Pinterest is packed with short videos: recipes, workouts, DIY projects, hairstyles, room makeovers. You can save a pin to a board, but that only keeps a bookmark inside Pinterest. If the pin is removed, or you want to watch it offline or use it in a mood board outside the app, you need the video file itself.

Can you download videos in the Pinterest app?

Pinterest lets you download images from many pins, but for videos the option is usually missing. Some creators' video pins can't be saved in the app at all. The method below works for any public video pin, on any device.

Download a Pinterest video in four steps

  1. Open the video pin and tap the share button (or the three dots), then Copy link.
  2. Open the Pinterest video downloader in your browser.
  3. Paste the link and press Download.
  4. Choose a quality and save the MP4.

Both full links (pinterest.com/pin/...) and short links (pin.it/...) work, as do country versions such as pinterest.co.uk or pinterest.de.

Where the video is saved

  • iPhone: Safari puts it in the Files app under Downloads. Open it, tap Share, then Save Video to move it into Photos.
  • Android: Chrome saves it to Downloads, and most gallery apps show it in a Downloads album.
  • Windows and Mac: it lands in your usual Downloads folder.

Image pins work too

Paste the link of a photo pin and you get the original full-size image instead of the smaller copy Pinterest shows in the feed. Pins with several pages list each image or clip separately.

Why a pin might not download

Sometimes the pin is only a bookmark. Many pins point to a video on YouTube, a blog or a shop, so the video isn't on Pinterest at all. Tap through to the source to see where it lives.

The other common reason is that the pin was deleted, or the account that posted it went private. In both cases the link stops working for everyone.

Using Pinterest videos the right way

Pinterest is built on sharing, but the videos still belong to the people who made them. A few good habits:

  • Personal use is the common case: saving a recipe video to cook from offline, or a workout to follow without Wi-Fi.
  • For mood boards and client presentations, credit the creator and link back to the original pin.
  • Don't re-upload someone's video as your own, on Pinterest or anywhere else. Ask first if you want to repost it.

Making the video easier to share

Pinterest videos are usually small already, but if you've saved a long one and want to send it:

Quick troubleshooting

If nothing happens after pasting, check that you copied the pin itself and not a board or a profile. Open the pin on its own and copy the link again.

If a pin.it short link fails, open it in your browser first. It redirects to the full pin, and you can copy that address instead.

If the video has no sound, it may have been uploaded that way. Recipe and craft clips often are. Check whether it plays with sound in the app.

Copy a video pin link and paste it into the Pinterest downloader to save the MP4 in a few seconds.