Instagram does not save photos or download videos from the app, and the only way – or at least the quickest and most intuitive one – to capture the images posted on the phone is to take a screenshot.
As for Instagram Stories, however, the screenshot may not be the best of ideas since the other person will receive a notification.
Here are 3 tricks to save photos, videos, and stories from Instagram quickly and easily without taking a screenshot (if instead, you want to use this method but you are not practical, find out how to take screenshots from PC, Mac, iPhone, Samsung, Huawei)
Before proceeding, we remind you that downloading photos from Instagram is an operation that can only be carried out for strictly personal and in good faith purposes.
If Instagram does not allow you to save images of other users by a simple button it is to protect photographers’ privacy and copyrights. If you want to save Instagram photos on your device for commercial or sharing purposes, then, you will have to contact the user and ask for permission to use his photo or quote the source.
Method # 1: useful apps and sites
There are sites not affiliated with Instagram and third-party apps that allow you to click on other users’ Instagram photos and save them on your device. Among the photo saving apps, available for both iOS and Android, we find
- Save Photos & Videos Downloader
- Instasave
- IgVideoDownloader
- SaveGram
- Instagrab
- My InstaAlbum
Take, for example, IgVideoDownloader, which allows you to download photos and videos online (therefore without installing apps and programs) both from Facebook and Instagram. It’s very simple: just copy the link of the photo and paste it in the bar and click Download. In an instant, the content will be saved on PC, tablet or smartphone.
To copy the Instagram photo and video link, press the three dots icon (…) located at the top right of the content and select Copy link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgSXC_J7-bc
Method # 2: recording iPhone screen
Instagram Stories cannot be saved and after 48 hours they self-destruct. There are, however, some unofficial ways to download the Stories to your phone to relate them when we feel like it or to share them with friends on other platforms.
A solution is offered by iOS 11, which has the new Screen Recording feature. Those who own an iPhone, therefore, can use this feature to save Instagram videos and Stories or Snapchat snaps.
The only drawback, however, is that there is no guarantee that the other will not find out: although many users say that it goes unnoticed, there are those who claim that Instagram notifies the user that the screen recording is active. The explanation could be given by the different smartphone models and the installed version of Instagram.
Method # 3: Instagram Web
But there is also another way to save Instagram photos, and the official website Instagram.com is used.
How to do? First, log in to Instagram.com on your PC. If you have tried using Instagram from your computer, you will have noticed that from the desktop version you will only see photos of your feed and those of your contacts, without being able to “explore” the other user photos. This happens to protect copyright and privacy, but there is a way to get around the obstacle. Here is the procedure, step by step.
- Log in to the site and find the photo to save by entering, after the URL http://instagram.com/, the username that posted the photo.
- Open the photo you are interested in saving and click on the three dots icon (…) at the bottom right. A menu will open where you will have to click on the “View photo page”.
- Click with the right button and select “Inspect element”.
- A sidebar will open showing the HTML code with a small part highlighted in blue. The photo we want to save is that string in brackets that goes from “https: //” to “.jpg”.
- Right-click and copy the highlighted code, then paste it in the URL bar of the browser.
- Clear all the code and enter the string “https: // … .jpg”, and press Enter.
The Instagram photo will appear on the screen, ready to be saved. To save the image on the PC, right-click and select “Save image as”, putting it in the folder you prefer.
