When Loom says you can't download a video, it is almost never a broken button — it is a permission. Downloading is gated twice: once by the plan the workspace is on, and again by the role you hold inside that workspace. Both have to clear before the option appears.
That double gate is why people who have already paid for Loom still find the download unavailable, and why turning on viewer downloads sometimes changes nothing for the person you sent the link to.
What the download permission actually depends on
Loom's Download your Loom video page lists permissions per plan. Quoted exactly, under the heading "Download permissions per plan:":
"Business/Business+ AI: Admins and creators"
"Education: Admins only"
"Enterprise: Admins and members"
Notice that the qualifying roles are not the same across plans: Business and Business+ AI name admins and creators, while Enterprise names admins and members. If you moved between workspaces on different plans, the role that let you download in one may not be the role that lets you download in the other.
The same page adds two exclusions:
"Note: Admins/creators on a Starter Free plan cannot download videos. Creator Lites can't download videos on any plan."
"Note that Creator Lite and Viewer roles don't have download permissions on any plan."
The Creator Lite exclusion is the one that catches paying teams. Being inside a workspace that pays for Business does not help if your own role is Creator Lite — Loom's wording is "on any plan," with no carve-out for paid workspaces. If your colleague can download and you can't, compare roles before you compare plans.
One thing to check rather than assume: the same page also states, "The download feature is only available on Business, Business+ AI, or Enterprise plans. Users on the Starter Free plan can't download videos." That sentence names three plans, while the per-plan list above it also has an Education row. If you are on Education, check the official documentation for which of the two applies to your workspace today.
The rule competitors leave out: your viewers are gated too
Creators often assume that flipping the viewer-download switch is enough. Loom's own words:
"If you have a paid workspace role ( creator or admin ) and have enabled download access for viewers in your video settings, then viewers signed into Loom can download."
And then the limit that almost every third-party article drops:
"Viewers who are not signed in to Loom or have the Starter free plan will not be able to download your video regardless of your video settings."
"Regardless of your video settings" is the operative phrase. Your toggle is necessary but not sufficient — two viewer states override it entirely:
- The viewer is not signed in to Loom at all.
- The viewer is signed in but on the Starter free plan.
The practical consequence: if you send a Loom link to a client who has never made a Loom account, no setting on your side will produce a download button for them. The only route is that you download the file and send them the file.
Other reasons the download is refused
Loom's FAQ "Are all Loom videos downloadable?" answers with a list of hard blocks:
"No, downloading videos with Variables is not possible. Additionally for Loom meeting recordings only the Meeting organizer has the ability to download the video. In addition to this, you won't be able to download Loom videos over 20GB. (How big is 20GB? Approx. 3 hours recorded in 4K). However, if you do need to access a larger download, please contact our support team and we'll do our best to assist."
Three separate cases in one paragraph:
| Blocker | Who it hits | Loom's stated way out |
|---|---|---|
| Video uses Variables | Anyone | None given — the page says it "is not possible" |
| Loom meeting recording | Everyone except the meeting organizer | Ask the organizer |
| File over 20GB | Very long or 4K recordings | "contact our support team" |
There is also a workspace-level kill switch. Loom's Disable downloads for your workspace page says it is "available on Enterprise and Premium (Business+AI) plans" and "available for Atlassian-managed workspaces only," adding that if your workspace runs on the legacy Loom admin console "this feature is not available on your plan." Where an admin has switched it on, the effect is broad: "Once disabled, users in your workspace will no longer have the ability to download videos and transcripts." Note videos and transcripts — the caption file goes with it.
Finally, verify which account you are actually in. Loom documents this pattern for a different symptom, the 5-minute recording limit: "it is usually because you are logged into the wrong account on your recorder, or your default workspace is a free workspace." That page is about recording rather than downloading, but since download rights are decided per plan and per role, the same two checks apply — which account you are signed into, and which workspace is set as your default. Loom also notes that "The desktop app can be signed into a different account and has separate session management from the web or the Chrome extension," so being signed in correctly on the web proves nothing about the desktop app.
What you get when the download does work
The format is not a choice. Loom states it on three separate pages, including plainly: "When you download a Loom, it is downloaded in the .MP4 format." The encoding page adds that "The MP4 media encoding specs are similar to the RAW media recorded" — similar, not identical, so do not treat the download as a byte-for-byte master.
Several Loom features do not survive the export:
"While all video trims will be retained in the mp4-downloaded format, it's important to note that other Loom features, including CTAs, Filler Word + Silence removal, Chapters, and Closed Captions, will not be included in the downloaded file."
Loom's Remove filler words and silences page describes that one differently, saying "If you download your video, the removal will remain intact." Both sentences are official and they live on different pages, so treat filler-word removal as unverified either way. Background noise is unambiguous: Loom says reduced background noise "will be reflected in the web player but downloaded Loom videos will include the original audio."
Captions are unambiguous too — they are not in the MP4. To ship a captioned copy elsewhere, download the SRT separately. Loom limits that as well: "Downloadable captions are only available to creators and admins on a Business/Business + AI plan, and members and admins on an Enterprise plan." Then burn the SRT into the picture yourself with burn subtitles to video, because Loom states that "Users can't upload external subtitle files to Loom" — there is no way to push an edited caption file back in.
One more surprise: Loom's web player "adjusts the aspect ratio of a video to 16:9 (1280 x 800)," but "when you download a video, it is in the original aspect ratio the video was recorded in" — so a recording made at an unusual screen shape can look stretched once it is a file on disk.
Because Loom permits downloads all the way up to 20GB, the file you get can be far too big for whatever you plan to do with it next. Shrink it before you send it anywhere:
Try it right here
Runs in your browser. Your file is not uploaded anywhere.
This runs inside your browser tab: the MP4 is read from disk, re-encoded locally, and handed back, with nothing uploaded — which matters for internal recordings. For the same problem on another platform, see captions missing from a downloaded Teams recording, or browse the rest of our fix guides.
How to tell it worked
Open the file locally and check three things: it plays as an MP4, your trims are present, and the aspect ratio matches what you recorded. If captions, chapters or CTAs are missing, that is expected, not a failed download.
FAQ
Why can't I download my own Loom video? Either your workspace is on a plan without the feature, or your role doesn't qualify. Loom says Starter Free admins and creators cannot download, and that Creator Lite roles "can't download videos on any plan."
Can free Loom users download videos? No. Loom states that "Users on the Starter Free plan can't download videos," and that the feature "is only available on Business, Business+ AI, or Enterprise plans."
I turned on viewer downloads — why still no button for my viewer? Because the viewer is either not signed in to Loom or is on the Starter free plan. Loom says those viewers cannot download "regardless of your video settings."
Does the downloaded MP4 include subtitles? No. Loom lists Closed Captions among the features that "will not be included in the downloaded file." Download the SRT separately if your role allows it, then burn it in.
Is there an API for bulk-downloading Loom videos? Loom's answer is "Loom does not offer a open API at this time," with the Loom SDK described as "not an open API." Downloads stay manual.
Every limit above is quoted from Loom's help centre, checked 16 September 2026. Loom's pages disagree with each other in places — where this article flags a conflict, verify against the current official documentation. Need to reshape the file after you get it? All Clapr tools run locally in your browser.
