Video does not download: what to check
The app shows the reason itself. At the bottom of the "ClipSave" window there is a "Status:" line. It shows the refusal title and a hint on what to do. Start with it, not with trying different settings.
The download window opens with the "Project integrations" button. It sits at the very bottom of the narrow column on the left. The button has no label: it is a round button with three dots. Hover the cursor over it, and the tooltip "Project integrations" appears.
A window with the same name opens with a list of cards. In the "ClipSave" card, click "Open".
Do not confuse it with the "Global integrations" item in the menu at the top of the window. That is a different window and a different list: it holds settings for the whole app, not for the open project.
Where to start
- Read the "Status:" line under the "Download video" button.
- Expand the "Download log". It says what prevented the download for each link.
- If the answer is unclear, click "Copy log". You can attach the log to a request to support.
Why does the app say "Account sign-in required"?
The platform answers this way in two cases. The video is closed by privacy settings. Or the platform gives it only to those who are signed in. An example from the app's hint: a video from a private Instagram account cannot be downloaded without signing in.
A cookies file helps. It confirms to the platform that you are signed in to your account. If the video is available to this account, it will download.
- Get a cookies file with the free browser extension Get cookies.txt LOCALLY.
- Turn on the "Use a cookies file" switch.
- Set the file in the "Path to cookies file" field.
- Click "Download video" again.
After a refusal, the app shows one more button next to the "Download video" button - "Select a cookies file". It leads to the same field.
Sometimes the cookies file is already set, but the app says "The account sign-in has expired". This means the platform still asks to sign in to an account. This happens when the sign-in session in the browser has expired. Please sign in to the account in the browser and get the file again with the same extension. Then choose the new file in the "Path to cookies file" field.
What do I do if the platform asks to confirm that you are not a robot?
The app shows such an answer with the same title, "Account sign-in required". The platform asks you to sign in to your account. This is how it tells a person from a program. The steps are the same - a cookies file.
The second remedy is the browser string. While the "Use browser string" switch is off, the app sends the platform a built-in string. In most cases it works.
- Turn on the "Use browser string" switch if the platform stopped responding.
- Find out your browser's string on a detection website.
- Enter it in the "Browser string (User-Agent)" field.
A separate case is "The platform limited the requests". The platform stopped answering frequent requests. So the app will not contact it for the next hour. Please try later or turn on a proxy.
Why does it say "This link is not supported"?
The app accepts a link to a page with a video. Besides that, it accepts a link to a whole profile. It does not accept links to platform sections and collections.
| What to check | What it should be |
|---|---|
| Start of the line | http:// or https:// |
| One line | One link, without spaces or line breaks inside |
| Order | Videos download one by one, from top to bottom |
Please copy the page address from the browser. Do not type it by hand. Sometimes a link leads to a video inside a collection, but you need only one post. Then turn on "This video only".
A similar but different answer is "This page no longer exists". The platform itself sends this answer. It has no page at the link. Usually the author changed the name or deleted it. If the author changed the name, find their new page on the platform and replace the link.
The answer "The post contains no video" means something else. The platform returned only an audio track. This is how photo galleries, voice posts and podcasts are built.
Why is the download slow or interrupted?
The app keeps part of the delay on purpose. Before each download it waits out the "Pause between downloads". The platform considers frequent requests in a row suspicious. It may close access for them. One video usually downloads as two tracks: picture and sound. So with a value of 5 a video takes about 10 seconds of waiting.
| Setting | Range | Default value |
|---|---|---|
| Pause between downloads | 1-60 seconds | 5 |
| Reconnect attempts | 1-10 | 3 |
| Maximum videos to download | 1-500 | 20 |
"Reconnect attempts" sets the maximum number of attempts in a row. If the number of errors exceeds this value, the app pauses the download.
What to do depending on the answer in the "Status:" line:
- "The download is not moving". Answers from the platform came, but not a single byte was downloaded. This usually happens with a speed limit on the platform or at the proxy. Try later or change the proxy.
- "No answer for several minutes". The app stopped the download. Check the network connection and start the download again.
- "The download took too long". The app stopped the download because of the time limit. Reduce "Maximum videos to download" and start the download again.
- "No network connection". The app could not find the platform on the network. Check the network connection.
When does a proxy help?
A proxy is needed in two cases. The platform is not available from your country. Or you ran into a connection
error. Please turn on "Use proxy". Enter the address in the format
http://login:password@ip:port. Addresses that start with https://, socks4://,
socks5:// or socks5h:// also work. A login and password are needed only for proxies that require them.
The app has a hint:
"We recommend good private IPv4 proxies from European countries."
The answer "The proxy does not respond" means it did not accept the connection. Please check the address, login and password. Or replace the proxy with a working one.
What do the other refusals mean?
The app writes the refusal title in the "Status:" line. The breakdown below is sorted by cause: where exactly it failed.
| Answer | Where the cause is | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "Not a single file was downloaded" | Link or account sign-in | The app received no videos from the link. If the videos open only after signing in to an account, set a cookies file. If there are no videos on the page, enter another link |
| "The videos were not downloaded" | Platform or video download module | There are videos at the link, but they could not be downloaded. Repeat the download |
| "Could not connect to the platform" | Connection | Check the network connection. If the platform is not available from your country, turn on a proxy |
| "ClipSave did not start" | App | The video download module file is not in the app folder. Close and reopen this window: the app will offer to download the video download module |
| "The ClipSave file is there, but did not start" | App | The video download module file is in place, but it could not be started: antivirus software may have blocked it, or the file may be damaged or briefly in use. Start the download again. If that does not help, allow ClipSave to run in your antivirus software or reinstall the app. In this case the window will not offer to download the module again |
| "The cookies file could not be prepared" | App | The app works with a temporary copy of the cookies file, and it could not be made. Check the free disk space |
| "The download ended with an error" | App | The download stopped by itself. Repeat it. If the error repeats, close and reopen this window |
| "The video could not be downloaded" | The cause could not be named | Repeat. If the error repeats, check the link and the network connection |
| "No matching videos" | Video selection | Not a single video at the link passed the filters. Relax the filters or turn off the unneeded ones |
| "The videos could not be filtered" | Video selection | The video details could not be read, and the filters cannot be applied without them. The download for this link is canceled entirely, not a single file is written to the disk |
How do I update the video download module?
The app checks for a new version on its own, no more than once a day. When there is a new version, the app opens the "An update is available" window at startup. It holds the question "A new version of the video download module is available. Do you want to update now?" and the "Yes" and "No" buttons. If you declined, the circular arrow at the bottom of the "Sources" section becomes colored. Its tooltip says: "A new version of the video download module has been released.". You can also update by hand:
- Open the "Sources" section.
- At the bottom, find the caption "Video download module: version ...".
- Click the circular arrow next to it.
The app answers with one of the messages: "The latest version of the video download module is installed.", "The video download module has been updated.", "The video download module was updated only in part. Try again later.", "The video download module is busy with other work right now. Repeat the check in a minute.", "The update check failed. Check your internet connection and try again." or "The video download module is not responding. Please repeat the check in a minute. If that does not help, allow it to run in your antivirus software or reinstall the app.". The last one means the module file is in place, but it did not name its version. The internet has nothing to do with it. Sometimes the module just did not answer in time or an antivirus held it for a moment - then a repeat helps. If the repeat did not help, usually an antivirus blocks the launch, less often the file is damaged. Reinstalling restores the module file.
The title "The video download module is not fully working" means the module lacks a helper file. Please click the same circular arrow. If that does not help, reinstall the app.
You can turn the check off. The "Global settings" window has the item "Disable update checks for the video download module". While it is on, the app does not check for a new version on its own. Besides that, it does not download the helper JavaScript engine. Without this engine YouTube may return an incomplete set of video qualities. It may also refuse to download. You will have to update the module by hand.
Related
Frequently asked questions
Why does the app say "No new videos" although the page has new posts?
The app already downloaded everything at this link earlier. Now it skips these videos by the blacklist. The list is in the save folder, in the "downloaded.txt" file. To download again, click "Clear the blacklist". Another way is to turn off the "Use the blacklist" switch.
Why did a video not download, and the app showed no refusal?
Most likely the folder already has a file with the same name. The app does not overwrite such a file. The video then does not download at all, and a record of it is added to the blacklist. The second time this video is skipped too.
The <<code>> and <<id>> macros protect against matching names. One of the two is required in the file name
rule. The macros are covered on the File name page.
Why does a video not download again after a stop?
This is how stopping video creation works in a project with sources. The app erases the downloaded files that did not have time to become copies. The "already taken" mark stays. So the next source check skips these videos.
The mark is removed by hand. Please right-click the group tile and open "Downloaded videos". Find the rows you need with the search and click "Delete selected".
Why did not every video of a collection download?
The title "Not everything was downloaded" means some posts could not be downloaded. They may have been deleted. The author may have closed access to them. Or the platform gives them only after signing in. What prevented each one is written in the log below.
What do I do if the download stopped because of disk space?
The app shows "The disk has run out of space" and stops the download. This way it does not let the disk fill up completely. Please free up space on the disk with the save folder.
The answer "The save folder is unavailable" means something else. The folder is no longer at the set path. This happens with removable drives and network folders.
Why did the video download in a lower quality than chosen?
The "Video quality" list caps the frame size from above: 1440p, 1080p, 720p or 480p. The "Maximum" option takes the best the platform returns. If the platform does not have that quality, the app downloads the nearest one.