This guide will show you how to save a movie downloaded by Popcorn Time for further usage, like for example watching it on big TV from USB stick.
Important – Must Read!
Most of the Popcorn Time apps you will find on the Internet contain malware. Be careful what you download and install.
As of today 02/12/2017 the safe version would be fork named: “Popcorn Time Community” available from this page: https://popcorn-time.is/
Also be very careful about purchasing VPN from these applications. Some people reported that later on they had major problems with cancelling annual renewal.
Better option is to use VPN purchased from other vendor.
First thing to know is that Popcorn Time is basically another BitTorrent client with nice user interface and a huge list of database of torrents/magnets with movies to watch.
Remember that when you watch a movie in Popcorn Time you not only download it but also share it with others. This is how BitTorrent works.
In some countries downloading a movie for private use is legal but sharing it further is not.
There are two ways to get Popcorn Time movies:
Download by Magnet link
For this you will need external BitTorrent client.
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To find a Magnet Link of a movie go to the show you want to download (Movie, TV Serie, Anime) and look for magnet icon and circle like shown in the picture below:
Click to enlarge When you hover over the circle you will see details about file availability:
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- Few or none seeds. Might work or not.
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- Medium number of seeds. It will work but will take more time to download.
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- High availability. Plenty of seeds. File will play easily.
Click Magnet icon
Left mouse button click - executes default application assigned to magnet links. If you don't have such application or it cannot be opened, nothing will happen after click
Right mouse button click - copies magnet link to clipboard
If you right clicked icon, go to your Torrent client and paste the magnet link.
If you used left mouse button default Torrent client will open already having the magnet link.
Save by Cache Directory
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Go to Settings
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Scroll down to Download Directory option.
This is where the movies are downloaded to. You can change path to more user friendly place like
c:\movies
Click to enlarge Make sure that Delete all your Downloads after closing app is unchecked. This way Popcorn Time will not delete downloaded movies.
To copy and paste path, left click mouse button and drag cursor along the text to select it. Right click it and choose Copy from the context menu. Paste the path to Windows Explorer.
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In Cache Directory you will see sub folders like:
torrent-stream,TorrentCache,d9729feb74992cc3482b350163a1a010da3ea1b6- zero or more.You can ignore first two. Movies are in the long letters-numbers folders. These are torrents hash codes.
If you choose to show subtitles they will also be in the movie directory. Basically it is a complete set of files to watch.
To check the download progress hover mouse over the eye icon when movie is playing. This will show you estimated time remaining to complete download.
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Hi Sebastian, I am using the lastest version (2020) and I can’t find any magnet link in the app (Desktop version). Any thoughts please? How do download instead of streaming? Many thanks!
our downloads will be in browser or provider history?
no
Dear Mr. Sebadtian,
On step no.2 of “Save in Cache Directory”. Highlighting the namr of the movie via left click and “shading” the name occur. However, right clicking to click “copy” command do not work.
Btw, there is no “magnet”icon i see, the reason why im using the “save in cache” method.
Would appreciate any extended assistance on this.
Thank you
How can I download movies on an android through popcorn time?
Movies can be viewed off-line if you select a Download folder as explained by Sebastian. Also, the box for the cache folder needs to be un-checked.
Another important thing is to have free storage on the computer. The program (if used instead of the community website) will use all of the video file size although not all of the file has been downloaded yet.
There is also the option that Popcorn Time will store the file in the cache folder which is stored in C:\Users\(username)\AppData\Local and the program folder.
The video program VLC handles almost all file types like mov, avi, mpg, mkv, 3gp, mp4, flv, wmv and even vob. No need to convert any files!
Spot on! thank you for the information.
Dear,
“Movies can be viewed off-line if you select a Download folder as explained by Sebastian. Also, the box for the cache folder needs to be un-checked.”
To find back the directory on your system
$> echo $TMPDIR
### But exist the possibility to play the downloaded movies with ‘popcorn time’??? ###
The movies I download are suddenly in FGT MKV format and do not work after download, previously they would download in mp4 which worked fine for saving to a USB, how to I get them to download in mp4?
Simply put: you can’t. Movies will be downloaded in a format which they were uploaded. What you can do is to install some codec pack on your computer like K-Lite Codec Pack to be able to play them. If your TV doesn’t support this file format there is nothing you can do with Popcorn time application.
Have you tried to rename the file extension to MP4? MKV and MP4 are only containers.
Last option is to convert MKV to MP4. For that you could use free VLC Media Player and “Media” > “Convert / Save…” option.
If you need more information on that please ping me.
The movies from Popcorn Time are not appearing in the Popcorn time folder in my Downloads folder anymore although they used to. Where are they going now? I can’t find them anywhere on the computer
Hey man i have the same issue however the app creates a folder to store the movie while your watching it but you dont have to close the app if you havent found the file yet C:\Users\(Usernamer)\AppData\Local\Temp\8930-eaa7-54ec\
I’m a first time user
I am unable to download the movies on my Mac. I have the latest version of PopcornTime but the cache folder is empty. Any ideas? Thanks
You have to wait until the whole movie is downloaded. Also make sure that option to clear the cache folder is not set.
Thanks for the help!
Hi All,
I have a moto X play phone and i have downloaded movies from pop corn but i am unable to get option to save it or find the downloaded movies in phone . I have to watch them where it says ‘watch now’. Can any one guide me as to how to save movies and copy that to my computer ?
Hey Sebastian,
In the newer version, the magnet isn’t there but I have BitTorrent downloaded on my computer. I am hoping to click on a show and download without actually having to stream it. Any help?
which version of Popcorn Time are you using?
5.6.1
there is no magnet link
and i am not being able to cahe it also
Working on the update for the article. Hang on.
dear Sir,
i already downlod this apps.. but afrer finish downlod this application to my phone anroid…i click to install….but have a message like this “there was a problen while parsing the package” now what shout i do…
hi, download app again. Maybe it got corrupted.
Also make sure that this is not some archive file that has to be extracted first.
How do I get to advanced settings? My settings window gives only two categories: Inter face (subtitles, language) and Downloads (warn if VPN is not turned on).
Take a look at the Step 2. You have to click the checkbox to show advanced settings.
how about this newer version of popcorn.. u cant see the yellow button for magnet link.. is there any way to download for offline viewing?
yeah, the button for magnet is gone. Good news is that the option with “not deleting cache” thing works. Go to settings and select cache folder for movies. Make sure that delete cache folder option is unselected. Use popcorn time to download movie. After it is downloaded it will be available in cache folder.
magnet button is back in community edition