How to download Instagram videos
Instagram hands out three very different things through one link shape. A post can be a single video, a reel, or a carousel holding up to twenty photos and clips, and each needs handling of its own. Paste any public link and the right pieces come back.
Carousels come back as separate files
A swipe post is not one file. Instagram stores each slide on its own, so a ten slide carousel is ten downloads, and the order you see in the app is the order they arrive in.
Mixed carousels, where a video sits between photos, are normal and each item keeps its own format. Videos come as MP4, photos as JPEG, at whatever size Instagram stored.
What a public link can and cannot reach
Instagram only serves a post publicly when the account is public. A private account, a close friends story or a post removed after you copied the link cannot be read by anything that is not signed in as an approved follower.
Links copied from the app sometimes carry a long igsh parameter. It is only tracking, it does no harm, and the post is found with or without it.
Step 2, paste it into the box above
The link is read as soon as you paste it and the Instagram post is looked up. When your clipboard already holds a supported address, a chip appears offering to fill the box for you.
How to download Instagram videos on iPhone
Open the post in the app, tap the share arrow and choose Copy link. iOS puts the address on the clipboard straight away.
Tap the file you want. Safari asks whether to download it, confirm and watch the blue arrow appear next to the address bar. Tap that arrow, then the file name, to open it in Files.
The result lands in the Files app, or Photos once you move it across.
iOS keeps browser downloads in Files rather than the camera roll. To get a video into Photos, open it from Files, tap the share arrow and choose Save Video.
If nothing happens when you tap a download, check Settings, Safari, Downloads and make sure a storage location is chosen. iCloud Drive works, so does On My iPhone.
Everything here works the same on an iPad. The only difference is that Safari shows the download arrow at the top right of a wider window.
How to download Instagram videos on Android
Tap Share on the post, then Copy link. Android shows a small confirmation at the bottom of the screen.
Tap the file you want and Chrome starts the download immediately, with a progress bar in the notification shade. Tap the finished notification to open it.
The result lands in your Downloads folder, visible in Files or the gallery.
Most Android gallery apps pick up new videos in the Downloads folder within a few seconds. If yours does not, open the file once from the Files app and it will be indexed.
The first download may ask for permission to store files. Allow it once and later saves go through without a prompt.
Samsung Internet, Firefox and Brave behave the same way. Only the location of the download indicator changes.
How to download Instagram videos on PC
Open the post in a browser tab and copy the address from the address bar, or use the share menu on the post and copy the link from there.
Click the file you want. The browser saves it to Downloads, or asks where to put it when you have that setting turned on.
The result lands in your Downloads folder.
Desktop is the fastest place to save several clips in a row, since you can keep this page open in one tab and the source site in another.
Windows, macOS and Linux all behave identically here, because the work happens in the browser rather than in an installed program.
Nothing is installed and no extension is needed. If a site tells you a desktop app is required to save a public video, it is selling you something.
How to download Instagram videos on Chrome
Copy the link from the address bar with Ctrl and L then Ctrl and C, or right click the post and choose Copy link address.
Click the file you want. Chrome downloads it and shows it in the download tray, where you can open the containing folder.
The result lands in the Downloads shelf at the bottom, or the download tray at the top right.
Chrome sometimes warns about a file type it does not recognise. An MP4 or an MP3 from here is an ordinary media file, so Keep is safe to click.
If you want the file somewhere other than Downloads, turn on Ask where to save each file in Chrome settings before you start.
Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi share the same engine, so every step on this page applies to them without any change.
What you can take from a Instagram post
MP4 reel or feed video, MP3 audio only, JPG cover or photo.
Audio only downloads sit behind the Audio tab in the results, and any cover image can be saved on its own from the same card.
If a link will not resolve
Only public posts can be read. Anything behind a login, a private account, a members area or a region block stays out of reach, and that is deliberate rather than a fault.
A shortened or tracking wrapped link sometimes points at a profile rather than a single post. Open it once in the browser, let it settle on the real address, then copy that instead.
Questions people ask
Why does a reel save at a smaller size than it looked on my phone?
Instagram compresses uploads hard and stores a vertical file around 1080 pixels wide. That stored file is what comes back, and no downloader can restore detail Instagram already discarded.
Can I save a photo from a carousel without the rest?
Yes. Every slide is listed separately in the results, so you download only the ones you want.
Where does the file go on iPhone?
Into the Files app, or Photos once you move it across.
Where does the file go on Android?
Into your Downloads folder, visible in Files or the gallery.
Where does the file go on PC?
Into your Downloads folder.
Where does the file go on Chrome?
Into the Downloads shelf at the bottom, or the download tray at the top right.
Is the quality reduced?
No. The file is passed through exactly as the source serves it, with no re-encoding step in between, so it is as sharp as the upload allows.
Do you store what I download?
No. The file streams from the source straight to your device and nothing is written to our storage, so there is no history to leak.
Can I take only the sound from a Instagram post?
Yes. Switch to the Audio tab in the results and save the MP3.
Is it free?
Yes. No account, no payment step, no daily counter and no advert wall between you and the file.