How to back up your videos (across every platform)

If you post videos to YouTube, TikTok, Instagram or any other network, those files live on servers you don't control. An account suspended by mistake, a policy change, an app shutting down, or a simple accidental deletion can wipe out years of your own content in seconds. Backing up your own videos — saving them to your own drive or cloud too — is the only way to have real control over what you've created.

Why back up what's yours

Platforms aren't a permanent archive: they're a storefront. TikTok, Instagram or YouTube can suspend an account over a false report, an automated moderation error, or the service shutting down entirely (it happened to Vine, to Google+, and to dozens of smaller apps). When that happens, if you don't have your own copy, the content is simply gone: there's no "recover account" button that brings back videos you never saved anywhere else. Backing up your content has nothing to do with piracy: it's saving your own work, something every creator should do the same way they back up the photos on their phone.

What to save

You don't need to start with your most viral hits: prioritize whatever would be hardest to recover or redo.

• Your original videos: recordings, tutorials, vlogs, or edited content you don't have saved anywhere else.
• Live streams: if you go live, those videos tend to disappear from the feed before the rest; save them as soon as the stream ends.
• Content with collaborations: videos with other people or brands, useful for your portfolio even if the original post disappears.
• The oldest content first: anything from years ago is the content you're least likely to still have saved on your device.

How to do it, platform by platform

The process is the same everywhere: copy the video's link (yours, posted on your own profile) and download it with PullVid. No need to install anything or sign in with your social media credentials.

• YouTube: download your videos in MP4 up to the maximum resolution available; if you have many, go one at a time from your own uploads list or playlist.
• TikTok: save your TikToks without the watermark to keep a clean file, exactly as you recorded it.
• Instagram: back up your public Reels and feed videos from your own profile.
• Facebook: download the videos you've posted to your wall or page.
• X (Twitter): save the videos you've uploaded to your own tweets.

Where to keep the backup

Downloading the file is only the first step; where you keep it afterward is what determines whether you're actually protected.

At the highest quality

A low-resolution backup isn't worth much if you ever want to re-edit or repost that content. Always pick the best quality available: on YouTube, that can mean 4K if your video was uploaded at that resolution (see the YouTube 4K guide); on other platforms, whatever the highest resolution PullVid offers. Downloading in MP4 (H.264) also guarantees the file will open without issues in any editor if you want to reuse it later.

Best practices so nothing gets lost

• Organize by platform and date: a folder per network and per year makes it easy to find a specific video months later.
• Repeat the backup periodically: it isn't a one-time process; every time you post something important, save it locally too.
• Prioritize before switching accounts: if you're about to delete an account, switch accounts, or stop using an app, back up everything first (we cover TikTok specifically in the next guide).
• Keep it to your own content: this guide is about your own content; for the general framework on what you can download and from whom, see acceptable use.

If you want platform-specific detail, check the guides on downloading your own TikToks before deleting your account and backing up your YouTube channel.