Download media files with Safari Browser

Safari browser has powerful tool called Activity that tracks all the activities running behind the page. That makes you easier to download media files from the page you’re visiting.

First, open Safarai browser and browse the address you like to download media file (mp3 or flv). For example : YouTube.

Safari Browser

Click Activity menu under Windows in Safari browser. Or press Ctrl+Alt+L.

Safari Browser Activity Menu

Select the url or media file that more than MB. And double click on it. Safari will launch new browser window and start downloading that file.

Safari Browser Activity Window

For those who want to convert FLV to Audio and Video files you can try FLV Extract program from Moitah.net

via: mm.it.lad (in Burmese language)

9 Responses

  • Would this work in Myanmar? As you know, youtube is banned.

    madyjune on April 1, 2008
  • Mady
    Since YouTube is banned in our lovely place, there will no activity in safari. So you can’t download.

    But if you can access YouTube using proxy, you can use this trick. ;)

    Myo Kyaw Htun on April 2, 2008
  • if you take a closer look at the screenshot, the FLV’s location is not on youtube.com. So… :D

    mgthantzin on May 5, 2008
  • Im pretty sure that the new versions of safari don’t do this; i could download things in safari using this trick, but when i updated it, it didn’t download these file anymore. Instead it played it using the Safari-QuickTime plugin. It still will download files that QuickTime can’t play though.

    Canadian Mac User on March 13, 2009
  • This doesn’t work in Safari 5

    SABOND on February 18, 2011
  • it was really useful
    thanks

    kaushal on April 30, 2011
  • In the activity monitor, press and hold the option key while you double click on the file you want to download.

    Christian Hain on August 22, 2011
  • Thanks guys it works great!

    Keith on April 18, 2012
  • My question is, what on earth is the easiest way to access that file which has already been cached locally on the disk, WITHOUT RE-DOWNLOADING. For example: What if the video was a live stream broadcast, and the only way to access it is to copy the cached file that’s already on your disk, being that there’s no URL to access as it’s only a live stream not like a YouTube video. Now that, I want to figure out…
    Yeah, on a Mac no less…

    Joseph Reiff on May 6, 2012