How to download an M3U8 video as one MP4
An M3U8 file is not the video. It is a playlist that points to hundreds of short pieces, often with the sound in a separate track. VidHatch reads that playlist while the page plays, downloads every piece and joins picture and sound into one MP4, right in your browser. It is free, with no limit.
What an M3U8 file actually is
M3U8 is the playlist format of HLS, HTTP Live Streaming. The player first asks for a small text file, the playlist, then for pieces of video a few seconds long, usually named .ts or .m4s. Many sites publish a master playlist with several qualities, and some send the sound as its own track. Saving the .m3u8 address alone gives you a list of addresses, not a video.
Save it in five steps
Add VidHatch to your browser
Get it free for Chrome or Firefox from the download page. No account.
Open the page and press Play
VidHatch sees the playlist when the player asks for it, so start the video. A few seconds are enough.
Click the VidHatch icon
The video shows as one row with its length and size. Copies of the same stream and short preview clips are folded away, so the main video is easy to spot.
Pick a quality
Open the menu on the row. Every quality in the playlist is listed with its size. VidHatch picks the highest unless you set a preferred quality in Settings.
Click the download arrow
VidHatch downloads several pieces at once, joins them with the sound and saves one MP4 in your Downloads folder. You can pause, resume or cancel at any point.
When it does not work
- Nothing is listed. Play the video for a few seconds, then press the rescan button at the top of the panel.
- The row says Protected. The stream is DRM-encrypted. VidHatch does not break DRM, and it cannot save that video.
- It is a live stream. VidHatch saves videos that have an end; it does not record a live stream as it plays.
- The file will not play in your player. The row shows a codec tag such as HEVC or AV1 when a stream uses a codec some players lack. Pick an H.264 quality if the menu has one.
- Still stuck? Use Report a site and tell us the page. Nothing is sent until you press Send.