This feature requires a Standard, Advanced, Pro, Business, Premium, or Enterprise plan.
The article explains how to access the direct links for your video's third-party playback and downloads, and provides considerations for privacy and analytics.
This feature provides direct access to your converted video files, allowing you to download or play videos hosted on Vimeo using a third-party player or web page.
In this article:
- Access your video's direct links for third-party playback
- Access your video's direct links for downloading
- Privacy for your videos in third-party players
- Analytics for your videos in third-party players
- Downgrade to a Basic or Plus membership
Access your video's direct links for third-party playback
To access direct links for your video that you can play in a third-party player or web page:
- Open your video from the Library.
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Select the options menu (…) in the top right corner of the video settings page.
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Select Video file links.
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Choose Play the video from the dropdown menu on the modal window.
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Select Copy link next to the one you want to grab.
We recommend using Open Source players (e.g., Dash.js and HLS.js) for video playback. You will see these, as well as a list of progressive MP4 links, an HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) link, and a Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) link.
HLS is Apple's proprietary method of adaptive streaming and sends video over HTTP from a web server for native playback on Apple devices. Using a library like HLS.js can extend HLS playback to platforms that do not natively support it.
DASH, otherwise known as Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP, links are used for serving Vimeo-hosted files in another player, typically on non-Apple devices or in non-Apple environments. Known for its high level of customization, DASH supports more features than any other streaming protocol.
Tip: How can you know if the content you're watching is streaming via HLS or DASH?
- Consider the viewing environment: HTTP Live Streaming - Compatible with Apple-based devices (Apple TV, Safari, and iOS).
- Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP - All browsers and environments except for Apple products.
⚠️Note: Sharing the direct link for the playback should not provide an option to download the video, but it has been noticed that the Download option is available when the video is played on the Chrome browser. This is due to the functionality of the Chrome Browser itself and is not populated by Vimeo. However, the link will work as intended in other browsers, as the Download option will not be available.
Access your video's direct links for downloading
Follow these steps to access your video's download links:
- Open your video from the Library.
Select the options menu (…) in the top right corner of the video settings page.
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Select Video file links.
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Select Download the video from the dropdown menu in the modal window.
- Select the Copy link button for the version of the video you'd like the link for.
⚠️Caution: The download URLs provided here do not expire. Once your download URLs are out there, anyone who knows the link will be able to download your videos. The only way to stop this is to delete your video from Vimeo. As an alternative:
- Use the Send file option. When sharing that page, you can always turn off the download links, or
- Share your video page with downloads temporarily enabled.
The direct links under both the Play the Video and Download the Video dropdown menus contain duplicate files. For downloads, we return a special header to instruct the browser to save the file to the local disk instead of playing it back. However, this does not prevent downloading the Play URL (or prevent playing back download URLs, if used in a player).
Privacy for your videos in third-party players
Vimeo's privacy settings and custom embed settings do not apply to third-party player links. The third-party player you're using may support its own set of customizations, but you will need to check their support documentation for more information.
Third-party player links do not expire, allowing anyone to view your videos through these URLs. If you add them to a third-party player outside of Vimeo, people can find and share these links.
⚠️Note: When you paste a third-party player link in a browser, it redirects to a link with an expiring token. When sharing third-party links, ensure that you copy the link address directly from your video settings, not the redirected link in the browser. Also, modifying the URL in any way will result in a 403 error.
Analytics for your videos in third-party players
We are limited by the amount of data we can gather from non-Vimeo players. With third-party players, we can only approximate the number of times the video file is being played.
As of August 7, 2024, we now provide a separate metric from Views and Impressions, called Third-party Impressions, which represents the number of times a video file is loaded via a third-party player. Third-party view approximations are no longer included in the total views count in analytics.
Downgrade to a Basic or Plus membership.
If you downgrade to Free, Starter, Basic, or Plus, any direct links you've shared or embedded will no longer work (for example, your embedded video will no longer load). If you decide to reupgrade to Standard, Pro, or a higher plan, your links will automatically reactivate.