Twitter video downloader not working? Causes and fixes
Deleted posts, sign-in walls, rate limits, blocked downloads: what each failure means and how to get a Twitter/X video download working again.
Every Twitter video downloader stops working now and then. Sometimes the post is the problem, sometimes X changed something, and sometimes it is a setting on your own computer. This guide goes through the causes in order of how often they happen, with the fix for each.
Start here: three quick checks
- Open the post on x.com yourself. If X says the post is unavailable, no tool can download it. If you can only see it while signed in, a signed-out tool cannot either.
- Reload the page, or for a website, paste the link again. Temporary errors from X are common and usually clear within seconds.
- Check the link points at the post with the video, not at a reply or a quoting post. See how to copy the right link.
When the post itself is the problem
"This post is no longer available"
The post was deleted, its author's account was suspended, or the account became protected. X stops serving the media in all three cases. If it was deleted, read what you can still do about a deleted video.
"Sign in to X to download this media"
X shows this media to signed-in users only. It happens with posts marked as sensitive or age-restricted. Sign in to x.com in the same browser and try again. More in what X shows without an account.
The video is in a quoted post
The media belongs to the post being quoted, not to the one you are looking at. Twitter Video Downloader saves quoted media from the outer post's button; if it asks you to open the quoted post, click the quote to open it and download from there. With link-based tools, always use the quoted post's link.
It is a live broadcast or a Space
Streams are not stored as a single MP4, so most downloaders cannot save them. yt-dlp supports some recorded broadcasts and Spaces.
When X is the problem
"The download limit was reached" or "Too many requests"
X limits how many requests each account or visitor can make in a period of time. Downloading dozens of posts in a row can hit that limit. Wait until the limit resets, often within 15 minutes. Signed-in users get a considerably higher limit than signed-out visitors.
"X rejected the session"
Your X login has expired or X no longer trusts it. Open x.com, sign out and back in if needed, reload the page and try again.
A tool that worked yesterday fails on everything
X changed how its site or media requests work. There is nothing to fix on your
side: the tool has to be updated. Websites usually recover within days; for
yt-dlp, run yt-dlp -U to get the latest version; extensions
update automatically from the Chrome Web Store. If you do not want to wait,
switch to a different type of downloader in the meantime.
When the download button is missing
If you use Twitter Video Downloader and see no download icon under posts:
- Reload the x.com tab. Tabs opened before the extension was installed or updated do not have it.
-
Check that it is enabled at
chrome://extensions. - Check site access. On the extension's Details page, "Site access" must allow x.com. If it is set to "On click", the extension waits for you to click its icon on every visit.
- Look for a second downloader. Two download extensions on the same page can get in each other's way. Disable the other one and reload.
- Update Chrome. The extension needs Chrome 111 or newer.
- Using a private window? Extensions do not run in Incognito unless you switch on "Allow in Incognito" on their Details page.
In the full-screen media viewer, the button sits in the row beside reply, repost and like. In a narrow window X hides that row, and the button with it; widen the window or download from the post instead.
When the download starts but no file appears
Open Chrome's download list with Ctrl + J (on a Mac, Cmd + Shift + J) and read the status of the failed item:
| Chrome says | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Failed - Disk full | No space left | Free up space, retry |
| Failed - Insufficient permissions | Chrome cannot write to the folder | Choose a different download folder in Chrome's settings |
| Failed - Network error | The transfer was cut off | Retry; check VPN or proxy |
| Failed - Blocked | A policy or antivirus blocked it | Check your antivirus or work computer policy |
If a save dialog appears for every file, Chrome's "Ask where to save each file before downloading" setting is on. Turn it off in Chrome's settings under Downloads.
Still stuck? Send a useful report
"It doesn't work" is hard to act on. Twitter Video Downloader has a Diagnostics button in its popup that copies a short list of what actually went wrong: recent failure codes and whether the extension ran on x.com at all. It contains no links, file names or post contents, and it only leaves your computer if you paste it somewhere. Include it, along with your Chrome version, when you report the problem.
Frequently asked questions
Why do download websites fail on some posts but not others?
They see X as a signed-out visitor. Posts from protected accounts and many sensitive posts are invisible to them. A tool that works through your own browser session, such as an extension, does not have that problem.
Why does the video download without sound?
If it was a GIF, it never had sound. Otherwise, some tools download X's streaming pieces separately and fail to merge the audio. Use a tool that saves X's complete MP4 files, which always include the audio track.
The download worked, but the file is blurry.
That is a quality problem rather than a failure; see how to download Twitter videos in HD.