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Downloading private videos from sites such as YouTube and Vimeo is not always easy depending on how the settings on the published video are configured. It can, however, be done with some patience. These steps were accomplished via Internet Explorer 11, so yours may differ if using a different browser.
- Go to the actual video web page itself using Internet Explorer 11
- Press F12 to open Developer Tools
- Use Find in the upper right hand corner to search for the text: /config
- Copy the entire config_url string in quotes starting with https: until it ends with the long string of numbers and letters
- Open a new tab in your web browser
- Paste the string, hit the home key to go to the beginning of the string, and make these changes
- Find all the double slashes that look like \/ and replace them with just a single /
- Hit enter and save the .json file it offers you
- Open the .json file using Notepad
- Search for the text: video/mp4
- Copy the url string that is shortly after it in the text
- Paste that string into a new tab in your web browser and it should allow you to download the mp4 video file
It may be necessary to reload a few times to get the Vimeo site to dynamically generate the version of the web page that will have the right .json file that specifies the highest quality of the video possibly available. Sometimes I retrieve videos at 1080p, other times it ends up being lower quality like 720p and such.
If this post is helpful please take a moment to post a comment below or share the post on your social media account.
Love it. My usual workaround doesn’t work for private.. Thanks!
Glad to hear it. Share it with your friends!
Thanks so much for this!
Glad to help!
Could you leave instructions from chrome on a mac, please? Thank you.
If I had a Mac, I would make those instructions. Unfortunately, my machines are all PC. Would instructions from an iPad be helpful?
There actually is no /config in the developper. This is a wordpress site from Sep 2018 that is using
Is this the new way to prevent us downloading these videos?
What web browser are you using to look at the code, Peter?
Never thought I’d have a use for internet explorer. Works great!
It looks like depending on the link you select it will be in different quality. Instead you can search the .json file for “1080p” or whatever quality you want and download the link above it.
That is a great tip, Preston. Thank you for sharing!
I use Allavosoft to download private vimeo videos