Millions of photos are posted to Instagram every day. This makes it the most popular photo app on the planet. Often there are images that simply need to be saved. Unfortunately, the creators of Instagram haven’t provided an option to upload your favorite pictures to your computer, tablet, or smartphone.
In this article, we’ll share ways to save your Instagram photos or videos to your phone or computer. Download pictures from your own or other people’s accounts using the simple tools we’ll cover below.
What do you need to know before downloading photos from Instagram?
You might think that pictures and photos from social networks are allowed to be downloaded and used freely. The author has already published them. But this is not the case. Free access to an image does not give you the right to dispose of it. Only the creator and those to whom he or she has given permission can distribute and modify it. Therefore, if you want to use someone else’s Instagram photo online, it is better not to download it but to embed the post on your page.
Sometimes, however, there is still a need to upload an image to your device. For example, you’ve lost your phone and the valuable footage is only on social media. Or you have received consent from the author and may download the photo legally – but in this case, it is better not to stop at a verbal agreement but to discuss the issue in correspondence so you have proof. There are a few things that work, and we’ll explore them below.
How to save your Instagram photos
If you want to back up all your uploaded images and videos (for example, before deleting your Instagram account), you can request to download the data directly from your account.
Follow our step-by-step guide and you’ll be good to go:
Step 1: Open Instagram in your browser and log into your account. Then click the profile icon in the top right corner.
Step 2: On your profile page, go to “Edit Profile”.
Step 3: Select “Privacy and Security” from the list on the left.
Step 4: Now scroll down and click on “Upload request” under “Upload data”.
Step 5: You will now be prompted to enter the email address associated with Instagram. Confirm by clicking “Next”.
Step 6: Now enter your Instagram password and click “Request Upload”.
According to Instagram policy, you will receive a link within 48 hours, which you can then use to download your data.
How to download photos from Instagram to any device
1. Using a photo downloader website
One of the easiest and most versatile ways is using online services like iGram, IG photo downloader, and SnapInsta.
iGram helps you download photos, videos, and IGTVs from Instagram. iGram is designed to be easy to use on any device such as a mobile phone, tablet, or computer. With iGram, you can download a single image to share as well as multiple photos from your Instagram albums.
Instagram Photo Downloader from SnapInsta allows you to easily save any photo or collage from Instagram. With SnapInsta, you can download a single publication image as well as multiple photos from Instagram. You can also download stories, Reels, and IGTV.
You can also use IG photo downloader for free. No pre-registration is required. As the downloader works directly in your browser, you can use it to download photos to your phone, tablet, or laptop.
The principle of the sites is the same. To download, simply open Instagram and copy the link to the post with the image you want. Then paste it into the field on the download site and click “Download”. When downloading on an iPhone or iPad, use the Safari browser.
If there’s more than one picture in the post, the service will show them all and you can save the ones you want. iGram also lets you choose the desired resolution.
2. Using Telegram
The easiest way to download photos to your phone from Instagram is Telegram. You don’t need to download third-party apps and services, and you don’t have to sign in through your Instagram account. If you use Telegram, you can upload photos from Instagram* directly through the messenger.
There are two ways:
- Send a message to yourself in the Saved Messages chat.
You’ll see a message with a link and a picture. Click on the image, from the pop-up menu select “Save”. The picture will be saved in the gallery. If your post contains multiple photos, you can download them all.
- Using bots
Telegram bots are also popular for downloading photos from Instagram. You can use them to save not only photos and videos but also the text of the publication. Find the @instasavegrambot in Telegram, open a dialog with it, and click Start. The bot will send you a welcome message and tell you what it can do. To download a picture from Instagram to your phone online, send the bot a link to the post. The bot will send you a picture of the post, which you can save. If your post contains multiple photos, the bot will only let you download the first one. You’ll have to use another method to download the rest.
Another bot in Telegram, which will help you download a photo from your Instagram post by following the link is @Instatube_bot. The mechanics are the same as in the previous one.
How to download photos from Instagram to your computer
1. Screenshot
The simplest way is to open the post with the required photo on your computer and press the Prt Sc key on your keyboard, usually, it is in one row with the keys F1-F12.
After that, open any visual editor. We take Paint and press ctrl+v, or right-click on a blank screen and select “Paste” in the menu that appears, or find the insert function in the toolbar.
This will paste the entire screen and you can simply crop the edges of the image and save it in your computer.
You can use the same method if you want to take an image from Instagram Stories.
Help program: Qip Shot – allows taking a screenshot of only a selected area of the screen.
2. Using an app
A small desktop app called 4K Stogram will download all the images from selected accounts for you at once. The free version allows you to download up to 200 photos per day from two profiles. By spending €12 for a license you’ll remove any restrictions and gain access to more advanced features. Exporting posts with descriptions, for example.
To download your profile snapshots, paste your profile’s web address into the field on the main program screen. Then press Enter and wait for the photo to download. When the frames are displayed in the program, you can scroll through them or open them in the destination folder.
3. Using a browser extension
If you browse your Instagram feed in a browser, it’s handy to download images directly from there. You’ll need an appropriate extension for this. For example, you can use IG Downloader for Chrome and Media Helper for Instagram for Firefox. The Opera shop, unfortunately, does not have a working plugin. Therefore, you first have to install Install Chrome Extensions, which ensures compatibility with Google browser add-ons and then install the above-mentioned IG Downloader.
All plugins work in the same way: after installation, the characteristic download button with an arrow appears on the page. To download a photo, just click on it, and the image will immediately appear in the “Downloads” folder.
4. Using source code
You can also download a photo from a post on Instagram, including closed accounts, you can use the source code.
Open the Instagram post you want to download a photo from. Right-click on the photo and select View Code (Explore item) from the pop-up menu.
The developer panel will open on the right, with the source code block highlighted in blue. Go to the element above and expand it. Inside it is the link to the desired photo. Open the link in a new tab and save it.
5. Other ways
You can also download Instagram photos to your computer using special online services. To do this, you will need to copy the link to the desired Instagram post and upload it through the service.
Ways in which you have to copy the link to the post do not work on closed accounts, even if you are a subscriber!
These services we have already written about: iGram, IG photo downloader, and SnapInsta. From the same series are the web services Stapico (Webstagram), DownloadGram, and Instagrab. They are also free and do not require any software installation. The working principle is the same.
How to download Instagram photos to your Android device
There are a number of apps and services that allow you to download photos from Instagram to your phone.
Warning! You can only download photos from public accounts.
There are apps that know how to download photos from Instagram, as well as special downloaders. For example, the free Downloader for Instagram. To download a photo with it, copy the link to the post from Instagram, paste it into the app, and press Download. After that, the photo (or photos, if there are more than one) will be uploaded to the built-in gallery, and from there the files can be saved to the memory of the device.
FastSave for Instagram for Android is one of the most popular apps with more than 10 million downloads. Requires no Instagram authorization, is easy to use, and allows you to save photos (and videos) to your phone almost in one click.
QuickSave for Instagram (DStudio) is another worthy app with which you can quickly save photos to your phone. To download, you need to copy the URL of the post and then use the copied address in the app.
Download and open the app. To copy a photo from a post, simply copy the link to it and the download will start automatically. The saved photo can be found in your smartphone’s gallery.
For another way to upload photos from Instagram, you only need FastSave, which can be found on the Play Store. Don’t worry, the program is free to use. The download process is very simple. The only downside to FastSave is that it’s only available for Android, so it won’t work for other users.
How does it work?
- Find and download FastSave from the Play Store.
- Open the Instagram app and select the image you want to download.
- Tap the three-dot icon in the top right corner of the image and select the Copy Link from the popup menu.
- Open the FastSave app, paste the link into the search box and find the image.
- Select the upload button in the bottom right corner.
- Select the images to be downloaded by checking the boxes.
- Select the “FastSave download” option.
- Done!
How to download photos from Instagram to your iPhone or iPad
In the case of iPhone and iPad owners, things are a little more complicated. The App Store regularly removes apps that allow you to download media files.
For this purpose, you can use the simple photo downloading tools for Apple devices listed at the beginning of our article: download sites and Telegram. But just in case, here’s another way. It’s not as convenient, but it doesn’t rely on third-party apps and services.
Copy the link to the post that contains the photo you need. Then open it in the Safari browser. Hold a tap on the photo that opens and tap Copy. If there were multiple frames in the post, you can select just one of them (you’ll have to repeat the process for others).
Then open the “Notes” application. Create a new post, hold your finger down to enter text, and select “Paste”. Tap on the picture that appears, use the “Share” button, and tap “Save picture. It will then appear in your “Photo” application.
Here are more apps that work well and let you download photos from Instagram.
Rapid Save Reposter for Instagram – this not only allows you to save any photos from Instagram to your phone, but it also allows you to repost them. An Instagram account is required to use this repost app.
InstaSaver for Instagram – also currently running and easy to download, both photos and videos.
Another app is Regrammer. Using it you can easily repost images and videos to Instagram. The app is very easy to use and allows you to copy links to photos or videos directly to your Instagram profile. All you have to do is repost it via Regrammer and your favorite video or photo will be published as your own.
You can repost and save unlimited videos and photos with this app. If you need more features, you can also use the Regrammer app:
- No login required
- No watermarks on your Regrams
- No coins or tokens required
- IGTV video repost
- You can download it from the Apple App Store.
If you like other users’ photos
If you just want to admire a photo on Instagram whenever you feel like it, you may not need to download it to your phone, tablet, or laptop and fill up your memory storage in the process. Instagram has a built-in feature to create a collection of your favorite Instagram posts. This makes it easy to save images to bookmarks and view them whenever you want. Only if it so happens that the author accidentally or intentionally deletes an Instagram post, the image will disappear from your Saved section. However, this doesn’t happen very often.
How do I create my own gallery of favorite photos?
- Open the Instagram app on your phone or the desktop version on your computer.
- Find the post you want to save.
- Tap the bookmark icon in the bottom right corner of the publication below the picture.
- You can now view your saved publications. To do this, go to Instagram, open your profile and under Menu, open Saved.
Now you know the many ways you can download images from your own or someone else’s Instagram profile. We’ve shown a variety of options for downloading images, including web services and special software. Choose the ones that work for you. Recommend our article to your friends.
