickest way to check a link you are unsure about.
The links that never resolve
- A playlist, channel, artist page or set. One video per download, deliberately. A watch link carrying a
&list=parameter still works, because it names a single video. - Stories and Highlights, which exist only inside a signed-in session.
- Posts from private accounts, and age-restricted videos. Both need an account the tool does not have, which is the boundary working as intended rather than a bug to route around.
- A live stream still in progress. Wait until it has ended and been published.
Save what you have the right to save: your own uploads, content licensed to allow it, a public post kept for personal offline viewing. The platform’s terms still apply to you.
When the link is right and it still fails
Geo-restricted videos are judged by the server’s location rather than yours, and a video removed for copyright can leave its page loading long after the file is gone. Why some videos never download covers the rest of that list.
Where you paste it
On the web, the link goes into the box on the matching page, whether that is Instagram, Facebook or any of the others, and the file lands in Files through Safari. In the iPhone app, Save from Link takes the same link and fetches the video straight into the encrypted vault, skipping the Camera Roll entirely. It handles video, so audio-only output stays a website job.
Sharing a link to the app rather than pasting it stages the link instead of fetching it right away. It shows as saved for later, and the download runs the next time you unlock the vault. Everything inside is encrypted on the device with AES-256-GCM under a key derived from your PIN with Argon2id, with no Arca account or hosted copy of your vault. Forget the PIN and nothing is recoverable, and an unlocked vault handed to someone is not protected by any of this.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to remove the tracking parameters from a share link? +
No. The ?si=, ?igsh= and fbclid tails are analytics the platform appends to its own share links. The video ID sits in front of them and the link resolves the same with or without the tail.
Does a youtu.be link work the same as a full YouTube link? +
Yes. youtu.be, fb.watch and dai.ly are short forms of the same video, and a YouTube /shorts/ URL carries the same video ID as the matching /watch?v= URL. Any of them resolve to one video.
Why does my playlist link fail? +
Playlists, channels, artist pages and sets are not supported — downloads run one video at a time by design. A watch link that happens to carry a &list= parameter is fine, because it still names a single video.
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Your photos. Truly private.
Keep your photos in an encrypted vault on your iPhone, with no Arca account or automatic vault upload.
Free to download · iPhone · iOS 18+