Downloading a video whose link starts with blob:
You inspected the player, found something like blob:https://example.com/9f2c…, pasted it into a new tab and nothing happened. You did nothing wrong: that address cannot be opened from outside, and no online converter will ever do anything with it.
What a blob: URL actually is
A blob: does not point to a file on a server. It is a reference to data living in the tab's memory, created by the page's own JavaScript through URL.createObjectURL(). The browser invents it so it can hand those bytes to the player.
That explains the three things people discover by trial and error: it is only valid inside that tab, it dies on reload, and it means nothing in another browser or on another computer. There is no server to ask, because the content does not sit at any public URL.
Why online converters cannot help here
"Paste a link and we'll download it" sites work in exactly one way: their server requests that address itself. Give it a blob: and its server has neither the tab, nor the session, nor the memory holding the data. It is not unwillingness — there is nothing to point at.
That is the underlying difference. The video has to be captured from inside the browser, while it plays, which is where the data actually exists.
What sits underneath the blob — and can be downloaded
Almost always, behind a blob: there is a video in pieces: the player requests segments described by an .m3u8 (HLS) or .mpd (DASH) manifest and stitches them together in memory. The blob: is the result of that stitching, not the source.
YDownloadNow works on the source: it watches what the player is requesting, fetches those same segments and joins them into an ordinary MP4 on your machine. That is why it works where pasting the link does not.
Step by step
- Install the extensionAdd YDownloadNow to Chrome, Edge or Firefox. No sign-up required.
- Open the page and press playLet the video run for a few seconds — that is when the player requests the manifest and the first segments.
- Open the extensionThe detected video appears in the list with its estimated size and available qualities, if any.
- Pick a quality and downloadThe file is assembled on your machine and saved as MP4. The first time, it asks where you want to keep it.
Frequently asked questions
Can I copy the blob URL and paste it into the extension?
No, and that is not our limitation: the address only exists inside the tab that created it. The extension does not need it — it detects the video on its own while it plays.
The video plays fine, so why can't it be downloaded?
Playing and saving are different things. The player receives data in chunks and consumes them; to end up with a file, every chunk has to be collected and joined, which is exactly what the extension does.
Does it handle videos over 1 GB?
Yes. The download is written straight to disk as it progresses instead of holding the whole file in memory, which is what usually breaks other tools on long videos.
Does it work with Netflix, Prime Video or Disney+?
No. That content is protected by DRM (Widevine, PlayReady, FairPlay) and is encrypted; the extension detects it and marks it as not downloadable rather than producing a useless file. We do not bypass DRM.