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How to download videos from private FB groups
…before they’re gone forever
A few days ago, I registered in one of those online challenges. During a week, you had to watch videos and work on daily goals. I knew this challenge brings high-value information, but I had no time to view the content.
Organizers used a private Facebook group in which they live-streamed the sessions, posted updates, and moderated discussions with their audience.
Later, they announced that the group stays, but they will delete all the videos. The challenge was coming to an end, and I had two options — watch all videos in one day, or download them and watch later at my pace. Naturally, I opted for the second choice.
Disclaimer: I don’t endorse piracy in any way. In this post, I show you how to download content to which you were already authorized. I encourage you to download videos only for personal use and not share them with anyone else. Please respect the rights of the original authors.
Figuring out how to download the content took me several hours of trial-and-error. Usually, videos streamed to your phone or PC are segmented into tiny chunks, which are only a couple of seconds long. All these chunks are listed in a Manifest, and if you find this file, you can download all the segments and join them together. I’m…
