Free tools/Tumblr video downloader
Tumblr Video Downloader
Paste a Tumblr post link and save what is in it: video, GIF or audio.
Only download content you have the right to save. Public content only — respect creators and each platform's terms.
- No signup
- No extension
- Nothing stored on our servers
- Works with both tumblr.com link styles
Only download content you have the right to save: your own uploads, Creative Commons material, or videos whose owner has given you permission. Unsora hosts nothing, stores nothing, and is not affiliated with Tumblr. We read the public files it already serves.
How it works
01
Copy the post link
Use the permalink. Click the post timestamp to open it alone, then copy the address bar.
02
Paste it here
We read the post and fetch the media behind it. A reblog's media lives on the original post, which is why some reblogs come back empty.
03
Save the file
Video, GIF or audio, straight to your device with nothing added.
What you get
Reblogs, explained honestly
A reblog carries no file, only a pointer at the original post's media. When the original is gone, so is the file, from every reblog at once — and this page tells you why instead of showing a generic error.
The GIF that's really an MP4
Tumblr turns bigger GIFs into silent looping MP4s while still calling them GIFs. That MP4 is the file that exists, and that's what you get.
Audio posts too
Native Tumblr audio posts save as MP3. Embedded Spotify, SoundCloud and Bandcamp players are links, not files, so those stay where they live.
Both link styles work
blogname.tumblr.com/post/... and www.tumblr.com/blogname/... both resolve to the same post.
Nothing installed, nothing kept
No extension, no app, no account. Files stream to you, then the working copy is dropped.
Then make something of your own
Unsora's AI clipping cuts saved footage into captioned vertical shorts and the schedulers post them. From $19/mo with a 3-day free trial.
Why a reblogged post often has nothing to download
Tumblr is built around reblogging, and that decision causes more failed downloads than everything else on this page combined. Nobody ranking for this explains it.
When you reblog a post, Tumblr does not copy the file. It does not re-upload the video, duplicate the GIF, or copy the photos. Your reblog is a new post carrying a pointer, and the media it shows is still the file on the original poster's CDN path. Tumblr's own API calls the ancestry a trail: an ordered list of every post in the chain, each with the blog it came from. Your reblog is the last item on that list. The file belongs to the first.
That chain runs deep. A 2013 post passed along by twenty blogs is twenty posts deep, and all twenty display the same file from the same original URL. It looks like twenty copies. It is one copy with nineteen pointers at it.
The consequence people hit hardest is the sad one. If the original blog was deleted, went private, or the poster removed that post, the file is gone from the CDN, and gone from every reblog of it too. All nineteen downstream posts still exist, still carry their notes and tags and commentary, and every one now shows a broken image or a dead player. There is no copy to recover, because there was never more than one. That is why a reblog can look perfectly healthy in a search result and have nothing behind it.
Many of those posts died for a checkable reason. Tumblr announced a ban on adult content on 3 December 2018 and enforced it from 17 December. Huge numbers of blogs were flagged, abandoned or deleted in the weeks around it, and every post they originated went with them. The 2022 change allowing nudity again brought none of it back. If something on a pre-2019 reblogged post will not load, the purge is the likeliest explanation.
The rest of what makes Tumblr media strange
Two different kinds of video post. A native video was uploaded to Tumblr, transcoded, and served from its video hosts, historically vt.tumblr.com and now va.media.tumblr.com, as an H.264 MP4. An embedded video is a YouTube or Vimeo player inside a post. It looks identical on your dashboard and is no Tumblr file at all: Tumblr stores only the embed code.
The GIF that is not a GIF. Above a size threshold Tumblr transcodes an uploaded GIF into a silent, looping MP4 and serves that instead, while still calling it a GIF in the interface. That is why people save a “GIF” and get an .mp4. The animation genuinely exists only as that MP4, and converting it back means a 256-colour re-encode that weighs more and looks worse.
Image posts and photosets are a different job. A multi-image post is separate image files on Tumblr's media hosts, and your browser can already save them: open the post, click an image to get the full view, and save from there. This tool is for the video and audio that right-click can't reach.
The mature-content flag. Blogs and posts can be flagged, and Tumblr's community labels gate those behind a signed-in account with the matching setting on. Logged out you get a wall, and we do not sign in as you, so flagged posts fail on purpose.
Formats, ceilings, and backing up your own blog
Tumblr is not a video platform first and its ceilings show it. What reaches your browser is a transcode, commonly topping out around 720p. No 4K here, and no tool can invent it. A transcoded GIF has no audio track by design, so a silent file is not a broken one.
Native audio posts save as MP3. Embedded YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify, SoundCloud and Bandcamp are not Tumblr files at all — Tumblr stores the embed code, not the media — so there is nothing to fetch from here.
Backing up your own blog: if you are about to delete a blog, do not use a downloader for it. Tumblr's own export, in your blog settings, produces a ZIP of your posts and uploaded media. Run that first, then use this page for what it misses: media you reblogged and never owned.
When you want to make something out of it
Most people saving from Tumblr are collecting material: a reaction, a loop, a set of finds.
Unsora's AI clipping takes a saved file, finds the moments worth keeping, cuts them vertical with captions burned in, and hands back shorts. The schedulers queue those to TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Bluesky and LinkedIn, so a folder of finds becomes a posting week. All of it is callable over one MCP connection from the tools you already use.
Credit whoever made the thing. Plans start at $19/mo with a 3-day free trial. This downloader is free and stays free, and it is not a trial.
Next steps
Reblog embeds YouTube? download the embedded YouTube video.
Reposting elsewhere? queue it on the scheduler.
Original posts instead? make a video from a text prompt.
Related tools
Other free tools you might need next
Honest limits
What this tool does
- Native Tumblr video from public blogs, with sound
- GIF posts, as the file Tumblr actually serves
- Native audio posts, saved as MP3
- blogname.tumblr.com/post/... and www.tumblr.com/blogname/... link styles
- Reblogs whose original post is still live
What it doesn't do
- Posts whose original blog was deleted or went private. The file is gone from every reblog.
- Anything behind the mature-content flag or a community label.
- Private blogs, password-protected blogs, drafts, and dashboard-only URLs.
- Embedded YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify, SoundCloud or Bandcamp. Tumblr holds code, not files.
- Image posts and photosets. Open the image and save it directly from Tumblr.
- 4K. Tumblr transcodes and never stores it.
- Sound on a transcoded GIF. Those MP4s never had an audio track.
Checklist
What to check before you use any downloader
This category has a trust problem. Here is what a clean tool looks like, this one included.
01
Hand it a reblog
Most of what you find on Tumblr is one, and a tool reading only the rendered page in front of it comes back empty. The file sits further up the chain.
02
When the source blog is gone, it should say so
A deleted original strips the video out of every reblog beneath it. A generic error hides that; an honest tool explains it.
03
It can tell a GIF from a video
An MP4 made from a GIF has no audio track by design. Silence is not a defect.
04
No add-on to install
No queue, no countdown, no window sliding open behind the button.
05
A public post takes no email
And no copy should stay on a server after the file reaches you.
06
The sizes offered are the sizes Tumblr kept
4K here is imaginary. A tool advertising it is describing a file Tumblr never stored.
Got the file. Now get it out of the archive.
A folder of saved posts is a mood board nobody sees. Unsora's AI clipping turns dashboard finds into captioned vertical shorts, and the schedulers push them to TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Bluesky and LinkedIn. This tool stays free.
Start the free trialFAQ
Common questions
Why does nothing download from this reblog?
A reblog holds a pointer, not a file. The media lives on the original post, and if that post or its blog is gone, the file is gone from every reblog of it at once.
The original blog was deleted. Can I still get the video?
No. Tumblr stores one copy and every reblog points at it. When the blog goes, the file goes.
Why do so many old posts have dead media?
Tumblr banned adult content on 17 December 2018, and a great many blogs were flagged, abandoned or deleted around that date. Everything they originated vanished from the reblogs pointing at it, and the 2022 rule change brought none of it back.
I saved a GIF and got an MP4. Why?
Above a size threshold Tumblr transcodes an uploaded GIF into a silent looping MP4 and keeps calling it a GIF. You were already watching a video file.
How do I get an actual .gif file?
If Tumblr transcoded it, only the MP4 exists, and converting back means a 256-colour re-encode that weighs more and looks worse. The MP4 is the better file for almost every use.
Can you download audio posts?
Yes, when the audio was uploaded to Tumblr, as an MP3. Spotify, SoundCloud and Bandcamp posts are embedded players, so there is no file.
The post has a YouTube video in it. Can you save that?
Not from here. Tumblr stored the embed code, not the video. Use the YouTube downloader on this site with the YouTube link instead.
Can I save a photoset?
Image posts don't need a downloader: open the post, click an image for the full view, and save it directly from Tumblr. This tool is for the video and audio right-click can't reach.
My blog runs on a custom domain. Will the link work?
Paste the tumblr.com form of the link if the custom-domain address doesn't resolve. Every post also exists at blogname.tumblr.com/post/... or www.tumblr.com/blogname/...
Can you get posts behind the mature-content flag?
No. Community labels gate those behind a signed-in account, and we do not sign in as you.
Does the original poster know I downloaded their post?
No. Tumblr notifies for likes, reblogs and replies, never for a download. If you post the file, credit the source.
How do I back up my whole blog before deleting it?
Use Tumblr's own export in your blog settings. It makes a ZIP of your posts and uploaded media. Come back for the reblogged media it misses.
How do I save a Tumblr video on iPhone?
Open the post in Safari, copy the permalink, paste it here, then share the file to Photos or Files. The iOS Shortcuts people recommend break whenever Tumblr changes its markup.
Is this free, do I need an account, and is it legal?
Free, no account, no cap on links. Unsora sells a paid AI video suite and this tool exists so people find it. Saving a public post for your own use is generally fine in most places, while republishing someone else's work as your own can be infringement however you got the file. General information, not legal advice.
Built and maintained by the Unsora team.
Tumblr's reblog, GIF-transcode and media-host behaviour last reviewed on August 14, 2026.
Changelog
August 14, 2026. Page rewritten. Documented why reblogs fail, the GIF-to-MP4 transcode, the 2018 purge, and audio posts.