How to Download Ads from Meta Ad Library

Trying to save a great ad you found in the Meta Ad Library? While there's no official "download" button on the page, you're not out of luck. This guide walks you through a few simple and effective methods for saving any ad, video, or image for your own competitive research and creative inspiration.

What is the Meta Ad Library and Why Should You Use It?

The Meta Ad Library is a publicly available, searchable database of every ad currently running across Meta's platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network. Initially created to increase transparency in political advertising, it has become an indispensable tool for marketers, business owners, and advertisers.

But why should you be digging through it? Here are a few key reasons:

• Competitive Research: See exactly what messaging, offers, and creative your competitors are using to attract customers. You can see how long an ad has been running, which often indicates its effectiveness.
• Creative Inspiration: Stuck in a creative rut? Browse ads in your industry (or even outside of it) to get fresh ideas for ad formats, copy, headlines, and visuals. This is a goldmine for your creative "swipe file."
• Market-Proofing Your Offers: Analyze your competitors' calls-to-action (CTAs) and offers. Are they pushing free trials, discounts, or educational content? This helps you understand what the market is responding to and how to position your own offer competitively.
• Industry Trend Spotting: By observing ads from top players in your niche over time, you can spot emerging trends in design, video styles, and messaging strategies before they become widespread.

Can You Directly Download Ads from the Meta Ad Library?

This is the big question, and the short answer is no. Meta does not provide a built-in "Download" or "Save Image As..." function directly within the Ad Library. The platform is designed primarily for transparency and viewing, not as a repository for downloading copyrighted marketing assets.

The ads belong to the advertisers who created and paid for them. Allowing for a simple one-click download could lead to copyright issues and misuse of brand assets. However, this doesn't mean you can't save them. You just need to know the right workarounds, from simple manual techniques to a slightly more technical approach.

Method 1: The Manual Screenshot and Screen Recording Method

This is the quickest and most straightforward way to save an ad. It doesn’t require any special software beyond what’s already on your computer.

For Image and Carousel Ads:

Taking a screenshot is your go-to method for static image ads, text, and even individual frames of a carousel ad. For the best quality, aim to capture just the ad itself, not your entire screen with all its distractions.

How to Take a Precise Screenshot:

• On Windows: Use the Snipping Tool or Snip &amp, Sketch. The easiest shortcut is Windows Key + Shift + S. This will darken your screen and let you click and drag a box around the exact area you want to capture. The image is automatically copied to your clipboard, ready to be pasted or saved.
• On Mac: Use the keyboard shortcut Command + Shift + 4. Your cursor will turn into a crosshair. Click and drag to select the ad, and a screenshot will automatically save to your desktop.

Pro Tip: For ads that have a lot of text or are very long, a regular screenshot might cut things off. Use a browser extension like GoFullPage for Chrome to take a scrolling screenshot of the entire ad. This can be a lifesaver.

For Video Ads:

A simple screen recording works perfectly for capturing video ads. Just like with screenshots, both Windows and macOS have excellent built-in tools for this.

How to Screen Record:

• On Windows: The built-in Xbox Game Bar is surprisingly powerful. Press Windows Key + G to open it. You'll see several widgets, just click the "Record" button in the "Capture" widget to start, and click it again to stop. The video file will be saved in your Videos/Captures folder.
• On Mac: QuickTime Player is your best friend. Open QuickTime, go to File > New Screen Recording. A small control bar will appear. You can either record your full screen or drag to select just the ad's video portion before hitting "Record."

Pros of the Manual Method:

• Completely free and easy to do.
• No need to install third-party software.
• Fastest method for saving a handful of ads.

Cons of the Manual Method:

• Quality can be diminished (especially for videos, which are re-recordings of your screen).
• Can be extremely time-consuming if you need to save dozens of ads.
• Manually capturing ad copy, headlines, and data is a separate, inefficient step.

Method 2: Using Browser Developer Tools for High-Quality Video

If you want the original, high-quality video file right from Meta's servers, this method is for you. It might look a little technical, but if you can follow a recipe, you can do this. It works wonders for downloading clear, crisp video ads without any quality loss.

Here’s a step-by-step guide for Chrome (the process is very similar in Firefox and other modern browsers):

1. Navigate to the specific ad in the Meta Ad Library and click on "See ad details."
2. If the video ad doesn't autoplay, click 'play' so it begins loading.
3. Right-click anywhere on the page and select "Inspect" to open the Developer Tools panel. It can look intimidating, but don't worry, you only need one section.
4. In the Developer Tools panel, look for and click on the "Network" tab.
5. Just below the main tabs, you’ll see a filter bar. Click on "Media" to filter the network requests for only media files like video and audio.
6. You might need to refresh the page (press F5 or the refresh button) or play the video again to see the file appear in the panel.
7. You should see a file request in the list, likely ending in .mp4. Its name will generally be a long string of numbers.
8. Right-click on that .mp4 file request, hover over "Open in new tab", and click it.
9. The raw video ad will open by itself in a new browser tab.
10. Simply right-click on the video and select "Save video as..." to download it directly to your computer.

Pros of the Developer Tools Method:

• You get the original, highest-quality MP4 video file.
• It's completely free.
• It's more reliable than screen recording for perfect quality.

Cons of the Developer Tools Method:

• It's slightly more complex and can be intimidating for non-technical users.
• It only works for video files, not images or carousels.
• It's still a manual, one-by-one process.

Method 3: Third-Party Ad Spy Tools

If competitive intelligence is a core part of your marketing strategy, downloading ads one-by-one can quickly become a bottleneck. This is where third-party "ad spy" tools come in. These are paid software platforms designed to scrape, aggregate, organize, and analyze ads from Meta and other networks on a massive scale.

These tools not only allow you to easily save and download ads but also provide valuable context that the Meta Ad Library doesn't, such as landing page URLs, estimated ad spend, performance metrics, and targeting data. You can filter ads by industry, objective, platform, format, and much more.

Pros of Ad Spy Tools:

• Extremely efficient for saving ads in bulk.
• Provides organizational features like saving ads to "boards" or collections.
• Offers additional analytics and performance data not found in the Ad Library.
• Allows for advanced searching and filtering to find exactly what you're looking for.

Cons of Ad Spy Tools:

• They come with a subscription fee, which can be expensive.
• Some tools can have a steep learning curve.

Best Practices: How to Organize Your Ad Library

Downloading ads is just the first step. The real value comes from organizing them into a strategic asset you can reference anytime. A messy folder of random screenshots won't do you much good.

1. Create a "Swipe File" System

Your 'swipe file' is your personal library of great ads. Use a simple folder structure on your computer or a cloud drive (like Google Drive) to keep things tidy. Here’s a basic structure you could use:

Competitor Ads > [Competitor Brand Name] > [Ad Format - Video/Image/Carousel]

2. Use a Consistent Naming Convention

Don't stick with the default file names like screenshot-2023-11-21.... Rename every file with a consistent, descriptive format. This makes searching for files later much easier.

A good format is: Brand_Product-Offer_Type_Date.ext

Example: Brooklinen_Luxe-Bedding-20off_Video_2023-11-21.mp4

3. Build an Analysis Tracker

For your top-tier competitors or favorite ad campaigns, go a step further. Create a simple spreadsheet (in Google Sheets or Excel) or a database (in Notion or Airtable) to log and analyze each ad. Track columns like:

• Link to Saved Ad
• Ad Library Link
• Competitor Name
• Ad Headline
• Primary Text (Ad Copy)
• Call to Action (CTA)
• Your Personal Notes: What did you like? What was the angle? What's the main hook? Why do you think it is working?

This process of actively analyzing the ads, instead of just passively collecting them, is what will truly elevate your own marketing campaigns.

Final Thoughts

Grabbing copies of ads you find on the Meta Ad Library is an essential practice for savvy marketers who want to stay inspired and keep a close eye on the competition. While there’s no big "download" button, you now have a toolkit of methods - from simple screenshots and screen recordings to the more technical developer tools - to save any ad you need.

Once you've gathered your creative inspiration and learned what's working for others, the real work begins: seeing if it works for you. Running effective ad campaigns means tracking performance closely. Instead of getting lost in manual reports, we made it simple to have all of your campaign metrics at your fingertips. With Graphed, you can connect your ad accounts in seconds and use natural language to create real-time dashboards that show what’s working, what’s not, and where to focus your budget.