How to Save Photos, Videos, and Stories from Instagram to Your Phone
Instagram has become one of the most popular social media platforms for sharing photos and videos. With over 1 billion monthly active users, there is a ton of great content being posted every day.
Sometimes you may want to save some of this content to view later or share with friends outside of Instagram.
However, Instagram does not provide a straightforward way to download and save posts from other users’ feeds.
In this comprehensive guide, I will go over various methods and tips for saving Instagram photos, videos, and stories to your smartphone.
Saving Posts from Your Own Feed
Fortunately, Instagram does allow you to save your own feed posts to your phone quite easily. Here are steps to save photos and videos that you have posted:
Saving Individual Posts
- Open the Instagram app on your phone and navigate to the post in your own feed that you want to save.
- Tap the three dots icon in the top right corner of the post.
- A menu will open up. Tap on “Save”.
- The post will now be saved to a private collection called “Saved” on your profile. You can access all your saved posts by going to your profile and tapping on the bookmark icon.
This method lets you save your posts one at a time. It’s handy for saving select photos you want to look back on or potentially re-share.
Saving All Original Photo Versions
Instagram compresses photos when you post them, so the quality is reduced compared to the original version on your phone’s camera roll. If you want to save the original, uncompressed photos when you post, there is a setting for that.
Here is how to enable saving original photo quality:
- Go to your profile and tap the three lines menu icon in the top right.
- Tap “Settings”
- Tap “Account”
- Toggle on “Original Photos”
Now whenever you post a photo, the original full-resolution version will be saved to your phone’s camera roll automatically. This ensures you have the highest quality version for printing or other uses later.
Saving Photos and Videos from Other Accounts
Unfortunately, saving posts from other Instagram accounts is more complicated. The app does not provide a direct way to download and save someone else’s photos or videos to your camera roll.
Here are a few workarounds to save content from other Instagram accounts:
Screenshot Method
The simplest workaround is to take a screenshot of the post. Here are the steps:
- Open the post you want to save on Instagram.
- Take a screenshot on your phone. For iPhone, press the Home button + Lock button at the same time. For Android, press Volume Down + Lock.
- The screenshot will save to your camera roll.
The downside of this method is that screenshots yield lower image and video quality since it just captures what’s on the screen.
Screen Recording Method (For Videos)
If you want to save a video from someone else’s Instagram feed, you can create a screen recording which will record the video playback in high quality:
- Open the video post on Instagram that you want to save.
- Start a screen recording on your phone. On iPhone, you can use the built-in Screen Recording function in Control Center. On Android, use a third party screen recorder app.
- Start playing the Instagram video, and let the screen recorder capture the playback. Make sure audio is enabled.
- Stop the screen recording after the video finishes. The high quality video will be saved to your camera roll.
Third-Party Apps
There are a number of third party apps available that allow you to save posts from other Instagram accounts. Here are some popular options:
- InstaSave – Available for iOS and Android. Lets you download photo, video, and story posts.
- Story Saver – iOS app to download stories and profiles.
- Instake – Android app to download photos, videos, and stories.
I recommend researching any third-party apps thoroughly, reading reviews, and looking for any concerns about privacy issues before installing. Some apps may violate Instagram’s terms of service.
Saving Instagram Stories
Instagram stories disappear after 24 hours, so you may want to save some stories to look back on later. Here are methods to save both your own stories and stories from accounts you follow.
Saving Your Own Stories
- In the Instagram app, tap your profile picture to open your stories.
- Tap on the story you want to save.
- Tap the three dots menu in the bottom right.
- Choose either “Save Story” to save the entire story as one video, or “Save” to save each story clip individually.
- Your saved stories will be added to your camera roll.
Saving Other People’s Stories
There is no built-in way to save other people’s stories unfortunately. The methods are similar to saving posts:
- Screen record story playback to capture videos in high quality.
- Use a third-party story saver app – but again, be very careful about privacy concerns with these.
- Screenshot individual story slides. You won’t be able to save videos, but you can screenshot photos.
So in summary, you have full capability to download your own posted photos, videos, and stories from Instagram using the app’s built-in saving and settings. Saving content from other accounts requires a few workarounds like screenshots or third-party apps. Be very mindful of Instagram’s terms of service if utilizing any third-party apps.
Frequently Asked Questions About Saving Instagram Content
Does downloading posts hurt an account’s engagement?
No, saving and downloading posts does not negatively impact engagement on the original account. The likes, comments, and analytics will not change on the Instagram post. The original uploader will not even know you saved their content to your phone.
Is it illegal to save Instagram posts that aren’t mine?
Technically Instagram’s terms prohibit “downloading or republishing the content from the service”, which would make saving others’ posts against their terms. However, there is very little risk of actual legal action against someone saving posts just for personal use. But refrain from mass downloading or republishing other users’ content without permission.
What photo editing apps can make my screenshots look better?
Some options to improve the image quality of screenshots include Snapseed, Adobe Lightroom, and TouchRetouch. They can help sharpen image clarity and touch up screenshots.
What causes lower image quality when saving Instagram photos?
Compression and reformatting photos to square aspect ratio reduces image quality on Instagram. Screenshots also result in reduced quality. Enabling “Original Photos” is the only way to fully maintain the full camera resolution.
Can I export my saved Instagram posts to my computer?
Yes, if you save Instagram posts to your camera roll, you can connect your phone to a computer and transfer the images and videos over. Or you can upload them to a cloud storage service like Google Drive or iCloud and then access them on your computer.
Is there an automated tool to bulk download my Instagram posts?
Some third-party services like DownloadGram claim to let users bulk download their entire Instagram feeds. However, proceed with caution as these automated tools likely violate Instagram’s terms. Manual saving is the safest approach.
Conclusion
I hope this comprehensive guide gives you all the tips and information you need to successfully save any Instagram photos, videos, or stories that you want to keep on your phone. While the platform makes it easy to backup your own content, downloading from other accounts requires a few workarounds.
The safest approach is using the built-in saving options in the Instagram app itself. If you explore any third-party apps or services, thoroughly check for potential privacy risks or terms of service violations before using them. Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions!
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