Mastodon is a federation of thousands of independently run servers, and its video culture — artists, journalists, academics, the chronically online — is scattered across all of them. Some instances offer download buttons; most do not. A downloader that understands any public instance's links turns the whole fediverse into one save button.
How to download a Mastodon video
- Open the post on its home instance — URLs look like
mastodon.social/@user/123or any other domain. - Paste it into our Mastodon downloader and press Download.
- Save the MP4.
Federation, briefly
- Any instance works — the downloader reads the public post data each server publishes.
- Instance rules still apply. Some servers require sign-ups or limit media; their public posts remain fetchable.
- Boosts are links too. Boosted video posts resolve at their original home.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need the post's original instance link?
Any public link that opens the post works — Mastodon redirects across instances.
Is quality good?
Instances cap media sizes, so expect up to 1080p with modest bitrates — honest, small files.
Are there length limits?
Yes — instances set media caps (often 1–8 minutes), so videos are compact.
Archive the fediverse
Open the Mastodon downloader or paste any link on the home page.
