How to Download Twitter (X) Videos on iPhone and iPad

Save Twitter (X) videos on iPhone or iPad with Safari and Twget. Learn where downloads go in the Files app, how to move them to Photos, and how to fix iOS quirks.

Twget Team·公開日 2025年9月7日·読了時間 7 分

iphoneipadtwitter video downloadsafari

Saving a video from X (formerly Twitter) on an iPhone is entirely possible without installing an app or paying for X Premium. The part that trips people up is not the download itself but what iOS does with the file afterwards. This guide covers the whole path with Safari and Twget: copying the link, downloading, finding the file in the Files app, and moving it into Photos.

What you need

An iPhone or iPad running a reasonably recent iOS or iPadOS (Safari has supported file downloads since iOS 13).
Safari, or another browser such as Chrome or Firefox for iOS. This guide uses Safari because it ships with every device and integrates with the Files app.
A link to a public X post that contains the video.

No X account or login is required, and Twget never stores the video on its side. If the post is from a protected account or has been deleted, the download will not work; why Twitter video downloads fail lists those cases and their fixes.

Step 1: Copy the post link from the X app

Open the X app and find the post with the video.
Tap the Share icon under the post.
Tap Copy link.

If you browse X in Safari instead of the app, tap the address bar while the post is open, then tap the URL and choose Copy. Either way the link looks like https://x.com/username/status/....

Step 2: Download the video with Twget in Safari

Open Safari and go to Twget.
Tap the input field and choose Paste, then tap Download.
Twget shows the post preview and the available qualities. Tap the one you want; for most phone screens 720p is a good balance, and the quality guide explains when 1080p is worth the extra size.
Safari asks whether you want to download the file. Tap Download.

A small download arrow icon appears at the top of Safari's toolbar. Tap it to see progress and, once finished, to open the file directly. That icon is the fastest way back to the file, so if you cannot find something later, it is the first place to look.

If Safari plays the video instead of downloading it

Occasionally Safari opens the MP4 in its built-in player instead of saving it. If that happens, tap the video, then the Share icon, and choose Save Video to send it straight to Photos, or Save to Files to store it as a file. Both work fine; Photos is usually what people want.

Step 3: Find the file in the Files app

By default, Safari places downloads in a folder called Downloads inside the Files app. Apple's own guide, Find your downloaded files on iPhone, describes the route: open Files, tap Browse at the bottom, then tap Downloads. The same page notes that if a file is missing, you can tap the download icon in Safari to check status and jump to the file.

Depending on your iCloud settings, that Downloads folder lives either in iCloud Drive or On My iPhone. If you switch iCloud Drive on or off at some point, files may end up in the other location, so check both. You can also change the default location in Safari's settings; Apple's Safari settings page covers where those options live.

The Files basics guide is worth a skim if you have never opened the app before. It explains the Browse view, tags, and how files from different apps are organised.

Step 4: Save the video to Photos

A file in the Files app plays when tapped, but it will not appear in your camera roll or in the video picker of most apps until you move it to Photos:

In Files, open the Downloads folder and tap the MP4 to open it.
Tap the Share icon in the bottom-left corner.
Scroll the actions list and tap Save Video.

The clip now appears in the Photos app. It shows up under Recents and in the Videos album, and Apple's Find recently saved photos and videos page describes where recently added items surface. After that, you can delete the copy in Files to avoid keeping the video twice.

iOS quirks worth knowing

Videos in Files do not count as "media" for most apps

Video editors, messaging apps, and X itself pick videos from Photos, not from Files. If an app cannot see your download, that is why: move it to Photos as described above.

Downloads can be paused if you leave Safari

Large files, for example a long 1080p clip from a Premium account, may stall if Safari is backgrounded for a long time. Keep Safari in the foreground until the download arrow stops animating. X's media upload documentation states that Premium accounts can post videos up to 125 minutes and 16 GB, so it is worth checking the size Twget shows next to each quality before you start on mobile data.

GIFs arrive as silent MP4 loops

What X calls a GIF is a short, silent MP4. It saves to Photos as a video and loops in the X app when you share it. If you need a real .gif file, see how to save Twitter GIFs.

Low Power Mode and Storage

iOS may defer or fail downloads when the device is nearly out of space. Free up room and try again if a download ends without a file.

Using Chrome or Firefox on iPhone

Third-party browsers on iOS use Apple's WebKit engine, so the Twget flow is identical. The difference is where the file lands: Chrome and Firefox each keep their own Downloads list, and they also offer a share sheet so you can send the video to Photos or Files. If you get stuck, the built-in Safari route above is the most predictable.

iPad differences

iPadOS behaves the same way as iOS for downloads: the Files app has the same Downloads folder and the same Share sheet. The main advantage on iPad is that you can put X in one window and Safari with Twget in another using Split View, which makes copying links between them faster. If you use a Mac too, the Mac and Windows guide is the next step; and if someone in your household is on Android, the Android guide covers Chrome and Samsung Internet.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to install a shortcut or app?

No. Twget is a website, so nothing is installed. Some Shortcuts-based methods exist, but they break whenever X changes its API, and a browser flow avoids that fragility.

Why is there no "Save Video" option in the Share sheet?

If the file is still downloading, Safari does not show it yet. Wait for the download to finish, or open the file from the Files app and share it from there. If you opened the MP4 from an in-page player and only see "Save to Files," save it to Files first and then share it to Photos.

Can I download from X's own app instead of copying the link?

X offers a built-in download option only to Premium subscribers, and only for videos that creators have allowed. With Twget you copy the link out of the app and paste it in Safari. The full guide to downloading Twitter videos covers the free method on every platform.

Conclusion

On iPhone the recipe is copy link, paste into Twget, download in Safari, then move the file from Files to Photos. Once you have done it once, the whole thing takes under a minute. Open Twget in Safari and try it with the next clip you want to keep.