You can download Coursera videos to your computer in three ways. You can use the Download option that some courses show under a lecture, save lectures inside the Coursera mobile app, or use a browser extension that saves the video you are watching as an MP4 file. Only the first and third give you a normal file on your laptop, and only an extension works on every lecture you can play.
The rest of this guide covers what each method saves, where it breaks, and which one to pick when you need a whole course offline.
Method 1: The Download option under a lecture
Some Coursera courses show a Download menu below the video player on the web. When it is there, it usually offers the lecture video, the subtitles, and sometimes the transcript or slides.
- Open the lecture in your browser.
- Look below the player for Download or a download icon.
- Choose the video file and save it.
Where it fails: this option depends on the course and the partner university. Many courses, especially newer ones and Professional Certificates, do not show it at all. When it is missing, there is no setting that turns it on.
Method 2: Offline downloads in the Coursera app
The Coursera app for iPhone, iPad, and Android can save lectures for offline viewing. Tap the download icon next to a lecture or a whole week.
Where it fails:
- Downloads live inside the app. You cannot open them in VLC, move them to a laptop, or keep them on an external drive.
- There is no desktop app, so this does nothing for Windows or Mac.
- If you leave the course or the app clears its storage, the downloads are gone.
The app is fine for watching on a phone during a commute. It is not a way to get files onto your computer.
Method 3: A browser extension (works on any lecture you can play)
A Chrome extension can save the video stream your browser is already playing. That makes it the only method that works on lectures without a Download option.
With Coursera Downloader:
- Install the extension from the Chrome Web Store.
- Sign in with Google. You get 15 free credits, enough for 3 videos.
- Open any Coursera lecture you can play.
- Click the download button that appears on the video.
- The MP4 lands in your normal Downloads folder.
Each new video costs 5 credits. Downloading the same video a second time is free, so you can re-save a lecture if you delete it by mistake.
Which method should you use?
| What you need | Best method | Why |
|---|---|---|
| One lecture, and the course shows Download | Method 1 | Built in and free |
| Watch on your phone without Wi-Fi | Method 2 | Simple, no files to manage |
| A real file on Windows or Mac | Method 3 | Works when Download is missing |
| A whole week or course on a laptop | Method 3 | One click per lecture, consistent MP4 files |
| Keep lectures after your subscription ends | Method 1 or 3 | App downloads disappear with access |
How to keep a downloaded course organised
A course quickly turns into dozens of files with similar names. A few habits keep it usable:
- One folder per course, one subfolder per week. Name them
01 Week 1,02 Week 2so they sort correctly. - Rename as you go. Prefix each file with its lecture number, for example
03-gradient-descent.mp4. - Save subtitles next to the video. If the course offers
.srtor.vttfiles, give them the same name as the video and most players load them automatically. - Use a player that remembers position. VLC and IINA resume where you stopped, which matters for long lectures.
Common problems and fixes
The download button does not appear. Reload the lecture page once the video starts playing. The extension needs the player to load before it can detect the stream.
The file has no sound or will not play. Open it in VLC. Some built-in players struggle with certain encodings even when the file is fine.
The download is slow. Speed depends on your connection and on Coursera's servers. Long lectures can take a few minutes, and the browser tab should stay open until the file finishes.
I only see a quiz or reading. Only video items can be downloaded as video. Readings can be saved with your browser's Print to PDF option.
Before you download a full course
Check how much space you have. A one-hour lecture at 720p is often 300 to 600 MB, so a full specialization can need several gigabytes. An external drive or a cloud folder works well for long-term storage.
For a complete comparison of all three download methods and which one to pick for different situations, see how to download Coursera videos.
For a full walkthrough of saving lectures with and without the download button, see how to download Coursera videos.
Saving the lecture itself is covered step by step in how to download Coursera videos to your computer.
The full walkthrough in how to download Coursera videos to your computer covers the same steps in more detail.
The short version
If the course shows Download, use it. If you only need lectures on your phone, use the app. If you want MP4 files on your laptop for any lecture you can play, use a browser extension like Coursera Downloader and save the course one lecture at a time.