GoFetch Video Downloader ExtensionGoFetch

M3U8 Video Downloader

Notes

What Is the M3U8 Video Downloader?

HLS is today's most common streaming video technology: a site splits the full video into many segments a few seconds long and records their addresses in an m3u8 index file, which the player loads one by one for continuous playback. An m3u8 is not a video file itself — just a text index — so it cannot be saved directly like a normal file.

The M3U8 Video Downloader is the companion tool page of the GoFetch extension. When you click "Download" on an HLS resource in the extension popup, the task is pushed to this page and starts automatically. The extension downloads every segment listed in the m3u8 index, merges and converts them locally in your browser into a standard MP4 file, and lets you save it to your computer with one click. The page itself makes no network requests — all downloading and converting happen inside the extension.

Features

Multiple quality options

Parses the master.m3u8 index and lists every resolution and standalone audio track. The highest quality is downloaded by default, and you can switch manually in the extension popup.

Separate audio & video merging

For sites that stream picture and sound separately, both tracks are downloaded and merged locally into one MP4 with full audio and video.

Disguised playlist detection

Some sites serve m3u8 playlists as .txt files or text/plain responses. GoFetch reads the content, recognizes the playlist, and downloads it as usual.

Multi-threaded downloading

Segments are downloaded concurrently with 1–6 adjustable threads. Failed segments are retried automatically, so a shaky network doesn't mean starting over.

Pause & resume

HLS tasks can be paused at any time and resumed at segment granularity — even after the browser restarts.

Local processing, private by design

Downloading, merging and converting all happen inside your browser. Video data is never uploaded to any server.

How to Use

  1. Install the GoFetch extension (see the installation tutorial in our blog) and pin it to the toolbar.
  2. Open a page containing an m3u8 video and start playing it.
  3. Click the GoFetch icon on the toolbar and find the target m3u8 entry (the one with a purple play button) in the list — use the preview to confirm.
  4. Click "Download". The task is pushed to this page and starts automatically; you can adjust concurrency, pause or cancel it here.
  5. When downloading and conversion finish, click "Save File" to save the video as an MP4 to your browser's download folder.

FAQ

Where do the saved videos end up?

When a task completes, click "Save" and the video is saved through the browser into your default download folder. You can also find it in the browser's download history.

Why can't some m3u8 videos be downloaded?

This tool only works with m3u8 on-demand videos that use common playback technologies. Encrypted streams (AES-128, DRM), live streams, and sites using private playback protocols are not supported.

Are HLS and m3u8 the same thing?

HLS is a streaming protocol that delivers video in small segments, and an m3u8 is the playlist file that records where those segments are — they work together. GoFetch downloads all the segments and merges them into a single MP4 file.

My download failed halfway — do I have to start over?

No. Every failed segment is retried automatically. If errors persist, the network usually dropped or the server rejected the requests — wait a moment and click "Retry", or pause and resume. Segments already downloaded are never fetched twice.

My player can't open the downloaded MP4 — is the file corrupted?

Probably not. The merged output is a standard MP4 (fragmented MP4 in some cases), which almost all players handle correctly. A few players have incomplete fMP4 support — try another player such as VLC.

How can I make downloads faster?

Speed mainly depends on your network and the video server's response, typically from a few hundred KB/s up to tens of MB/s. Avoid playing the video while downloading to save bandwidth, and you can raise the thread count in settings — but very high concurrency may be throttled by the server.

Is it OK to close this tab during a download?

No. Task data is held in the browser's memory, and closing the tab aborts the task. Save the file before closing the tab.

Can I get a complete video from sites that load audio and video separately?

Yes. GoFetch downloads both the video track and the audio track, then merges them locally into a single MP4 with full sound and picture.

How many videos can I download at the same time?

Only one task is processed at a time for now, and a new task replaces the old one, so please download them one by one. Also note that task data is held in the browser's memory while downloading — the bigger the task, the more memory it uses, and running low on memory can crash the tab.

Does my video content pass through your servers?

No. All downloading, merging and converting happen locally in your browser — nothing is sent to any third-party server.