How to download a JW Player video
Updated 28 October 2026 · 4-minute read
JW Player powers video on thousands of news sites, publishers and company pages. It looks clean and simple, and it almost never offers a download button.
How JW Player delivers video
JW Player usually streams video as HLS (.m3u8) so it can switch quality on the fly; some sites still serve plain MP4 files through it. That's why right-click "Save video as" usually isn't there: the player is a web app sitting on top of the video, and the video itself often arrives as a stream of small pieces rather than one file. (How streaming works.)
The one-click way
- Play the video in the JW Player player, so it starts loading.
- Click the Vidtuck icon in Chrome's toolbar. The video shows up in the list with its format and duration.
- Hit Download. Direct files save immediately; for streams, pick a quality and Vidtuck assembles one file in your Downloads.
It works the same whether the player sits on the company's own site or inside an embed on someone else's page.
The manual way
Open Chrome's developer tools (F12), go to the Network tab, and play the video. Filter for m3u8 or mp4. A single .mp4 request can be opened and saved directly. An .m3u8 request means a stream: you'll need a capture tool (here's how to save an m3u8 video).
When it can't be saved
Some publishers turn on DRM for premium video, and DRM-protected streams can't be saved by any legitimate tool (here's why). If a stream only comes as DASH (.mpd), Vidtuck will see it but can't download it yet. And as always: save only videos you have the right to keep, such as your own recordings, open content, or webinars and lessons your access lets you keep.