Where Does Facebook Save Downloaded Media?
Why Facebook's Save button writes no file, and where photos and videos actually land on Android, iOS, Windows and Mac.
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Start with the part that catches everyone: tapping Save in the Facebook app creates no file. It adds the post to your Saved list, a bookmark inside Facebook, and afterwards there is nothing on your storage to look for.
Files only appear when something genuinely downloads, through the Options > Download menu on facebook.com, from a browser, or when you save a photo to your phone from the post menu. Where the file lands depends on which of those routes you used.
The app's own viewing cache, videos you watched without saving, sits in private app storage that no file manager can open without root. That is why the folders below are about real downloads, not about what you have watched.
Where Facebook stores this, by platform
C:\Users\[Username]\Downloads
Facebook writes nothing of its own on Windows. A photo downloaded from facebook.com through Options > Download goes to your browser's default download folder, which is Downloads for Chrome and Edge unless you changed it. Set that in the browser's settings, not in Facebook. The desktop app behaves the same: Save only adds the item to your Saved list.
~/Downloads
Same rule as Windows: the destination is your browser's default folder, ~/Downloads for Safari, Chrome and Firefox unless you changed it. In Safari the downloads button next to the address bar shows what just arrived. Facebook itself keeps no local folder on a Mac.
/storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Facebook/
Photos saved from a post with Save to phone land here and show up in the gallery as a Facebook album; some phones use Pictures/Facebook instead. Videos pulled through Chrome or another browser go to Internal storage > Download, visible in the Files app. The app's own cache, including videos you have watched, sits in private storage at /data/data/com.facebook.katana and needs root to read.
Photos app for saved pictures, Files > Downloads for Safari downloads
Saving a photo from a post puts it in your Photos library, not in Files. A file downloaded in Safari appears in the Files app under Browse > Downloads, which defaults to iCloud Drive > Downloads until you switch it to On My iPhone > Downloads in Settings > Safari > Downloads. The Facebook app has no download-to-Files option of its own.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't I find a video I saved on Facebook?
Because Save does not download anything; it files the post under Saved in the Facebook menu. Getting a real file means using Options > Download on facebook.com in a desktop browser, or a browser on the phone. The mobile app has no download button for other people's videos.
Where do Facebook videos download on Android?
If you downloaded one in a browser, into Internal storage > Download, which the Files app lists as Downloads. The Facebook app has no video download of its own, and the copy it keeps for playing is in private app storage at /data/data/com.facebook.katana, out of reach without root.
How do I download all my photos and videos from Facebook?
Use Download your information in Meta's Accounts Center: Settings > Accounts Center > Your information > Download your information. Choose the media you want and a format, then Facebook emails a link to a ZIP archive once it has finished preparing it, usually after some hours.
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