9GAG started in Hong Kong in 2008 as a side project, built so a group of friends could share funny images without email. It grew into one of the most visited humour sites on the internet, with an audience spread across dozens of countries and an aesthetic that became genuinely globally recognisable.
Its model is aggregation. Very little on 9GAG originated there — posts are gathered from Reddit, Twitter, Instagram and everywhere else, and the site's value is in the sorting rather than the making. That has made it perennially controversial among the communities it draws from.
Video became the dominant format over time, as it did everywhere. The practical consequence for anyone browsing is that a clip on 9GAG is usually several steps removed from whoever made it, which matters more when you go to share it on than when you are simply watching.
Why people save 9GAG clips
Forwarding, almost entirely. A clip is wanted as a file so it can go into a group chat or a message, where a link to an ad-heavy website is a worse thing to send.
The feed is also unsearchable in any practical sense. Finding a post from last month is close to impossible, so anything worth keeping is worth keeping now.
And posts are removed. Aggregated content attracts rights complaints, and a clip that has travelled through four platforms before arriving is not a stable thing to rely on.
Saving a 9GAG video
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1
Copy the 9GAG post address
Take the 9gag.com address from your browser, or use the share control on the post. Each post has its own short identifier.
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2
Insert the link into the box above
Paste it into the field at the top of this page, which starts reading it immediately.
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3
Take the clip
Posts are short, so there is normally one sensible file with its size shown beside it.
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4
Send it wherever you like
Tap the row when it turns blue. Downloads on Android, the Files app on an iPhone.
Where 9GAG content comes from
Understanding the site's model explains both why it is useful and why the credit question is more tangled here than on most platforms.
| Stage | What happens | What is lost |
|---|---|---|
| Original creator posts | Somewhere else entirely | Nothing yet |
| Reposted to Reddit or Twitter | Often without credit | The creator's name |
| Picked up by 9GAG | Re-uploaded and re-encoded | Quality, and any remaining source |
| Watermarked | Site branding applied | The appearance of being from elsewhere |
| Shared onward by you | As a file | Nothing further |
This is why clips on aggregator sites are frequently blurry: each hop re-encodes the video. If a clip matters to you, the original is usually sharper and finding it is often worth the two minutes.
9GAG download questions
Why is the video quality poor?
Because it has usually been re-encoded several times on its way through different platforms. Each hop loses detail, and 9GAG is rarely the first stop.
Will there be a 9GAG watermark?
Frequently, yes. The site applies its own branding to a great deal of what it hosts, and that is part of the picture rather than an overlay that can be peeled off.
Can I find the original version?
Often, with a reverse search or by looking at the comments, where somebody has usually posted the source. It is generally sharper.
Do short 9gag.com links work on 9GAG?
Yes, they are the ordinary form from the share control.
Can I save a whole section or feed?
No. Each post needs its own address.
Where does the file go?
Downloads on Android, the Files app on an iPhone.
Will anyone be notified on 9GAG?
No. Nothing is reported and no account is used here.
Is there a 9GAG limit?
No cap and no queue.
A 9GAG link has stopped working. on 9GAG?
Posts are removed over rights complaints fairly often, which is an occupational hazard for a site built on aggregation.
Is it acceptable to save from 9GAG?
Saving something to send to a friend is ordinary. The thing worth remembering is that almost nothing on 9GAG was made by 9GAG, so whoever actually made the clip is a couple of steps further back and usually got no credit at all.