Guide
How to download a Dailymotion video
Step by step: save a Dailymotion video as MP4 on iPhone, Android, Windows and Mac — finding the right link, picking a quality, and where the file goes.
Checked · By DailymotionDownloader
Dailymotion has no button for keeping a copy of a video — its own help centre lists offline sync as unsupported on every platform. This guide covers how to save a public Dailymotion video as an MP4 on each kind of device, how to pick a quality, and what to do when a link will not work.
The short version
- Grab the link. Tap Share under the video on Dailymotion and pick Copy link, or copy the address bar on a computer. A short dai.ly link is fine.
- Paste and press Download. Put the link in the box at the top of this page. The video's public details load, with each quality it comes in and its cover image.
- Choose a quality. The best copy sits at the top of the list. Tap it, or a smaller one, and the MP4 is saved to your device under a name that says what it is.
Finding the right link
Most failed attempts start here. The address has to lead to a single video: a channel page, a playlist, or a news article with a Dailymotion player inside it will not do.
- From the Share button: under the video, tap or clickShare, then Copy link. This usually gives you a short
dai.lylink. - From the address bar: on a computer, open the video so it is the main thing on the page and copy the URL.
- From an embedded player: if the video is embedded on a news site or blog, use the player's own Share option or the Dailymotion logo, which opens the video on Dailymotion.
Any of these forms works:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8abc12https://dai.ly/x8abc12https://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x8abc12dailymotion.com/video/x8abc12?playlist=x6xyz9
The part that matters is the video id — the short code beginning withx. A title slug, a playlist parameter or tracking tags after it are ignored.
Device notes
iPhone and iPad
In the Dailymotion app or Safari, tap Share under the video, then Copy link. Paste it here and pick a quality. Safari puts the MP4 in Files → Downloads; from there, Share → Save Video copies it into your Photos library.
Android
Tap Share under the video and choose Copy link. After you pick a quality here, Chrome saves the MP4 to your Downloads folder, and most gallery apps show it within a few seconds.
Windows
Open the video on dailymotion.com and copy the address bar, or use Share → Copy link. The MP4 goes to your Downloads folder and plays in the built-in Media Player, VLC, or any browser.
Mac
Copy the link the same way. Safari, Chrome and Firefox all save to Downloads, and the MP4 opens in QuickTime Player without any extra software.
Choosing a quality
The list shows each quality the video is streamed in, highest first. 380p, 480p and 720p are the usual ones, and many uploads also offer 1080p. A rough rule:
- To keep: the top row.
- To watch on a phone: 480p or 720p looks sharp on a small screen at a fraction of the size.
- On mobile data or a nearly full phone: one of the lower rows.
If the list stops at 720p, that is the highest copy Dailymotion streams for that video, and no tool can produce a sharper one. The quality explainer covers why that happens and roughly how large each tier is.
Saving the thumbnail
Under the video, the cover image is listed as its own item at each size Dailymotion publishes. It downloads as a normal image file, which is handy for a playlist cover or a reference frame.
When a link does not work
When a lookup fails, the message on screen says why instead of a vague "something went wrong". The most common ones are a channel or playlist link instead of a video link, a private or password-protected video, a region-locked video, and a results page left open long enough for its links to expire. Each one, with its fix, is in the troubleshooting guide.