he second of two methods used for viewing Scribd documents, this
involves using Mozilla Firefox to view the page’s source code to gain
access to the page’s info. As mentioned above, we’ve experienced
some hit or miss results with this method, but since it only takes a
couple of minutes of your time to try, it’s worth trying anyway. You’ll
know this method has failed if you receive a message that announces
an invalid key error. Otherwise, let’s get going with your Scribd
document. This was originally our top-recommended way to
download Scribd documents without paying for a membership, but
we’ve heard from enough users having difficulty with this process to
demote it to a backup method.
Start by navigating Firefox (we can’t suggest using Chrome, as
Chrome generates a .swf file that never manages to download) to the
Scribd document you’re looking to save to your computer. Though
Scribd also carries full-length novels and other works of fiction, we
recommend only using this for nonfiction documents and other
sources for your projects, papers, and research. Inside your
document’s preview, right-click the document and select View Page
Source from the menu. This will open a new tab in your browser,
displaying the source information for your Scribd target.
In this new page, hit Ctrl+F to open the Find in Page UI in Firefox. In
this field, enter the phrase “access_key,” and upon finding the result in
the Scribd source code, highlight and copy the code to your computer.
It should be an alphanumerical code that appears as ‘key-
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx’. Now head back to the original document page
in your browser and look at the URL at the top of the browser. This
time, we’re looking for the document ID number in the URL of your
specific page. Unlike the access key, the document ID is listed in the
URL and consists of several numbers. The URL should appear as
“‘https://www.scribd.com/read/NUMBER/DOCUMENT TITLE.”
We’ll be using the number portion of that link in a moment.
Now, open up a new tab in Firefox. We’re going to create a new URL
using the information provided us by both the access key, the
document ID number, and the following partial URL:
“http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?
document_id=NUMBER&access_key=key-ACCESS_KEY”. When
you’ve pasted this URL into your new tab, replace the number section
with the document ID and the access key area with the access key you
grabbed earlier. Following this, you’ll have to wait a few minutes for
the page to load as your documents begin to download from the Scribd
servers. Once your document has finished loading, use the print option
to print to PDF, and your document will be saved to your computer.
If this method doesn’t work for you, and you receive some form of
error message from Scribd, retry using the first method listed above.
Users have reported to us that their preferred method uses the
document upload method listed above.
Method Three: GreaseMonkey
Scripts
For this next step, you’ll need to use one of multiple different
Greasemonkey scripts to download your document, in addition to
using Firefox. This has been hit or miss with us as well, especially as
extensions and plugins age and Scribd continues to update their site.
Still, it’s worth mentioning if only for the sake of completion. The
first thing you’ll need to make sure you have is Firefox.
Greasemonkey is a Firefox-only extension, and though
Tampermonkey exists for Chrome, we’re going to need to use Firefox
for this one. Install Greasemonkey from the Firefox plugin store, and
head over to this site to install the Scribd Greasemonkey extension.
There are several of these that exist online, and each may be worth
trying until you find the correct one for you.
With your Greasemonkey script installed, you should be able to
download Scribd documents within your browser using the download
key that appears on the top of the page. That said, because Scribd is
constantly changing their site, we can’t always guarantee that you’ll
be able to find a script that works. In our tests, we found success
using the script here, along with some of the scripts on GreasyFork,
which also include options to de-blur documents on Scribd.
***
Unfortunately, the nature of Scribd means that these methods are far
from perfect. Scribd doesn’t want users to access their document
collection for free, and therefore, these methods are always up in the
air for whether or not they’ll work. Typically, trying to force Scribds
hand will get you somewhere, from a full-blown document
downloaded from their servers to a saved and converted HTML
document that can be used for PDF files. As always, we update this
article once every couple of months with the newest information we
can, and our comment section is a great way to see who else is having
success downloading from Scribd. None of the methods performed
here are by any means perfect, but with enough time, energy, and
effort, making progress within Scribd to gain access to documents for
your homework or studying isn’t too far away.
30 thoughts on “How To Download
Scribd Documents For Free”
dann
August 17, 2020 at 5:56 pm
Method 1 might work for documents, but can’t get sheet music anymore. Preview
thumbnails show as a large treble clef, and anything linked to something that looks
like that cannot be downloaded. Instead, when clicking or pasting in that URL you are
served up a preview of completely unrelated content. Doesn’t matter how many times
you log in/out, or how documents you upload. They’ve blocked it. None of the other
methods work.
Alisa
September 17, 2020 at 7:01 am
Can someone download a book for me please?
REPLY
Anica
June 21, 2020 at 9:22 pm
Method one works for the first time. However, on the second time, they asked you 5
documents to upload, not only one.
REPLY
Debrah
June 17, 2020 at 5:15 am
Still works, thanks
REPLY
Dibs
June 17, 2020 at 2:47 am
it’s June 2020 and the method one worked for me (I LOVE YOU PEOPLE, SUCH
BIG HELP). The method two however, I tried to look for the access key from the
source but zero searches.
REPLY
Sue Truong
June 15, 2020 at 5:32 am
15.6.2020 Method 1 is still working so far. I’m using Microsoft Edge. Hope that helps
REPLY
NVS
May 10, 2020 at 2:04 am
nice method one still working perfectly! i found this article very helpful thank you!
REPLY
lena
February 25, 2020 at 12:45 pm
Method 1 still working indeed
REPLY
Dino
January 22, 2020 at 12:20 pm
Method 1 still working :)
Eszter Makai
January 22, 2020 at 4:48 pm
Hey, how could you replace the link? For me it’s not possible. Thanks!
REPLY
Gordon Ramsay
October 29, 2019 at 12:39 pm
Method 1 has been patched
REPLY
Favour
October 9, 2019 at 4:09 pm
Hi there…
Method 1 worked for me. I am using Microsoft’s edge browser (if you find that
relevant).
REPLY
Rhea
October 2, 2019 at 8:31 pm
Method 1 no longer works
REPLY
Mackenzie
September 5, 2019 at 1:58 pm
method one worked for me! thanks for saving me from buying an 800$ textbook!
REPLY
Dongerino Frapuccino
September 3, 2019 at 3:36 pm
Worked like a charm, thank you! :D
REPLY
hinami
August 27, 2019 at 7:31 pm
28th Aug 2019: Method 1 no longer works as there is no Download link anymore,
only a link to sign up for the trial.
Unknown
August 29, 2019 at 2:09 am
As of 29th Aug 2019 the download link is there
REPLY
Pete
August 3, 2019 at 12:26 pm
Method 1 still works, August 3rd 2019 (Downloaded Charisma on Command by
Charlie Houpert). Fun fact: I actually uploaded something useful instead of garbage.
Method 2 on FireFox gave me the same .swf file as on Chrome.
Test
August 12, 2019 at 12:46 pm
I use to get Method 1 to work… now I can not. It does not give me a “download”
option anymore before I upload… Just 30 day trial button
helda luz barrientos
August 22, 2019 at 9:43 am
no tengo targeta de credito
Sahil
July 24, 2019 at 9:23 am
Didn’t bother with the 1st method. Tried the 2nd method, but didn’t work for me. The
third method worked brilliantly. Installed lots of un-blur script at once, so don’t know
which one worked, however now I have access to the document I wanted. So, thank
you so much for the hack. Loved it!
REPLY
Matheus Justino
July 7, 2019 at 1:20 pm
#1 worked! Thanks a lot! <3
REPLY
Mark
June 30, 2019 at 7:32 am
Method #1 Worked perfectly ! Thanks !
REPLY
Alex
June 10, 2019 at 6:02 am
#1 is Excellent! It worked for me. Thanks!
REPLY
Rex
June 5, 2019 at 12:09 am
June the 5th 2019
Didn’t try Method 1 as it asks me to put my payment info (and I won’t)
Method 2 didn’t work
Method 3 worked partially, had to download GreaseFork unblurring add-ons to
GreaseMonkey to make it work (tried different ones, some didn’t work)
REPLY
Wibble
May 10, 2019 at 8:41 am
Method 1 (upload any document) working May 2019. Thanks.
REPLY
Kemmler
May 3, 2019 at 2:49 am
Thanks dude! It works perfectly! May 2019
REPLY
Lomo
April 13, 2019 at 3:21 am
Yes…. It’s work for me April 2019
REPLY
BT
April 4, 2019 at 2:58 pm
Thanks, works on april 2019 :))
REPLY
Prince Daniels
April 3, 2019 at 2:51 pm
Method 1 worked perfectly. Thanks so much.
REPLY
Kurt
March 27, 2019 at 5:19 pm
I have a subscription to scribd. I have also 5 Greaseonkey downloaders. How do I
actually save a document to my PC? (and not as a swf.)
REPLY
kaiki
March 9, 2019 at 1:45 am
method 1 is still working..its great
REPLY
Downloader
February 19, 2019 at 8:07 am
Method 1 still works on 19, Feb 2019. Thank you !
REPLY
Bob Loblaw
February 16, 2019 at 5:09 pm
First still works – Feb 19, 2019. Generated a Lorem Ipsum doc, saved it as html,
opened it in Word, saved as a .docx then uploaded it and downloaded the file I needed
REPLY
Krong
December 10, 2018 at 5:02 am
Thank you so much! 1st Method works hehe
REPLY
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