Facebook Stories have become a popular way for users to share photos, videos, and text updates that disappear after 24 hours. While Stories are meant to be temporary, sometimes you may want to save or download a Facebook Story that you really like so you can view it again later.
Downloading a Facebook Story directly isn’t possible, but there are a few workarounds that allow you to record or screenshot a Story in order to save it. Here are the main options for downloading a Facebook Story from a link:
Use a Third-Party Facebook Story Saver Website or App
The easiest way to save a Facebook Story is to use a third-party website or app designed specifically for the purpose of downloading and saving Stories. Some popular options include:
- StorySavebox.com – Allows you to enter a Story URL and download the Story as a video file.
- Story Saver for Facebook – Chrome extension that lets you save Stories as videos.
- StorySaver for Instagram and Facebook – Android app for downloading Stories.
The advantage of using one of these savers is convenience – you simply copy the Story URL from your browser bar and paste it into the website/app, which will then extract the Story as a video for you to save and replay later.
How to Use a Facebook Story Saver
Here are the basic steps to use a third-party Facebook Story saver:
- Open the Facebook Story you want to save in your browser.
- Copy the URL of the Story from the address bar.
- Go to the Story saver website or open the app.
- Paste the Story URL into the indicated field.
- Click download or a similar button. The website/app will process and extract the Story.
- Once processed, save the video file to your device’s storage or cloud drive.
The process takes just a few seconds and will save the Story as a video in MP4 format that you can replay whenever needed. Just keep in mind that any third-party service will be downloading and storing your data.
Screen Record the Story
If you don’t want to use a third-party service, screen recording is another option for capturing a Facebook Story. Here’s how:
- Open the Story on your phone’s Facebook app.
- Start a screen recording using your device’s built-in tools:
- iPhone – Open Control Center and tap the Screen Recording icon. Or use Siri to start a recording.
- Android – Open your Quick Settings and tap Screen Recorder.
- Play through the Story you want to save.
- Stop the screen recording.
- The video of the Story will be saved to your camera roll.
Screen recording lets you easily capture a Facebook Story, slide by slide. The downside is that it results in a lower quality video compared to downloading via a website. But it gets the job done if you just need to save one particular Story.
Use Browser Developer Tools
For more tech-savvy users, most modern browsers come equipped with developer tools that allow you to view the resources loaded by a web page, including videos, images, etc. Here’s how to use them to save a Facebook Story:
- Open the Story in your browser and press Ctrl+Shift+I (Cmd+Option+I on Mac) to open DevTools.
- Go to the Network tab in DevTools. Make sure the Media filter is checked.
- Play through the Story, you should see image and video resources loading in the Network tab.
- Right click on the MP4 video file and choose Save As to download it.
This takes a bit more work than other methods, but lets you grab the direct video file without any third-party tools. The Story will be saved as an MP4 video to replay later.
Use Facebook Downloaders
There are also browser extensions and desktop programs designed specifically for downloading videos from Facebook, including Stories. Some options to check out:
- FBDown – Desktop program that downloads videos including Stories.
- Video Downloader for Facebook – Chrome and Firefox extension.
- GetFacebookStories – Python script for downloading Stories.
These tools work by automating the process of extracting media files from Facebook. So you can paste in a Story URL and have the downloader save the video for you. Handy if you need to grab multiple Facebook videos.
Screenshot the Story
If all else fails, you can manually screenshot each frame of a Story. It’s time consuming, but guarantees you’ll have the images for later:
- Open the Story on your phone and tap to advance through each frame.
- Take a screenshot of each frame.
- Open your phone’s gallery and review the screenshots.
- Delete any duplicates or bad shots.
While cumbersome, this approach requires no extra apps or tools. You can even stitch the screenshots together into a video using photo editing software.
Conclusion
Downloading Facebook Stories takes a bit of work since they are designed to be temporary. Your best option is using a dedicated Story saver website/app to extract the Story as a shareable video. Screen recording is handy too for quick saves. Or use developer tools and extensions to grab the Story files directly. With the right approach, you can save any Facebook Story that you really want to keep.