Reel Saver for FacebookInstall with the installer (Windows)
- Download ReelSaver-Setup-1.1.1.exe and double-click it. Click Yes when Windows asks for permission. It installs into C:\Program Files\Reel Saver and adds a Reel Saver icon on the Desktop and in the Start menu.
- Double-click the Reel Saver icon. It opens the extensions page in Chrome (or Edge) and copies the extension folder path.
- Turn on Developer mode, click Load unpacked, paste the path (Ctrl+V) and click Select Folder. Chrome does not let any program do these last clicks for you.
Install from the zip (one time)
- Unzip it somewhere it can stay, for example C:\Tools\ReelSaver. Chrome runs it from that folder, so don't delete the folder afterwards.
- In Chrome go to chrome://extensions (in Edge, edge://extensions).
- Turn on Developer mode (the switch at the top right).
- Click Load unpacked and pick the unzipped folder, the one with manifest.json in it.
- Click the puzzle piece on the toolbar and pin Reel Saver so its icon stays visible.
- Reload any Facebook tab that was already open.
It isn't in the Chrome Web Store, which is why it goes in this way. Chrome may remind you now and then that a developer-mode extension is installed; that is normal.
Updating from 1.0.0: unzip the new version over the old folder (or into a new folder and Load unpacked again), then click the reload arrow on the Reel Saver card at chrome://extensions and reload your Facebook tab. Skip the reload and the toolbar list says "Could not start".
Use
- Open a reel or video on Facebook. A green Download reel button sits at the bottom left of the page. Click it.
- A note above the button shows progress and tells you when everything is saved. A 30 second reel takes a few seconds.
- Or click the toolbar icon. It lists every video the page has loaded, with the one you're watching on top. Save best quality does the same as the page button.
- The number on the icon is how many videos the page has loaded so far.
Gray button, or "No video links found"? Let the reel play for a second, then click again or press Look again in the toolbar list.
Files go to Downloads\Facebook Reels and never replace a file you already have: a second copy gets (1) added to its name. Tick Ask where to save the finished video in the toolbar list if you want to pick the folder for the joined file each time.
What one click saves
Facebook sends most reels as two separate tracks, one with the picture and one with the sound. One click saves three files:
| Facebook reel 123… 1920p.mp4 | Picture and sound joined into one ordinary MP4. This is the one to watch or share. |
| … video 1920p.mp4 | The picture track exactly as Facebook sent it (no sound). |
| … audio.m4a | The sound track exactly as Facebook sent it. |
The joining happens inside Chrome on your own computer. Nothing is re-encoded, so there is no quality loss, and you don't need FFmpeg or any other program. Reels that come as one ready-made file with sound save as that single file, and the toolbar list still offers Save HD and Save SD when Facebook provides them.
The best-quality picture track is often VP9. Chrome, VLC and the Windows player handle it fine; some video editors, Premiere among them, don't import VP9, so convert those first.
Keyframes
A keyframe is a full picture the video is built from; the frames between them only store changes. Reel Saver can save each keyframe as a full-size JPG.
- Click Keyframes next to a video in the toolbar list to save just the pictures.
- Or tick Also save keyframes as pictures (JPG) at the bottom of the toolbar list, and every Download reel click saves them too.
- They go in a folder named Facebook reel <number> keyframes inside Facebook Reels, and each name says when it appears, for example keyframe 03 at 0m10s.jpg.
- Facebook puts a keyframe about every 2 to 5 seconds, so a 30 second reel gives roughly 6 to 15 pictures.
Privacy
- It reads the video links Facebook already sends to your own browser. No account, no outside server, nothing is sent anywhere. Joining and keyframes run inside Chrome on your computer.
- It only ever downloads from Facebook's own servers (facebook.com and fbcdn.net).
- It changes nothing on the page except adding its one button, which you can hide in the toolbar list.
When it stops finding videos
Facebook changes its page code often. The part that finds the video links is parser.js. After editing parser.js or src\inject.js, run build.sh (or copy the two files together into page.js) and click the reload arrow for Reel Saver on chrome://extensions. A new version will be posted here when one is needed.
Use it for what you have a right to
Your own reels, reference copies and fair use. Saving a video doesn't change who owns it, and Facebook's terms set limits on downloading. That judgment is yours.
What is inside
| manifest.json | Tells Chrome what the extension is and what it may do. |
| content.js, page.js, parser.js | Find the video links on Facebook pages and draw the Download reel button. |
| background.js | Does the actual downloads, from Facebook's servers only, and saves the files the extension builds. |
| mp4.js | Reads the video and audio tracks and joins them into one MP4 without re-encoding. |
| offscreen.html, offscreen.js | A hidden extension page that fetches the tracks, joins them and pulls out the keyframes, all on your computer. |
| popup.html, popup.js | The toolbar list and its three settings. |
| README.txt | These instructions. Read it here. |