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How To Save Flash Video From Firefox Cache Folder

Copyright © 19 Nov 2007 00:22

Comparing to the previous Firefox guides, this could be an easier 3-minutes guide about how to save (YouTube) flash video, shockwave game, mp3, movie, music, picture, etc from Firefox cache folder.

UPDATE: Adobe Flash automatically caches a copy of Flash video in Windows temp folder of user account using a filename starts with fla and ends with .tmp file extension. You can use HoboCopy to copy these locked, cached video files.

Using YouTube video as example, let’s see how could we save a copy of “Gwen Stefani – What You Waiting For?” from the Firefox cache folder:
  1. Wait for the flash video loading completely, i.e. able to play MTV to the end
     
  2. Open a new tab / window of Firefox and enter about:cache as an URL
     
  3. Take note of the Firefox cache folder path specified in Cache Directory: and browse to this folder with Windows Explorer
    If the Storage In Use greater than or approaching Maximum Storage Size, the video might not be cached completely or you’ll have to increase Maximum Storage Size and reload the MTV again.

    To set Firefox cache folder maximum storage size, click Tools | Option… | Network | Cache
  4. Sort the cached files by file size and try to open the biggest file with Storm Codec-MPC or FlV Player. (The biggest file is likely to be the cached YouTube video)

OK. If you want to know what those files in the Firefox cache folder exactly are, here we go:
  1. While in the about:cache page, click the List Cache Entries link of the Disk cache device section
     
  2. Press CTRL + F to search for Key: (URL) with the get_video keyword and also with the biggest Data Size: (YouTube doesn’t cache the flash video in FLV extension. For other flash video hosting site, you may save time by trying to search for .FLV extension).
     
  3. Right-click the URL and select the Open Link In New Tab and refer to the File on Disk:

P/S: There are many Firefox plugins available to save flash video. However, if you’re not regularly download flash video, then it’s worth to know how to do it manually. Running too many plugins might slow down the Firefox or overall PC performance too :-)


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  2. Brian 14-01-08@13:51

    Very helpful article, thanks

  3. Jet 01-03-08@13:09

    At last, I found an article that explains clearly how to handle the elusive FF cache and temporary files. Easy to understand yet very informative, at least for me.

  4. Webfreak 06-03-08@14:11

    Hey, can you help?

    It says it’s getting information from C:\Documents and Settings\TJ\Local Settings\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xdh4s2k1.default\Cache, but there is no Cache folder in there. Any ideas?

  5. Walker 07-03-08@01:47

    @Webfreak, the about:cache shows “Cache Directory” in the “Disk Cache Device”, i.e. the Cache Directory path is the Firefox cache folder, and the cached files are in this folder.

  6. Webfreak 07-03-08@08:06

    Thanks, the Cache directory wasn’t in the xsomething.default, so I went there on Command Prompt, and typed start Cache. I’m in.

    Thank you! And great guide.

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  8. Juan 11-11-08@22:59

    Hello and thanks for the info. I still have a problem. I am using Firefox 3.0. NOw I am downloading a video file, and the file grows in the cache directory. BUT as soon as the video ends, the cached file is gone. Just like that.

  9. Walker 12-11-08@00:25

    Hi Juan, how big is the cache file when the flash video is almost at the end?

    After the cache file seems disappear, do you have to wait for the video start streaming all over again for replay or it instantly replay?

  10. Juan 12-11-08@05:28

    Walker, thanks for the quick reply. This is the situation:

    the video is at http://www.viddler.com/explore/jimstroud/videos/15/. In case this helps.

    I stop it from playing as I download the video file. In the cache directory, there is this file growing up to about 250000kb and then it stops, even though the file is still downloading. It just does not grow any further; plus, it goes away as soon as the file finishes downloading.

    In the about:cache disk cache device, maximum amount is 50000kb and thereare 179 entries taking up about 30000kb, so plenty empty.

    So… any further ideas? Anyhow, thanks in advance for any help, Juan.

  11. Walker 13-11-08@01:44

    Hi Juan, I’ve tested the link and have the video completely played in the page.

    Then, I browse to the Firefox cache folder, there is a file with size of 36454KB.

    There is also another cache copy (identical) of this video in Windows Temp folder of my user account (cached by flash player plugin, as suggested by Nirsofer – see this post for your information).

    If your Firefox disk cache device is set to max. amount of 50000KB or 50MB, the cache file is not likely kept in full length. However, you may try to look for the fla????.tmp file in your Windows Temp folder (duplicate file cached by flash player plugin).

    To make life easier, use Nirsofer VideoCacheView program (I don’t recommend a program that doing simple thing unless it’s a standalone program that doesn’t require installation, e.g. Nirsofer’s software).

    Good luck.

  12. jimchow 03-12-08@12:04

    i running xp pro sp3, firefox 3.04, tried nirsofer programs, orbitdownloader, and many other DL prgs.
    i’ve manually checked the cache folder for FF and windows temp folder
    i can’t find the video. there’s nothing large.
    oh, this is a google video

    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8677521434864225474&hl=en
    mathematical infinity and human destiny

    any ideas on how to save the video?

  13. Walker 03-12-08@23:35

    I managed to locate the flash temp file manually; it’s also possible to copy the video with Nirsofer freeware.

  14. Rhubarb 31-12-08@07:18

    Thank you for this – your tutorial has saved me a lot of trouble :-)

  15. Shad 30-01-09@18:40

    Seems great, but having trouble with a news site up here in Canada (eh).

    http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?rn=222561&cl=11769943&ch=222562

    Is the link.. can’t seem to find it anywhere, even with those utilities…

  16. Yunabanger 25-02-09@14:40

    Yes, that is true. I have done that many times. However, I have a different problem. Sometimes when a video is completely buffered, it moves OUT of the “temporary internet files” folder that Firefox uses and loads the video in the computers memory. I first noticed this when I was watching a video that was 1 hour long, and Firefox was using 350 MB memory usage. I set Firefox to use 5 GB of hard drive space and it still moved it to the RAM. There must be a way to stop that.

  17. Suresh 30-04-09@14:07

    Thanks for the very helpful info.

  18. expo 18-05-09@02:35

    Great..
    Thanks very good.

  19. thoi 24-05-09@23:02

    But sometimes i still don’t find flash file in the cache(FF) eg from sites like SHUFUNI? nor in the temp also? can someone have advice for this. THNX

  20. thoi 24-05-09@23:04

    what are this “”"_CACHE_003_”" ??? which size keep increasing?

  21. CS 12-06-09@05:51

    Thanks! Very helpful info…

  22. Mark 13-06-09@03:06

    Good tips thanks!

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  24. Sasha 21-07-09@02:07

    After viewing (or at least letting it fully download) a video you want to download (DON’T watch any other videos after!).
    Start a new tab in FF and type about:cache
    Start at the top of the list and look for a .FLV the most recent entry should be the video you are looking for (at least it worked for me for vids from http://www.pinkbike.com
    Copy the URL that shows up as: Key
    Paste it into your browser.
    Open and save with VLC or whatever.

  25. Dexter 15-08-09@11:25

    THANKS, very useful!

  26. Kels 27-08-09@07:32

    Ok…I’ve tried all of these lately…but didn’t work for me I guess since last Firefox update. Well, I had to find it on my own. Since this file has to be stored somewhere, I figured that using a disk space explorer(Tuneup Disk Space explorer) I’d look for the latest large temp files stored on my hd. Didn’t take much to find about 5 different large files or lesser all named with prefix fla(ex:fla826.tmp) all in my “user”\AppData\Local\Temp folder. Just copied it somewhere renamed it .flv and yes, there it goes. All my recent viewed flash videos where stored in this same unique folder. I’ve tried it using youtube, megavideo and an other one used on watchsmallvilleonline.org. And it works for all of’em. Just give it a try It’s amazing how easy it was. And I’ve spent months searching the web for this. Hoo well. By the way make sure you make hidden folders visible in windows explorer.

  27. Kels 27-08-09@07:35

    just tried with dailymotion, and yes, it works for it too.

  28. Kevin 20-09-09@04:41

    Ooh, I’m “this” close to figuring it out. It’s been driving me nuts. But I still can’t find the method for saving an embedded video correctly. I like to do workouts using the Real Age website, but sometimes their videos hang and won’t catch up.
    I’m using FF 3,5,3 but Sothink Web Video Downloader doesn’t even show that there is a video available to dl when I view this page:
    http://www.realage.com/videos/?bclid=5030523001

    Can anyone, surely much smarter than me, figure out a way to dl and save these videos? I’d be very grateful. Thanks.

  29. pdenton 23-12-09@17:33

    cool thx a million. internet explorers cache was alot easier to get vids from but then again it is not as good as firefox. the thing that tricked me in firefox was they didn’t have it set up to where you can identify the format it was in :D

  30. jl2ok 29-01-10@07:57

    i puled the plug on my computer went in to %temp% and copied it to doc’s then tried to rename it as .flv but the computer gave me an eror sayin i ad to choose a name so i put happy.flv but when i tried to open the file offline the file still retaind the .tmp extension and the complete file name was written “happy.flv.tmp” and still wont play wat do i do?”

  31. jl2ok 29-01-10@08:47

    wow i fixed my own problem for once yea ok well heres how i fived this 1 problems i wnt to tools>folder options>- and changed how i was seeing the file by unselecting the hide extion to known files and the i renamed the filehappy.flv and it worked
    but thnks for all the help

  32. forent 26-03-10@11:45

    many thanks…it really help…

  33. releva 22-05-10@12:18

    To make things easier, you can first clear the cache before you play the video. Go to Tools>Advance>Network> Click Clear now under offline storage cache. The cache will reset to 0 and once you play your video, the cache size will increase again. Look for the biggest cache, thats the video file. Click on the url and it will prompt you to save it.

  34. qrays 29-05-10@01:09

    This technique doesn’t work any more with the latest version of Firefox 3.6.3. All videos are temporarily stored in “C:\Users\”user”\AppData\Local\Temp” as *.tmp. While watching any video the file size increases until it downloads it all and the size stays same as long as video is playing.

    Now, when you try to copy this file, the system doesn’t allow you to copy as the video is currently in use. However, when you close video page on FF, then that *.tmp file immediately gets lost.

    Any new ideas how to save this file?

  35. Walker 29-05-10@02:06

    You may use Hobocopy (to copied opened / in-used files) or try to use VideoCacheView of Nirsoft.

  36. offlineFlashVideo 05-06-10@00:53

    Thank you very match for your help,

    VideoCacheVeiw (need not installation) it realy help

  37. mrjoecanadian 25-06-10@09:08

    thanks for the info I have found the file and have played it but what is the file extension so I can rename it.

  38. Nicole 19-07-10@18:03

    This was hugely helpful. Thank you so much!

  39. Eureka 10-09-10@01:39

    I tried the about:cache.It showed a long list of cached files.I located my file,then copied it to another folder,changing the extension to .flv(originally shown in .xhtml).But it still does not work.Any idea how to solve this.Thanks in advance…

  40. Ahak 18-09-10@22:26

    My cache memory is 18mb i cant download video files more than 18mb after complete buffering… is there any way to extend this size to atlest 30mb.. i m using firefox BTW.. and using IDM for downloading youtube videos.. i can download files smaller than 18mb with just a single click but for larger sizes i have to wait for complete download.. any suggestions???

  41. Zayyad 28-09-10@04:26

    Yep nirsoft is the solution. thank you very much walker.

  42. dudee 19-01-11@07:29

    its awesome many tanx*

  43. arjun 08-02-11@17:40

    hi…
    actually the video is stored in the temp folder in windows

    enter the keyword %temp% in run and get to the location and copy the video… it ‘ll have an extension like fla20.tmp(say). or the location of the file is…
    C:\DOCUME~1\your windows username\LOCALS~1\Temp

  44. desdecode 07-04-11@03:22

    For linux users, here’s a little bash script I wrote that reads your firefox cache, finds flash files over a certain size, saves them in directory and opens the directory with nautilus to browse the extracted videos/flash files. I hope somebody finds it useful.

  45. Christer 08-04-11@03:03

    I’d just like to download this flash video for personal viewing on my computer on demand. Would anyone be kind enough to help me? I’d be ever so grateful for some help. Thanks in advance. :)

  46. waleed 20-07-11@01:04

    I am using window 7, Firefox 5 and IDM 6.07, but I could not download large videos from cache, I can download from cache only small videos (less than 5MB).
    But While when I was using firefox 3.6 and IDM 5.19 I used to download any video from YouTube from cache?

  47. Tarun 24-01-12@14:22

    For all of those who are having the problem of auto deletion of cache files after the buffering is complete.

    Here’s what i do
    > Copy the concerned file from the cache folder, make sure you pick the right one(its size will be continuously increasing as buffering progresses). while Firefox is playing your video(music video, porn whatever).
    > 10 or 20 seconds(depends on you how quick you are as it doesnt take more than 2 seconds) before the completion of buffering you copy it somewhere in the hardrive(Desktop is the most convenient).

    Two or three seconds of trimmed video wont bother that much.

    One more very important thing this works for Firefox versions prior to Firefox 4 as in later versions they split the cache file into puddle of small cache files,
    it will be like searching a needle in a haystack

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