You can downloaded embedded Flash videos inside of a browser. This article covers getting videos inside of Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox.
Flash animation files are embedded as SWF (Small Web Format) files in web pages. With a bit of elbow grease, it is possible to download these files without the overhead of browser extensions. Here’s how you can do it on Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer.
Download Flash Files Using Chrome
To download SWF files in Chrome without the express help of any extensions, you have to dive into some of Chrome’s tools that are favored by developers. Don’t worry, the steps are simple enough.
- Open the Flash video on a Chrome tab and allow it to load completely. Right-click on an empty area and select Inspect Element from the context menu.
- The Developer Tools opens up in a separate frame at the bottom of the browser screen.
- Instead of searching for the specific SWF file in the jumble of code, click on the magnifying glass icon which says – Select an element in the page to inspect it. Using the selection also helps if there are more than one video on the page.
- Click on the Flash video which gets highlighted in blue. Correspondingly, the object path is also selected in the code.
- Select the URL and paste it in the address bar of Chrome, and then open it again.
- Open the drop-down Chrome menu (Customize and control Google Chrome) from the top-right and click on Save page as. Save the flash video to your computer disk.
You should also know how to enable Flash in ChromeHow to Enable Flash in Chrome in 5 Easy StepsHow to Enable Flash in Chrome in 5 Easy StepsGoogle Chrome doesn't want you to use Adobe Flash Player. Here's how to enable Flash in Chrome in case you need it.Read More in case you need it.
Download Flash Files Using Firefox
Launch Firefox and load to the page which contains the embedded SWF Flash file that you want to download. Let the SWF file stream through once completely.
- On any empty part of the page, right-click and select the Page Info context menu option. Or alternatively, go to Tools – Page Info.
- The Page Info box has five tabs. Select the Media tab. As long as the page has any media in it, the Media tab lists all image elements like icons, style sheets and Flash files on the particular webpage.
- There’s bit of work involved as you have to sift through the cached elements to locate the SWF file. You can make it quicker by sorting the elements by type and narrowing down to the one that says Embed. Highlight the file and click Save as to save the file on your hard drive.
Download Flash Files Using Internet Explorer
Earlier versions of Internet Explorer made it easy to go into the Temporary Internet Files and copy the cached SWF files. You could access the Temporary Files from the browser’s Internet Options. Since Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 7 (as far as I can recall), you have to take a more roundabout route. Here are the steps which will allow you to grad SWF files if you are using Internet Explorer.
- Log into your machine with your Administrator account.
- Open IE and load the video of your choice completely.
- You have to go to the Folder Options from the Control Panel or Explorer to tweak a few visibility settings i.e. enable “Show hidden files and folders”, uncheck “Hide protected Operating System Files” and also uncheck “Hide Extensions for Known Filetypes”.
- Now, navigate to UsernameAppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsTemporary Internet Files
- Add “LowContent.IE5” to the location in the address bar.
- There will be some folders with random alphanumeric names.
- Open these folders search through them manually for the SWF file. For an easier search, you can click on the “Type” column header and arrange all similar files together.
- Copy the SWF file to a location of your choice.
All Done!
The downloaded Flash files can be viewed in players like Media Player Classic and the excellent Daum PotPlayer among others. Alternatively, you can simply drag and drop it into your browser. The next time you come across a cool animated interactive, think about downloading it and keeping it offline. You now have the methods now, or you probably knew them and this information is old hat.
If you prefer to download an entire website for offline reading, that can be done too (although obviously, the flash files won’t be coming with.)
Either way, tell us if you prefer browser extensions for the job or would you go back to the basics as explained here. What do you usually look to downloadxVideoServiceThief Is the Ultimate Download Manager for Online VideosxVideoServiceThief Is the Ultimate Download Manager for Online VideosThe open source video downloader xVideoServiceThief is available on Linux, Windows, and Mac.Read More?
Image Credit: Liliya Linnik via Shutterstock.com
Explore more about: Adobe Flash, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Online Games, Opera Browser.
- What do you mean by 'obviously the flash files won't be coming with' when saving an entire web page? Not true, they always do unless the .swf file is hidden in which case it cannot be saved on its own anyway by your above means. Or can it somehow be saved from the browser cache since it is obvious it remains there even when taken offline, but not once browser is closed.
- Some videos are embedded in website MP4 player, which means that you can download these videos just like save a picture online. It can be called the simplest method to download an embedded video. Apart from that, wonderfox free hd video converter factory also can download embedded video easily.
- Thanks.. Worked well- Chrome
- Thank you for these instructions, really helpful!! I used to save flash file to my computer with a web-based app calls Acethinker video downloader, It is a free online tool that lets you download swf video right from the browser. Share it here as an alternative method.
- What do you do when the link looks like this?readyFunction=videojs.Flash.onReady&eventProxyFunction=videojs.Flash.onEvent&errorEventProxyFunction=videojs.Flash.onError&autoplay=undefined&preload=undefined&loop=undefined&muted=undefined&src=https%-8A%2F%2Flmsvideos.bluevolt.com%2F117655_1475087387%2FHowtoReadaPumpCurvehq.mp4%3FAWSAccessKeyId%3DAKIAJGFZSIVEBZG4OEKQ%26Expires%3D1483629694%26Signature%3DiVtsKNti7yqPLAX875RXPf6PZ6c%253d&
- Very useful, thanks a lot!
- Very useful, thanks a lot!
- Thank you!
- thanks for showing me the way to extract a .swf from year 2004
- I have followed the steps but could not download it.I am downloading from the link>>On inspecting the page source I further got the link >>rtmp://node1.weblivecasting.com:80/vod/_definst_/icai/IP1Ch5InternalReconstructionP3.mp4but could not able to download.Can anyone help me in this regard.
- Lifesaver, thank you so so much, time to listen to some dope beats
- hi,
no way to get it from
http://www.edge-cdn.net/video_906644?playerskin=43438
the only swf is this one but 0 bytes
http://dl.edge-cdn.net/flashplayer/mi24Player_4.3.25.swf
why?- If you want to download the videos, FlashGot for Firefox does the trick.
- I am a Sploder member. On Sploder, you can create your own Flash games. But I cannot download my own games onto my PC. How can I do this? (Chrome)
- It works but sometimes you have to dig deeper into the code shown in the developer window to find to find the video. A page from which I wanted to download what I thought was an embedded Flash video turned out to have a URL to an MP4 video embedded in the Flash element. Moreover, the video URL was encoded and I had to use http://www.url-encode-decode.com/ to first decode it, then copy and paste it to my browser's address bar. Initially, the page showed a 404 error but then a window popped up which allowed me to download the video.
- To get the files to play, locate the swf on your computer and right-click it. Select properties from the menu. Under the 'General' tab, at the bottom will be a notice that the file came from the web and might be unsafe.Before you simply click to enable the file, remember: the file came from the web and might be unsafe.Enable with discretion.schwack
- Hello Saikat,
Hope you're good.
I'm tried to download this:
http://www.mapsofworld.com/thematic-maps/types-of-governments.htmlAnd I did download the embedded file, but all it shows – using PotPlayer – is a white screen with a spinning circle inside.
What shall I do? - Hi...is there a way for opera browser?
- thank u Saikat. i used your information to download for a while and it worked with firefox, but then i had to download adobe shockwave and adobe air. now whenever i try to download i find object in place of embed in the type column of the the media option. please, how can i make it return to the way it was before?
- Uninstall shockwave & air
- It doesn't work on my chrome. When I paste the code to the address bar I get '400. That's an error. Your client has issued a malformed or illegal request. That’s all we know.' Ah well.
- It looks like the ones I'm trying to download have some sort of block on them. I tried it in both Chrome and Firefox, and was able to locate the file, but when I tried to access it directly, in Chrome I got the message 'error loading player: could not load player configuration' and in Firefox the file is listed as type 'object' not 'embed' and it is grayed out. Is there any way around this?
- Great information! I try it on Chrome, it works. Thank you.
- Great Tutorial! unfortunately, Nitrome thinks the game is being run on a different server, so it won't work, but that's just the DRM. Thanks!
- Ah, a lot has changed in SIX years :)
- I LOVE YOU!!!!!! omg thank u so much!
- Good information Thank you for sharing:)
- Some obsolete info. In nowadays flash isn't anymore embedded, it is downloaded in real-time into the player consequently.
Will there be updated methods? - This is all obsolete. Chrome doesn't support Flash. Right-clicking in Firefox just brings up the Flash-options, etc.
- Adobe Flash Player is directly integrated with Google Chrome and enabled by default.
- Hi.Another way to download with Chrome is typing 'about:cache' in adress bar. Right clicking and clicking 'Download' works. Like Firefox.And sorry for my bad English :).
- thanx a lot
- Is there a easy way to download .SWF files that are 'hidden' behind a preloader?
- great information on flash files. thanks
- safari is just option+command+a
already knew how to do this, though. I was thinking maybe there was another option. - For anyone who isn't helped by the above: I found a flash file that, for whatever reason, was not downloaded into the cache, but into the Documents and SettingsDefaultLocal SettingsTemp directory as a .tmp file. If I tried to copy it, even when the movie was stopped, I'd get a 'file in use' error. If I closed the window containing the movie, the .tmp file disappeared. If I used the source code window to find the file, there was none. I solved the problem by using freeware program ShadowCopy, which can copy files that are still open. Info for anyone else who has this problem.
- Hello all!
This morning I have found a very fresh cartoon about the office workers everyday life.
I recommend this for all to elevate your mood.
I helped))
You can watch this toon <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOyuf2MEwtE
hereDont be sad - be happy)) - hi, Nacho
thanks for your reply
i want to give you url for that photo gallery but here it doesn't allow me so how can i give to you.
and i use that downThemAll but still i can't download it.many thanks. - hi, all frnds..I want to download one photo gallery from one webpage but it cant download. pls anyone help me.. thanks.
- To download a photogallery, you can try 'downThemAll' extension for Firefox.
- hi, Nacho
thanks for your reply. i want to download photo gallery from this url
[Broken Link Removed]
but i cant can you pls tell me how can i get it.Many thanks.
- Hi, all frnds..
- Thanks Sid, actually I tried this before I wrote the article. but the files wouldn't play. While it would when downloaded thru the remaining browsers. Probably a glitch, I couldn't figure out at that time. There are of course a few programs that help out Chrome with this job just like the many add-ons for FF.
- There's also DownloadHelper
- The firefox addon downthemall works here too. Look for it in the 'Pictures and Embedded' tab..
- AdBlock Plus is the way to go for dynamically loaded media! Thanks!
- Well, Adblock is not for that certainly - but is there any sense in installing one more Firefox-addon just for downloading a few files? For me not.
If I want to make an offline collection of hundreds of flash games - I use an addon.So if I stumble into a good flash game or video once in 1-2 months - I use a simple way but without installing another addon.
- yea... Downloading flash files using Google chrome is the most simplest.Thanks for this article
- You can find it in Google Chrome by typing 'about:cache' into the address bar. It helps if you clear the cache out first.
- Doing this in Chrome is as easy too.1. Ctrl+U [Page Source].
2. Ctrl+F [Find]
3. Type 'swf'
3. Keep hitting F3 till you come to the swf file you need.
4. Chrome will present it to you as a clickable hyperlink - so all you have to do is to right-click and save.PS: I do this ALL the time :) - Safari can do this without any third-party add-on. Just load the window containing the flash file and look under the Activity Window (Manu > Window > Activity) for whatever has a rapidly growing byte count. Double-click that entry and the file will be saved in your download folder.
- Thank you for this tip! Never had a clue that Safari was capable of this!
- Sweat find and share! I have been looking for this hack.
- I use my own little method to download embedded flash media, using Adblock Plus (as weird as it sounds)yanguang.wordpress.com/2009/03/29/how-to-use-adblock-to-download-media-files/
- Thanks for the tip of using adblock
Works perfect for what I needed to download
- From 'Shockwave Flash' to 'Small Web Format' becaure Macromedia acquired it. Then I guess it should be now called ASWF (Adobe Small Web Format) as Flash is their product now. :-P
- Try Flashgot plugin for Firefox
- One problem that is overlooked here is the fact that Flash files have the ability to load content dynamically. For instance, the swf that you save locally may need to load images, text, code or even other swf's in order to render correctly.If a Flash developer doesn't want you getting at the Library or ActionScript, you're likely going to be left with an empty container that does nothing at all. This is usually the case with games and more complex animations or interactive movies.
- You're right, I've seen this in many photo galleries sites, very bad. Anybody has a walkaround for this problem?
- Yeah ! But doesn't work for some sites, even with software like Orbit that are almost perfect for retrieving content from youtube, or dailymotion.
- Shaneecy, SWF was originally called Shockwave Flash but Macromedia changed it to Small Web FormatNice article, and I am sure this will come in handy for some people
- Yes, Mickey..that's true. But what's surprising is that this fact is so difficult to establish. In fact, it's not even mentioned in the SWF specification doc which is 278 pages long!!!
- The most simple way to do this is use the Firefox extension Downloadhelper. Easily download just about any media without opening backend windows.
- I also use the Downloadhelper extension for Firefox. It really is the simplest way to capture flash video - what could be easier than clicking the extension's browser icon and saving the flash file?
- 'Flash animation files are embedded as SWF (Small Web Format) files in webpages.'
--i believe that SWF means 'Shockwave Flash' file, not small web format file.good article, though i still prefer to use file2hd.com (thx to whoever wrote the offline flash game tut) because its less complicated :) - Thanks so much for the information. I have been trying to figure this out for a while? What about embedded videos?
(5 votes, average: 3.40 out of 5)
Loading..
If you ever played Flash games on your browser, you know that they can be a lot of fun. Especially if we want to play for just a couple of minutes, which is not possible with most AAA game titles. To play most Flash games, however, we need to visit a site that is hosting the game. On this guide, we will see how to download Flash games so that we can play offline anytime and anywhere.
Unblock any international website, browse anonymously, and download movies and Mp3 with complete safety with CyberGhost, just for $2.75 per month:
Table of Contents
- How to download flash games on Google Chrome
- How to download flash games on Mozilla Firefox
- How to play flash games from .swf files
How to download flash games on Google Chrome
For this guide, we have used the latest version of 64-bit Chrome as of this writing, 59.0.3071.86. It should work the same for earlier or later versions of Chrome.
So, let's say we are having a good time playing Fireboy & Watergirl 2 in the Light Temple, and want to download the game for offline consumption.
The first step is to let the game load completely, after any ads or such.
After the game has loaded, even on its home screen, we right-click anywhere on the page other than the game, and select 'View page source.'
It's imperative to right-click outside of the game screen, or else we will get the flash context menu, which isn't of any use to us if we want to download flash games.
So, after selecting the 'View page source' option, it will open a new tab with the entire code of the game's page.
We hit Ctrl+F to open the search field on Chrome, and type '.swf' to look for the flash game file.
For this particular game and this particular website, the search results show 34 '.swf' files.
The first one, though, mentions the game's name, as the_light_temple.swf, so it has a higher probability of being the one we want, as opposed to files with nonsense strings as names.
We select the entire URL with the mouse, right-click and choose 'Go to' on the context menu.
In this particular example, Chrome attempted to download the file, and we got a warning that it might harm our computer, because of the '.swf' file extension. It's safe to click on 'Keep.'
We have now downloaded the game. By default, we will find it in our Downloads folder.
We could also probably locate the file in the browser's cache, like we did with the Deleted Facebook photos, but it would be much harder.
An alternative method to download flash games on Chrome
For some games, the page source option won't show any .swf files, such as 'The King of Towers' on armorgames.com.
In this case, we can follow an alternative method to download flash games.
Download BY YOUR SIDE by JADAKISS free. #1 rated music site. 6.5 Million songs. Get lyrics ♫ music videos for your iPhone®. Music Downloads. Search and download from over 6 million songs, music videos and lyrics. Largest collection of free music. All songs are in the MP3 format and can be played on any computer or on any MP3 Player.
Jadakiss By Your Side free mp3 download and stream. Free download By My Side Jadakiss mp3 for free Jadakiss-By your side. Play Download Direct Download.
![Jadakiss by your side free download Jadakiss by your side free download](/uploads/1/2/4/6/124614737/259555796.jpg)
With the game loaded, we press F12 on the keyboard. This will open the window which allows us to select the website's elements on the screen.
We then click on the 'Select element' icon and click on the game screen.
This will highlight the object, which will include the path to the .swf file.
We just need to right-click on the selected object, select 'Edit as HTML'..
..select the entire URL, copy it..
..and paste it into the URL address on a new tab.
How to download flash games on Mozilla Firefox
For this guide, we have used the latest version of 32-bit Firefox as of this writing, 54.0. It should work the same for earlier or later versions of Mozilla's browser.
As with Chrome, we wait for all the ads to load.
If we get a blank screen, like the following..
..it means we must install Flash from Adobe. Chrome has its own integrated Flash player. Just make sure to uncheck any 'optional offers' before you click on 'Install now.'
Valentine abracadabra cadabra download torrent. After installing Flash, we must restart Firefox.
With the game loaded, we right-click on an empty part of the page - not on the game or any ads - and select 'View Page Source.'
On the new tab with the page's code, we open the Firefox search with Ctrl+F and type '.swf' to look for the flash game files.
We find one URL which contains the game's name with the .swf extension..
..select it, right-click and copy it..
..open a new tab, right-click the address field, and select 'Paste & Go.'
On Firefox, this will not download the game, as it will do on Chrome, but it will load it on the new tab.
To download flash games on Firefox, we must click on the URL bar, press the Alt button to show the browser's hidden menu..
..and then select File -> 'Save Page As..'
This will allow us to download the .swf file.
An alternative method to download flash games on Firefox
As with Chrome, on Firefox some Flash Games won't show a .swf file on the page source, like the above example of 'The King of Towers.'
The procedure to download flash games that are this stubborn is similar to Chrome. Firstly, we push F12 on the keyboard and then click on the 'Pick an element' icon.
With this selected, we click on the Flash game, and it will highlight it as an object on the page.
Next, we right click on the highlighted object and select 'Edit as HTML.'
Finally, we select the full URL of the .swf file, copy it with Ctrl+C..
..open a new tab, right-click the URL address and select 'Paste and go.'
From here on, it's the same procedure to download flash games as with the regular Firefox Method, selecting 'Save page as' from the File menu.
How to play flash games from .swf files
OK, great, we downloaded the game as a .swf file. Now, what?
By default, Windows don't have a file association for .swf files, so double-clicking the file won't help.
Fortunately, there are two easy solutions to play flash games from .swf files.
Drag and drop on Firefox with Flash
If we have Mozilla Firefox and Adobe Flash installed, playing a .swf game is as easy as dragging and dropping it on a new browser tab.
The game will load as usual from our hard drive.
Unfortunately, this will not work on Chrome, which will attempt to re-download the .swf file.
We must change one of Chrome's settings for this to work.
Drag and drop on Chrome
To allow Google Chrome to play .swf files, firstly we open the browser settings from the three-dot menu.
At the bottom of the settings page, we click on 'Advanced.'
On 'Privacy and Security' we will find a 'Content settings' option near the bottom of the section.
There, we click on 'Flash..'
Finally, we turn off the 'Ask first' option.
Now, dragging and dropping the .swf file will work on Chrome too.
Will this method work to download flash games from anywhere?
This method should work on most, if not all Flash games. Of course, this is only for games based on Adobe Flash. It will not work on HTML5 or other possible kinds of games.
Can I play all flash games offline?
Even if we download flash games with the above methods, we cannot play all flash games offline.
Some games, like the 'The King of Towers' mentioned above, need to download extra data to start up and can get stuck at a loading screen.
Other flash games, like the Monster Truck Demolisher, give a message that they are site locked when we try to play locally or offline.
And of course, it should go without saying that we can't play MMO flash games offline. The O stands for Online, after all.
Still, there are tens of thousands of flash games that we should have no problem downloading and launching offline.
Will you download flash games for your collection?
If the above methods have worked for you, or if you couldn't download flash games from a specific site or on a particular browser, let us know in the comments below.
Support PCsteps
Do you want to support PCsteps, so we can post high quality articles throughout the week?
You can like our Facebook page, share this post with your friends, and select our affiliate links for your purchases on Amazon.com or Newegg.
If you prefer your purchases from China, we are affiliated with the largest international e-shops: