How to download videos from TikTok, YouTube and Instagram
Video Unique Booster downloads videos by itself. Third-party services are not needed. For this the app has the "ClipSave" window. You paste links to pages with videos into it. The app downloads the files to your device. The window works with YouTube, Instagram, Twitter (X) and TikTok. There is no limit on the number of downloaded videos in it.
Where do I open the download window?
- Open a project.
- Press the "Project integrations" button. It is the round button with three dots at the very bottom of the narrow column on the left, under the project save button. It has no label; the name is shown in the tooltip.
- On the "ClipSave" card, press "Open".
In an empty project this button is not on the screen. The tab shows the start screen. This stays so until at least one video is imported into the project or one source group is created. There is only one way in there: the "download a video by link" link. It is under the "Import video" and "Add source" buttons. Steps 1-3 above work in a project that already has videos.
The first time, the window opens in compact form. The links, the maximum number of videos, the quality and the folder are visible right away. The rest is folded into header rows: "Video filters", "Cookie file", "Proxy and connection", "Blacklist and file name". A header row starts with the "▸" icon; a click on the row expands it. After that the window opens the way you closed it: expanded rows stay expanded in other projects too.
Where do I paste the links?
You paste the links into the "Links to pages with videos" field. The rules are:
- each link on a new line;
- a link starts with
http://orhttps://; - videos are downloaded one after another, top to bottom.
Please copy the page address directly from the browser. The app does not accept a link with spaces, line breaks or invisible characters. Such characters get copied into the address together with text from a document.
What does the line under the links field show?
You type an address. The app immediately asks the platform what is at that address. It writes the answer as a line under the field. No files are downloaded at this point.
| Line | What it means |
|---|---|
| This does not look like a page address yet | The line is not parsed as a link yet |
| Checking what is at the link... | The app is sending a request to the platform right now |
| "Mountains" - Ivan, 4 min 12 s, ~40 MB | The link has one video: author, duration and size |
| Collection: 217 videos. The first 20 will be downloaded. | The link has a collection; as many videos are downloaded as set in the "Maximum videos to download" field |
| This is a live stream | Downloading a stream does not end by itself; you have to stop it with the button |
How do I see the state of one line of the list?
Lines in the field have no icons. The app shows the platform's answer about a line under the field. Please put the cursor on a line to read the answer about that line.
| Line state | What is shown under the field |
|---|---|
| Queued | Nothing: this line has not been asked about yet |
| Being checked | "Checking what is at the link..." |
| Answer received | Information about the video or collection from the table above |
| Account sign-in needed | "Account sign-in required" |
| Too many requests | "The platform limited the requests" |
| Platform refused | The reason for the refusal, for example "No video found at this link" |
| Could not check | "The link could not be checked. The app will still try to download it." |
While the queue is running, the label "Link 3 of 12" is next to the video counter. With a single link this label is not shown.
What does the summary line show?
The summary line is lower, under the links field. It appears when there is more than one link. It gathers the state of all lines at once. A full example: "12 links, checked 5 of 12. Answered "not possible" - 1. About 1.2 GB in total."
| Part of the line | What it means |
|---|---|
| "12 links, checked 5 of 12" | How many links are in the field and for how many the check has already finished |
| "Will not be downloaded - 2" | This many lines of the field were not accepted: they do not look like an address or repeat a link above |
| "Answered "not possible" - 1" | This many links cannot be downloaded: the platform asks to sign in to an account or has limited the request rate, or the app received no videos at the link |
| "Could not check - 3" | This many links could not be checked: the app got no reply or could not parse the download error. The cause is usually the connection or the proxy. The download will still try these links |
| "About 1.2 GB in total" | The sum of sizes for the links whose size is known |
Why does checking the list take minutes?
The pace of requests is set by the app, not by the person. There is deliberately no "check" button in the window. A hundred requests in a row means a restriction from the platform, and it is your address and your account that get restricted.
| What | Value |
|---|---|
| Pause between two requests to one platform | about 4 seconds |
| Requests to one platform per 10 minutes | no more than 60 |
| Delay after a "too often" refusal | 1 hour |
A hundred links of one platform are checked in about 13 minutes. Links of different platforms are checked faster: both limits are counted for each platform separately. The one-hour delay is written to disk. Restarting the app does not remove it. The other numbers are collected on the How long checking sources takes page.
The "Download video" button is available during the check too. If the check is contacting the same platform at that moment, the "ClipSave is busy" window appears instead of the start - press again a little later. A link without an answer is downloaded too: the app contacts the platform once more, this time during the download.
How do I download only one video, not the whole collection?
Sometimes a link leads to a video inside a collection. Then the address has both the video number and the collection number. In this case the "This video only" toggle appears under the field. Please turn it on to download a single post.
How many videos are downloaded from a profile page?
As many as set in the "Maximum videos to download" field. The setting works for bulk download from a page. A TikTok profile is an example of such a page. The smallest value is 1, the largest is 500. The default value is 20. With a large number, the preparation before downloading takes longer.
Which quality should I choose?
The "Video quality" list gives five options.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Maximum | Takes the best the platform gives. This is the default |
| 1440p, 1080p, 720p, 480p | Cap the frame size at this value |
The higher the quality, the longer the download takes and the larger the file. The platform does not always have the quality you chose. If there is nothing higher, the app downloads the best of what there is. The line under the link warns about this. It names the quality the platform has. It can also be different: there is no exact match, but there are options above and below. Then the app takes the closest one below without a warning. The frame size you will get is shown in the same line under the link.
Where are the downloaded files saved?
The path is in the "Folder to save videos to" field. The button to the right of the field opens the folder choice. By default this is the ClipSave subfolder inside the project's save folder.
When the download is over, two buttons appear in the window:
- "Show in folder" opens the save folder in File Explorer;
- "Import video into the project" adds the videos just downloaded to the open project.
How to make new videos from these files is described on the First video page.
Why is a cookie file needed and where do I get it?
The platform gives some videos only to those who are signed in to an account. For example, videos from a private Instagram account cannot be downloaded without signing in. The cookie file confirms to the platform that you are signed in to your account. It is equal to signing in: whoever has this file needs neither a password nor a confirmation code. Please keep it like a password and do not send it to anyone.
- Get the file with the free browser extension Get cookies.txt LOCALLY.
- Expand the "Cookie file" section and turn on "Use a cookies file".
- Set the file in the "Path to cookies file" field.
The platform may reply with the refusal "Account sign-in required". Then the "Select a cookies file" button appears to the left of the "Download video" button. It is in the same row and leads straight to the field you need.
The app gives the video download module a copy of the file, not the original: a request to the platform overwrites the file entirely. Your file stays untouched, and your sign-in to the platform is kept.
Pause between downloads and reconnect attempts
Both settings are in the "Proxy and connection" section.
Pause between downloads. The app keeps this pause before each file. A video with sound has two files: picture and sound. With the value 5, the pause per video is about 10 seconds. Values are from 1 to 60 seconds, the default is 5. The field does not accept zero. The pause cannot be turned off completely. The pause is there on purpose. A platform treats frequent requests in a row as suspicious and may cut off access.
Reconnect attempts. This is the largest number of attempts in a row. Values are from 1 to 10, the default is 3. If there are more errors, the app pauses the download.
When should I turn on the proxy and the browser string?
A proxy helps in two cases. The first is when an error occurred during connection. The second is when the platform is not available from your country.
- The "Use proxy" switch turns on connecting through a proxy server.
- The field label hints at the address format:
http://login:password@ip:port. The window accepts other schemes too:https://,socks4://,socks5://,socks5h://. Instead of a numeric address you can write a domain name. A proxy without a login and password works too. - We recommend good-quality private IPv4 proxies from European countries.
- The button with an eye icon shows or hides the proxy line together with the password.
The "Use browser string" switch solves a different task. While it is off, the app introduces itself to the platform with its built-in string. Usually this is enough. Please turn it on if the platform has stopped responding. Then enter your browser's string in the "Browser string (User-Agent)" field.
How do I avoid downloading the same thing twice?
There is the "Use the blacklist" switch for this. It is in the "Blacklist and file name" section. While it is on, the app keeps a list of downloaded videos. The app stores the list in the downloaded.txt file in the save folder. Such a video is not downloaded to this folder again. Next to it the "Clear the blacklist" button appears. It is visible when the list is on and the file has been created. After clearing, these videos can be downloaded again.
The same section has the "File name rule" field. It sets how the downloaded files will be named.
How do I pick videos before downloading?
The "Video filters" section filters out posts before they reach the disk. The conditions are laid out on four cards: "Filter by views and duration", "Filter by viewer engagement", "Filter by language and place", "Filter by publication date".
The app applies the conditions to each link separately. The conditions are stored in the project settings. If no video matched, the window says "No matching videos". The same conditions work in the Sources section. There the app downloads new posts by itself.
What if a link is not accepted?
The window shows the first four messages before the start. The download then does not begin at all. The last three come from the platform itself. The link check writes them under the field in advance. They do not prevent the start. The app contacts the platform and shows the reason in the result. The other links of the queue keep downloading.
| Message | Cause |
|---|---|
| The link must start with http:// or https:// | The address has no scheme, or it has a foreign one |
| A link cannot start with a hyphen | The line starts with the - character; such an address is not accepted |
| The link contains spaces, tabs or line breaks | The address is written on several lines; paste it as a single line |
| One of the lines in the field could not be read as a link | The error is not in the address you are editing but in another line of the field |
| This link is not supported | You need a link to a page with a video or to a whole profile |
| No video found at this link | The post consists only of text or photos |
| This page no longer exists | The author changed the page name or deleted the page |
For the answer "No video found at this link" you need a link to a post with video. For the answer "This page no longer exists", find the author's new page on the platform and replace the link. Sometimes the link is correct, but the download does not start. Then open the What to do if a video does not download page. It collects the other reasons for refusal.
Frequently asked questions
How many links can I paste at once?
There is no limit on the number of links. The length of one link is limited: 2048 characters. Videos are downloaded one after another, top to bottom. The window shows which link is being processed now.
Can I stop a download halfway?
Yes. During the download the "Download video" button is called "Stop". Files already downloaded stay in the folder.
Why was the video downloaded in lower quality than I chose?
The platform did not give the quality you chose. The app took the closest one. The line under the link says this in advance, together with the quality the platform has.
What does the "ClipSave is busy" message mean?
The app is already working with this platform. The work is going on in another app window or in the project's source check. Please wait until it finishes. Then start the download again.