Skype on OS X (and on Windows, for that matter) does not provide a way to save video messages. From what I understand, you’ll need to pay for a pro version of Skype (according to what I’ve read in forums; it’s not something I’ve confirmed with Skype.com) for the ability to save video messages. That sounds ridiculous to me. There’s another way. There are lots of complicated ways to go about it, which generally involve using software to monitor the data stream from Skype to the servers, and then identifying the URI of the Skype video you wish to save. It didn’t work for me. So here’s an easier way to do it, and it doesn’t require any software.
How to save Skype video messages on OS X
1. In Finder go to ~/Library/Application Support/Skype/ (the long form of that path is /Users/[your-mac-username]/Library/Application Support/Skype/ )
To make that easy, copy the above path (the short version I provided), then in Finder hit Shift-Command-G, then hit Control-V to paste the path into the dialogue that pops up.
2. Open the folder with the same name as your Skype username.
3. Play the message in Skype. You don’t have to play the whole thing. It just needs to load up.
3. Open the main.db file in a text editor of your choice. The OS X TextEdit app will do the trick.
4. Hit Control-F for FIND. Then search for media.vm.skype.com/vod/
5. That should take you to a line of code that looks something like, https://du5.media.vm.skype.com/vod/mp4-vm/606e4332fec3477586375cb0ce9fd94d_540a5c3e_key_2c8f4641fa047409a3c107cce88ad7e18f0e040a?version=a055c7aa6d[USERNAME-OF-MESSAGE-SENDER]T
If you have recently watched video messages from a number of friends, it’s possible you’ll have more than one result in a search for media.vm.skype.com/vod/ (I don’t know if that will be the case or not). If that is the case, just check the last part of the long URI. You’ll see this in red on my example above. That will be the username of the person who sent you the message you are looking for.
6. Copy that URI excluding the “?” and everything after it. So in my example you’ll end up with: https://du5.media.vm.skype.com/vod/mp4-vm/606e4332fec3477586375cb0ce9fd94d_540a5c3e_key_2c8f4641fa047409a3c107cce88ad7e18f0e040a
7. Paste that URI into the address bar in your browser. The video should now load.
8. Go to the File menu and select the option to Save As or Save Page (the exact term may differ, depending on what browser you are using).
Voila. You now have the video message saved to your computer.
That’s it.
