9 minutes read
Have you ever stumbled upon a great Vimeo video on training, a private video, or a webinar that is set to private? Although you can easily watch and download public Vimeo videos, this is not the case with private Vimeo videos. You may wonder how to download private Vimeo video content if you have permission to access it from the content owner. If yes, this guide is just for you, as it walks you through the proper way of downloading private Vimeo videos for offline viewing in easy steps. Please note that you should always respect the rights of the owner and never download or share a video if you do not have the appropriate rights.
Part 1: Download Vimeo Private Video with UltConv Video Downloader
The fact is that Vimeo has a downloadable option that you can find on some Vimeo video content, but not all. The button availability is entirely in the hands of the owner of the video. If the video owner has not enabled it, there will be no option to save the video. And although Vimeo paid users can download their videos, it does not help if you need to download private Vimeo video content that you have access to.
That’s where UltConv Video Downloader comes in. It’s a user-friendly tool that lets you securely download private Vimeo videos only if you have viewing access. It works right through your account and handles everything from quality control to format conversion.
UltConv Video Downloader isn’t just your average downloader. It offers:
- Private Vimeo video downloads with support for up to 4K quality
- One-click batch download of playlists, channels, or albums
- Convert to MP4, MP3, and over 100+ more formats
- Extract the video audio at 320 kbps for high-quality audio
- Securely download private content with support for account login
▼ How to download private Vimeo videos with UltConv:
Part 2: Download Private Video on Vimeo using Inspect
If you don’t want to use any third-party tools, you can try the manual method of using the Inspect tool that comes with your browser and download private Vimeo videos. You can use this Inspect trick to find the direct URL of a Vimeo video, which is usually hidden in the source files. Please note that this only works for videos you can view, and you cannot use this to bypass any video access, passwords, or privacy controls. This method might sound a little technical, but do not worry. Just follow the easy steps provided below.
Step 1: Go to the Vimeo page that contains the video you want to download and right-click anywhere on the web page (anywhere but on the video) and choose “Inspect” from the drop-down menu.
Step 2: Click on the “Sources” tab on the top panel, and if you don’t see it, click on the >> button to reveal hidden tabs.
Step 3: You will not see any files, because they will only appear once you refresh the page. So press F5 or click on the refresh button.
Step 4: In the Sources section of the Vimeo page, scroll through the list of folders on the left-hand side, and click on the one that contains a 9-digit number (ex., 123456789). This folder is full of links and other information related to the video.
Step 5: In this folder, find and click the folder named player.vimeo.com to open it. This is the folder where all video-related files are stored.
Step 6: You will now see a sub-folder with the name video. Click on it to open and expand it. Inside this folder is also a file with hidden links.
Step 7: Right-click on the primary file in the “video” folder and choose “Save as…” to save the file on your computer.
Step 8: Name it, and put .txt at the end of the name (ex., vimeo_links.txt), then right-click and open it with a text editor (Notepad, VS Code, etc.).
Step 9: Open the file with a text editor, then press Ctrl+F or Cmd+F to activate the search.
Step 10: Type in the desired resolution of the video you want to download (ex., 1080), and type it in the search box. It will make it much easier for you to find the links to high-quality MP4 files.
Step 11: Find a link that ends with “.mp4” and make sure that it also has a label that says “quality”:”1080p” (or the resolution that you searched for) near. You have found the link that you can download your video from!
Step 12: Copy the MP4 link, paste it in a new tab in your browser, and press Enter to open it.
Step 13: Let the video load and play for a few seconds, then right-click on it and choose “Save video as…” and name the file if you’d like and save it.
Keep in mind that while this method works, it is a bit time-consuming and quite technical if you are not accustomed to this process. You have to go through lines and lines of code to find the right file and then look through the entire URL list to find the exact one you are looking for. If you mistype anything, you will either download the wrong file or nothing at all.
If you’d rather avoid all that hassle, using a tool like UltConv Video Downloader is a much easier option. It automates the process, handles everything behind the scenes, and lets you download private Vimeo videos with just a few clicks.
Part 3: Get Vimeo Private Video Download with yt-dlp
If you are a power user comfortable with working in Terminal, then yt-dlp could be a perfect way for you to download private Vimeo videos. It is a free, open-source command-line program that you can use to download Vimeo video content. It works amazingly well on Mac and lets you have complete control of the downloading procedure. If you are someone who prefers typing commands rather than working with a graphical user interface, this can be an ideal option for you.
Step 1: First, open Firefox and navigate to brew.sh. On the homepage, scroll down to the Install Homebrew section and copy the command given to install it.
Step 2: Press Command + Space, type Terminal, and hit Return. This will open the Terminal, and once it’s open, paste the Homebrew command you copied and press Return. Follow the on-screen instructions to install Homebrew.
Step 3: In the same Terminal window, type brew install yt-dlp, press Return, and wait for the installation to complete. Once done, type brew install ffmpeg and press Return again. FFmpeg will help you merge the audio and video streams during download.
Step 4: Now open the private Vimeo video in Firefox, right-click on the video player, and select This Frame > Open Frame in New Tab. This will open the video’s source in a new tab. Copy that URL from the address bar.
Step 5: Return to Terminal and navigate to the folder where you would like the video to be saved (you can use the cd command for that), then type a command similar to the following: yt-dlp ‘video link’ –referer ‘webpage link’
Replace the ‘video link’ with the link you copied from the frame tab, and the ‘webpage link’ with the link to the Vimeo webpage where the video is embedded. Press Return to execute the command, and yt-dlp will begin the process of downloading your private Vimeo video.
Part 4: Download Vimeo Private Video with Online Screen Recorder
If nothing else works or you just want the simplest way of saving a private Vimeo video you have access to, screen recording is a fast and reliable method to do that. It does not depend on the download button, direct URLs, or browser developer tools and instead captures everything visible on your screen in real-time.
The FliFlik Online Screen Recorder is a good free option you can try that is 100% free, does not leave a watermark, and works right in your browser with no need to download any apps. You can record your screen, webcam, system audio, or microphone in a few clicks and save the final video in HD directly to your computer.
▼How to record a private Vimeo video using Online Screen Recorder
You’ll see a preview of the recording. If you’re happy with it, click Save to download the file to your computer. Or, if you need to re-record, just click Record Another.
Final Words
Downloading private Vimeo videos may be a little confusing, especially if there is no download button available, and the video is locked with tight privacy settings. However, as you have seen in this guide, there are a few methods you can employ regardless of whether you are tech-savvy or need a simple solution.
Whether it is browser tools and command-line options or using screen recording, each method comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. The thing is to find the one that best suits your comfort level and purpose.
For a quick and easy way to download private Vimeo video content without going through any trouble and losing video quality, we recommend trying FliFlik UltConv for hassle-free one-click downloads of private video content in high quality.
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Hey everyone! I'm Ivan Davis, and I'm passionate about using AI to streamline my workflow in the voice changer industry. So excited to empower users by changing the voice to any voice they want!
