To download ads from the Facebook Ad Library, open the ad, right-click near the video, choose Inspect, find the .mp4 link inside the video tag, open it in a new tab and click Download in the player menu. For image ads, right-click the image and choose Save image as. The library has no download button. For one-click HD downloads, install Adspo's free Facebook Ad Library Downloader Chrome extension.
We walked every step below on the live library in October 2026, using Gymshark's ads as the example. By the end you'll be able to save any video ad as an MP4 and any image ad as a JPG, know what quality to expect, and keep a link back to the original ad.
Can you download ads from the Facebook Ad Library?
Yes, but Meta doesn't make it obvious. When we opened the three-dot menu on a Gymshark ad, the only option was Copy Ad Link, which gives you an Ad Library URL for that ad. There's no Download or Save option anywhere on the card or in See ad details.
Right-clicking a video doesn't help either. The play button and controls sit in a layer on top of the video, so your browser never shows its usual Save video as option. That's why most people end up installing a "Facebook Ad Library downloader" extension.
You can do it without one. The library loads every video from a direct .mp4 file and every image from a normal image file, and your browser can save both if you know where to look. The steps below show how.
If you download ads often, our free Facebook Ad Library Downloader extension does it in one click (more on it below). If you're new to the library itself, start with how to use the Facebook Ad Library.
How to download video ads from the Facebook Ad Library: step by step
These steps use Google Chrome on a desktop. Edge, Brave and Arc work the same way. Firefox and Safari have similar developer tools (in Safari you turn on the Develop menu first). It doesn't work on a phone, because mobile browsers don't have developer tools.
Step 1: Open the brand's ads in the Ad Library
Go to facebook.com/ads/library, pick a country, set the ad category to All ads, and search the brand. Pick its verified Page under Advertisers.
You'll land on the brand's ad page. For Gymshark in the United States it showed ~640 results for active ads when we checked, with Similar regional ads for Gymshark Germany and Gymshark France underneath. No Facebook account is needed for any of this.
Gymshark's page in the Facebook Ad Library showing about 640 active ads with the Filters button highlighted
Step 2: Filter to video ads
Click Filters, open Media type and choose Videos, then apply the filter. A Media type: Videos chip appears next to Active status: Active ads.
Gymshark dropped from about 640 results to ~150 results. Filtering first saves you scrolling past image ads to find the video you want.
The Facebook Ad Library filtered to Gymshark video ads with the Media type: Videos chip highlighted
Step 3: Right-click next to the video and choose Inspect
Find the ad you want. Right-click anywhere on the video area, for example on the grey space beside the video, and choose Inspect from the menu.
Chrome opens its developer tools on the right or at the bottom of the window, with the Elements tab showing the page's code. Don't worry about the code. You only need one line of it.
A Gymshark video ad in the Facebook Ad Library with the video area highlighted, ready to right-click and Inspect
Step 4: Find the .mp4 link in the video tag
Click inside the Elements panel and press Cmd+F on a Mac or Ctrl+F on Windows. A search bar opens at the bottom of the panel. Type .mp4 and press Enter.
Chrome jumps to a line that starts with <video and contains src="https://video...fbcdn.net/...mp4?...". That long address is the video file. If the first match belongs to a different ad, press Enter again to move to the next one, and hover each match to see which video lights up on the page.
Double-click the address inside the quotes to select it, then copy it with Cmd+C or Ctrl+C.
Step 5: Open the .mp4 link in a new tab
Open a new tab, paste the address and press Enter. The video opens on its own, in your browser's built-in player, on a black background.
This is the same file the Ad Library was playing, with nothing on top of it. Press play to make sure it's the right ad.
A Gymshark video ad opened on its own as an .mp4 file in Chrome's built-in video player
Step 6: Click the three dots and choose Download
Click the three dots at the bottom right of the player and choose Download. You can also right-click the video and choose Save video as, which works now that the video isn't covered.
The file saves as an MP4. Rename it with the brand and the Library ID (for example gymshark-3508770145952560.mp4) so you can trace it later.
The address you copied is temporary. It contains an expiry stamp, so a link you saved last week may not work today. Download the file straight away rather than bookmarking the link.
How to download image ads from the Facebook Ad Library
Image ads are much simpler, because nothing covers the image.
Step 7: Right-click the image and choose Save image as
Switch the Media type filter to Images, or just scroll to an image ad. Right-click the image itself and choose Save image as. Chrome saves it as a JPG.
If the card says This ad has multiple versions, open See ad details to flick through each version and save the ones you want. A Gymshark image ad we opened had 1 of 6 versions, and each one is a separate image.
A Gymshark image ad in the Facebook Ad Library with the image highlighted for right-click and Save image as
Step 8: Copy the ad link so you can find it again
A downloaded file loses everything around it: the brand, the copy, the start date and the landing page. Click the three dots at the top right of the ad card and choose Copy Ad Link, which Meta describes as "Get an Ad Library URL for this ad".
Paste that link next to the file in your swipe file or brief. Even simpler, note the Library ID at the top of the card. Searching that number in the library brings the ad straight back while it's still in the library.
The three-dot menu on a Gymshark ad card in the Facebook Ad Library showing Copy Ad Link, the only option
The one-click way: Adspo's free Facebook Ad Library Downloader
If you save more than the odd ad, the developer tools routine gets old fast. We built the Facebook Ad Library Downloader Chrome extension to skip it.
- One-click downloads. Download HD video and image ads straight from the Ad Library, with no Inspect, copy and paste.
- Runtime included. It adds extra insights to the library, including how long each ad has been running.
- Free, no account. It's entirely free and works as soon as you install it. You don't need an Adspo account.
It's offered by adspo.co on the Chrome Web Store, with about 10,000 users and a 4.7 out of 5 rating when we checked in October 2026. Install it, open any brand in the Ad Library, and download the ads you want.
Other ways to download Facebook Ad Library videos
The developer tools method and our extension cover most needs. These are the other options people search for, and what to know about each:
- Downloader websites. You paste the ad link and the site fetches the file. They save you the Inspect step, but you're relying on a site that may be full of ads or stop working when Meta changes the page.
- Other Chrome extensions. Many add a save button to each ad card. Check what each one can read before you install it: some need access to every site you visit, and many save ads into their own library and ask you to create an account first.
- Screen recording. QuickTime on a Mac or the Snipping Tool on Windows can record the ad while it plays. It works when nothing else does, but you get your screen's resolution and any cursor movement too.
- The Ad Library API. Meta's Ad Library API is built for developers who pull ad data in code, so it's overkill for saving a few ads.
Common problems and fixes
- No .mp4 match when you search the Elements panel. Ads further down the page load as you scroll. Scroll the ad into view, then search again.
- The new tab shows an error instead of the video. The link is temporary. Go back to the Ad Library, reload the page, and copy a fresh address.
- You downloaded the wrong ad. The page holds dozens of videos. Hover the matched line in Elements and check which video highlights on the page before you copy.
- The ad you saved last month is gone. Meta only keeps regular ads in the library while they're running, unless they ran in the EU or UK. Download ads when you find them, not later. Our guide to what the Facebook Ad Library is covers what stays in the library and for how long.
- The video looks blurry. That's the file, not your player. The 6 Gymshark videos we checked were all 360 by 640 pixels.
What you can't get from a downloaded ad
Downloading solves one problem and creates three more:
- Low resolution. The 6 Gymshark videos we checked were all 360 by 640 pixels, and image ads were served about 600 pixels tall. Fine for a swipe file, too small to study text overlays or product detail closely. The extension below downloads HD files instead.
- No context. The file doesn't carry the start date, the copy, the headline, the landing page or how many versions the brand is running. You have to record all of that by hand.
- One ad at a time. Saving 20 ads means 20 rounds of Inspect, copy, paste, download and rename. Building a swipe file of a competitor's best ads takes an afternoon.
- No sense of what's working. The library shows start dates but doesn't tell you how long an ad has been running or let you sort by it. You can end up carefully saving ads the brand switched off after a week.
A faster way: download and save ads with Adspo
Adspo tracks the ads of 10,000+ verified brands and keeps each creative with its context: launch date, full runtime, copy, landing page, target countries, hook and, for videos, the transcript. Instead of digging through page code, you save the ads you like to a board and download, copy or share them from there.
Here is Gymshark in the Adspo app. The brand page shows active creatives, how many new ones the brand launched recently, its media mix, target countries and the landing pages its ads send people to.
Gymshark's brand page in the Adspo app showing active creatives, creative velocity, media mix, target countries and landing pages
Sorting Gymshark's active creatives by Longest running puts the ads the brand has kept paying for at the top, each labeled with how many days it has been live. Those are the ones worth saving first.
Gymshark's active creatives in Adspo sorted by longest running, each card showing its runtime in days
How Adspo answers each limit above:
- No context: every saved creative keeps its copy, launch date, runtime, landing page and countries.
- One ad at a time: save ads to boards as you browse, then download, copy or share the whole board.
- No sense of what's working: sort any brand's ads by longest running, newest or most ads.
- Duplicates: Adspo groups the same creative across placements, so you save each ad once.
Adspo costs $29/month, or $19/month billed yearly, with a 7-day free trial. If you're weighing it against the free library, our Facebook Ad Library alternative page compares the two.
Related guides
- How to use the Facebook Ad Library: the full walkthrough, from search to EU reach data.
- What is the Facebook Ad Library?: what each ad card shows and what the library is used for.
- How to see your competitors' Facebook ads: a complete competitor research workflow.
Frequently asked questions
Can you download ads from the Facebook Ad Library?
Yes, but there is no download button. The only option in each ad's menu is Copy Ad Link. To save a video, right-click the ad, choose Inspect, find the .mp4 link inside the video tag, open it in a new tab and download it from the player menu. To save an image ad, right-click the image and choose Save image as.
How do I convert a Facebook Ad Library video to MP4?
You don't need to convert anything. The Ad Library already plays each video from an .mp4 file. Copy that file's address from the video tag in your browser's developer tools, open it in a new tab, then click the three dots in the player and choose Download. The file saves as an MP4.
Is there a free Facebook Ad Library downloader?
Yes. Adspo's Facebook Ad Library Downloader is a free Chrome extension that downloads HD video and image ads from the Ad Library with one click, with no account needed. If you'd rather not install anything, the developer tools method in this guide works in any desktop browser.
What quality are videos downloaded from the Facebook Ad Library?
When we checked 6 of Gymshark's video ads in October 2026, each one was 360 by 640 pixels, and image ads were served about 600 pixels tall. That is fine for research and swipe files, but too small to judge fine detail or reuse on a big screen.
Why can't I right-click and save a Facebook Ad Library video?
The play button and controls sit in a layer on top of the video, so right-clicking hits that layer instead of the video itself. Your browser never shows its Save video as option. Use Inspect to find the video file instead, as shown in steps 3 to 6.
Is it legal to download ads from the Facebook Ad Library?
Saving ads for private research, swipe files and team briefs is common practice. The ads still belong to the brands that made them, so don't re-upload or run a competitor's creative as your own. This is general information, not legal advice.
Wrapping it up
To download a video ad from the Facebook Ad Library, inspect the video, copy the .mp4 link, open it in a new tab and download it from the player. For image ads, right-click and save. Keep the Library ID with every file, and download straight away because the file links expire.
If you save ads every week, let a tool keep the context for you. Try Adspo free for 7 days and build your swipe file from the ads brands keep running.