Pasted a Facebook video link but the tool can’t fetch anything? Here are the causes, in the order you should check them.
1. The video is in a private group or a private post
This is the most common cause. Facebook only lets you view private-group or private-post content if you’re already a member and logged in — even with the correct link. No downloader (including other third-party sites) can bypass this, because it’s a privacy setting the post’s owner controls. To check: open the link in an incognito window (not logged into Facebook) — if Facebook asks you to log in to view it, this is the cause.
2. The link isn’t a direct video link
Facebook has several easy-to-confuse link types:
- A profile or page link (
facebook.com/pagename) instead of a specific video link. - A shortened
fb.watch/...link — this is supported, but on mobile the last character sometimes gets cut off when copying. - A re-shared post linking to a video originally posted elsewhere — try opening the original post and copying the link from there instead.
The safest way: in the Facebook app, open the specific video → the ⋯ menu → Copy link, and paste it exactly as copied.
3. The video was deleted or hidden
The post owner may have deleted the video or changed its visibility. Open the link in a normal browser to confirm the video still exists and is public before trying again.
4. Facebook is temporarily rate-limiting requests
If you download several Facebook videos in quick succession, Facebook sometimes briefly throttles requests from the same server. Wait 5-10 minutes and try again if several links suddenly fail at once.
Public video, correct link, still failing? Try re-pasting the link — Facebook links sometimes have tracking parameters appended (
?fref=...); they’re harmless, but paste the whole link as-is rather than trimming it.