Download Twitter videos on a Mac with Safari or Chrome
Download X/Twitter videos on a Mac with Safari or Chrome. Allow downloads once, find the MP4 in ~/Downloads, play it in QuickTime or import it into Photos.
Example: https://x.com/user/status/123456789
- Fast
- Free
- No registration
Step-by-step guide
Copy the post link
On x.com, click the address bar and press ⌘C, or click Share under the post and choose Copy link.
Paste it above with ⌘V
Click the input field, press ⌘V, then press Return or click Download video.
Allow downloads the first time
Safari may ask "Do you want to allow downloads on this site?" — click Allow. Chrome does not ask; it starts the download right away.
Find the file in Downloads
In Safari, click the downloads arrow in the toolbar or press ⌥⌘L; in Chrome, press ⇧⌘J. In Finder the file is in ~/Downloads (⌥⌘L in Finder also opens it).
Open in QuickTime or add to Photos
Press Space in Finder for Quick Look, or double-click to open QuickTime Player. To keep it in your library, drag it into Photos or use File › Import (⇧⌘I).
Why this is tricky
On a Mac, Control-clicking a video on x.com offers no way to save it, and Safari blocks the first download from a new site until you allow it. Once you know where those prompts are, the video saves as an MP4 that QuickTime, Photos, iMovie and Final Cut Pro open without conversion.
Frequently asked questions
If you clicked Don’t Allow, Safari remembers it for the site. Open Safari › Settings › Websites › Downloads, set this site to Allow (or Ask), then try again.
Go to Safari › Settings › General › File download location and choose a folder, or "Ask for each download". Chrome has the same option under Settings › Downloads.
Yes. In Finder, Control-click the MP4, choose Share › AirDrop and pick your iPhone. On the iPhone it opens in Photos automatically, so there is no Files step.
Safari names a file .download while it is still being saved. If it stays that way, the transfer was interrupted: delete it from ~/Downloads and download the video again. A finished file ends in .mp4.
Yes. H.264 video with AAC audio is native on macOS, so iMovie, Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve import the MP4 directly, without transcoding or a plugin.
Download on other devices
The same downloader, with a walkthrough for each device and common problem.
Other tools
- X Video DownloaderSave videos from x.com post links in every available quality.
- Twitter Video DownloaderWorks with old twitter.com links and embedded tweets.
- Twitter to MP4Get a standard MP4 file that plays in any player or editor.
- Twitter GIF DownloaderSave animated GIFs from posts and replies.
- Twitter Image DownloaderDownload photos from posts at their original resolution.