twdown not working: why it fails and what to do now

twdown (twdown.net) is one of the well-known sites for downloading videos from X, formerly Twitter. You paste the tweet link and it gives you back the MP4. It works most of the time, but since it depends on a single platform that has changed a lot —including its own name and its API— it also has its failures. Here are the real causes of it not working and what to do in the meantime.

Is twdown down right now?

It could be. Like any free web service, twdown can get overloaded during peak hours or go temporarily out of action when X changes something in how it serves its videos. Since the switch from Twitter to X there have been quite a few adjustments to the platform and its API, and each one forces tools to readapt. Until then, twdown can stay loading or throw an error even though the video plays fine on X.

Most common causes of twdown not working

• X changed how it serves its videos or its API: this is cause number one. Since the transition from Twitter to X there have been many adjustments, and tools that depend on reading the platform fall behind until they're updated.
• The tweet is from a protected account: only videos from public accounts and tweets can be downloaded. If the account is protected (private), no tool can access the video from outside.
• The tweet was deleted: if the author deleted the tweet or the account was suspended, the video no longer exists and there's nothing to download.
• You copied the wrong link: you need the link to the specific tweet with the video, not the profile's or a different reply.
• Ads, redirects, or a changed domain: between banners and pop-ups it's easy to end up on another page, and these sites change domain from time to time; you can run into an outdated clone.

What to do right now

1. Check that the video plays normally on X and that the tweet and account are public.
2. Make sure you copied the link to the specific tweet (Share → Copy link to post), not the profile's.
3. Close any pop-up that opened on its own and retry without tapping ads.
4. If the tweet is public and it still fails, try another tool while twdown recovers.

Why this happens (and not just with twdown)

These outages aren't exclusive to twdown: any tool that depends on adapting to a platform's changes goes through the same thing, and X has changed a lot in a short time. We go into it in why video downloaders stop working. If you were sizing up twdown in depth, we also have our analysis in twdown and its alternative.

PullVid: download from X, even if twdown fails

If you need the video now and twdown isn't responding, PullVid downloads that same public X video as an MP4, with nothing to install and no account. It doesn't depend on the same service, so it works as a backup plan, and it also works with YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook in the same tool. We automatically monitor that the download works on every platform every few hours and validate every update before publishing it; you can check the live status.