Twitch is the leading game streaming platform in the world, and many aspire to be one of its stars. After all, who doesn’t want to make a living doing what they love and entertaining thousands of beloved fans? That said, building a large following on Twitch can take quite a bit of work and luck.
Whether you want to be a main streamer on Twitch or you just want to download segments of your favorite games, you need to know how to get Twitch videos. It’s not as easy as you think, but this guide will guide you through the best methods for storing your favorite videos to your hard drive.
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How to download your own Twitch videos
Twitch allows you to download your own videos of previous broadcasts. This is perfect for streamers who want to upload videos to another service, like YouTube or Vimeo, or for those who want to save the best bits of each stream for montages.
If you have a basic Twitch account, you have 14 days from the broadcast date to download the video. If you’re a Twitch Contributor or Twitch Partner, that time may change within 60 days of the broadcast date.
However, before you do anything else, make sure the video is automatically saved to your profile. Go Twitch > Setting > Channel and Videos and slideshows Archive of past broadcasts switch to Above Position. When you do this, the video will automatically be saved to your account once the playback is over.
Any video you stream or broadcast will be transferred to your account. You can easily access them by clicking on your account icon and then Video producer. Once in the Video Producer page, click the three dots to the right next to the video name and select Download. After you click here, the video will take a few seconds to prepare and will then download to your computer.
How to download someone else’s Twitch video
If you see a particularly hilarious broadcast that you’d like to show others or just watch again in the future, it’s a bit more difficult to download these shows. Twitch doesn’t have a built-in tool for downloading other people’s broadcasts, but the good news is that there are plenty of third-party tools out there to do exactly that.
Make sure you’re not violating any copyright laws or Twitch policies by downloading these videos.
KeepVid
One potential option is KeepVid, a service that acts as a free Twitch video downloader. All you have to do is copy the URL of the video you want to download and then paste it in the bar at the top of the page.
When you do this, KeepVid will convert the Twitch video into a downloadable format. The time it takes to convert a video will vary depending on the length of the Twitch video, but when it’s finished, a small preview will appear as well as a “Download Video” button. Just click this button to save the file to your computer.
If you want more customization, you only have to scroll down the page a bit to find different video formats and audio options, including the option to download videos in a small format like 284×160.
Twitch Leecher
Twitch Leecher is a free third party application available from Github. It has a powerful search feature built into the tool, but if you’re looking for a specific video and you don’t know the channel name, you might have better luck searching the Twitch website. You can search by three different criteria: channel name, video URL or video ID.
Each search can be further refined. For example, when searching by channel name, you can search for broadcasts, highlights, or uploads within a specific time frame. When searching for a video URL or ID, you can search for multiple videos at once. After you perform a search, results are displayed and you have the option to download what you find.
One thing to note is that it’s not possible to download subscriber-only videos (those that are subscriber-only on a specific channel) using Twitch Leecher.
Streamlink
Twitch Leecher is a Windows-only tool, but there is a Mac option called Streamlink serves a similar function. The problem is that it takes a little more know-how to use. The Github page for Streamlink provides a user guide and explanation on how to use it, which makes it one of the best options for Mac users who don’t want to use an online download tool like KeepVid.
4K . Video Downloader
Some high-end streamers will stream content in 4K. If you want the best possible quality for your favorite streamer’s videos, you’ll need a tool to download 4K content. 4K . Video Downloader is a tool that works on both Mac and Windows and can pull in a variety of resolutions, not just 4K.
To use this tool, you need to download and install the app. Copy the URL of the Twitch stream you want to download and launch the app. Option Paste the link in the upper right corner. This will open a menu where you can select the video quality and then download the file.
There is a free and paid version of 4K Video Downloader. For the basic, no-pay plan, you can download 30 Twitch videos per day.
More options for downloading videos on Twitch
A quick Google search will turn up dozens or more third-party tools for downloading videos on Twitch, but you should be wary of using anything you’re not familiar with. Many of these tools are sketchy and come from unreliable sources and can put your machine and data at risk.
