Save and back up Scribd documents directly from your browser.
No external accounts. No third-party servers. Everything runs 100% locally on your machine.
Once installed, this extension adds a floating panel to every Scribd document page. From that panel, you can download the document using one of two methods:
| Mode | How it works | Output |
|---|---|---|
| ⚡ Extract from Server | Reconstructs the exact raw document images natively from the server (Stitching enabled) | Highest 1:1 image-based PDF |
| 🖼️ Secondary Scan | Takes full-page screenshots by zooming out for documents failing Server extraction | Standard quality picture PDF |
| 🚀 External Download | Re-routes you to a 3rd party host that downloads the entire vector-PDF | Searchable vector PDF |
⚠️ This extension only works on publicly accessible documents on Scribd.
Don't worry — it's easier than it looks! Just follow these three steps.
Click the button below to download the latest release as a ZIP file:
Once downloaded, extract (unzip) the folder to a permanent location on your computer. For example:
C:\Extensions\scribd-downloader\
💡 Important: Don't move or delete this folder after installing. Your browser needs the files to stay in the same place — if you move them, the extension will stop working.
Open the folder you just extracted and double-click build.bat.
This script will automatically generate two ready-to-install folders:
scribd-downloader/
├── chrome/ ← 🔵 For Chrome, Edge, and Brave
├── firefox/ ← 🟠 For Firefox
└── ...
ℹ️ If nothing happens when you double-click, right-click
build.batand select "Run as administrator".
Pick your browser below and follow the steps:
- Open a new tab and go to
chrome://extensions/(oredge://extensions/for Edge) - Toggle on "Developer mode" — it's a switch in the top-right corner
- Click "Load unpacked"
- Browse to the folder from Step 2 and select the
chrome/subfolder
Your extension is now installed! You should see its icon in your browser toolbar.
- Open a new tab and go to
about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox - Click "Load Temporary Add-on..."
- Navigate to the folder from Step 2, open the
firefox/subfolder, and select themanifest.jsonfile
⚠️ Firefox note: Because the extension isn't signed through the Firefox Add-ons store, it gets removed every time you close the browser. You'll need to repeat Step 3 each time you open Firefox. This is a Firefox security limitation, not a bug.
This mode extracts the pure images directly from the servers to reconstruct a perfect, margin-less PDF, utilizing Smart Stitching for split pages.
1. Open any public document on scribd.com
2. The extension panel will appear on the screen
3. Click "Premium Extraction" or expand "Alternative option" -> "Extract from Server"
4. Wait — the extension will automatically trace and reconstruct each page natively
5. When it's done, your PDF will download automatically
This method tries to grab the original PDF file from a 3rd-party downloader tool.
1. Inside the viewer, expand "Alternative option" -> "External Download"
2. A new tab will open and bypass Cloudflare automatically
3. Wait 1 to 3 minutes for the process to complete
4. If a PDF was found, the download starts automatically
5. If it fails, just switch to Extract from Server instead
The floating panel doesn't appear
→ Reload the page with F5. If the problem persists and you recently updated the extension, try re-running build.bat and reinstalling it from extensions settings.
Firefox shows "empty add-on" error
→ Make sure you're selecting the manifest.json file inside the firefox/ folder that was generated in Step 2 — not from any other location.
External Download fails constantly
→ That specific document doesn't have a raw PDF available or the 3rd-party server went down. Use Extract from Server instead — it will always work for visible documents.
Interested in contributing or modifying the extension? Here's how the project is structured:
scribd-downloader/
│
├── src/ ← Edit your source files here
│ ├── shared/ ← Code shared by both browsers
│ │ ├── content.js ← Floating panel UI + HQ Scan logic
│ │ ├── popup.html/js ← Extension popup
│ │ ├── overlay.css ← Panel styles
│ │ └── libs/ ← jsPDF, i18n helpers, shims
│ ├── chrome/
│ │ ├── manifest.json ← Manifest v3 (service worker)
│ │ └── background.js ← captureVisibleTab(null)
│ └── firefox/
│ ├── manifest.json ← Manifest v2 (background scripts)
│ └── background.js ← captureVisibleTab(windowId)
│
├── chrome/ ← Auto-generated by build.ps1 — do not edit
├── firefox/ ← Auto-generated by build.ps1 — do not edit
│
└── build.ps1 ← Build script: compiles src/ → chrome/ and firefox/
Workflow: Make your changes inside src/, then run build.bat to rebuild the installable folders. You can also run the build script from the terminal:
build.batThis tool was built for educational and research purposes only. The author does not encourage or support the illegal distribution of copyrighted content.
You are solely responsible for how you use this extension. Only use it for documents you own, documents in the public domain, or in accordance with the copyright laws of your country.
Made with ❤️ by HugoAleOlguin
