Instagram Reels Has a Download Button, but There’s a Catch

For a few years now, Instagram has gone all-in on videos. Instagram Reels have taken over the platform, and you might now be tempted to take these new videos into your editing bay. If you spot an Instagram video that you’d like to download, there are multiple ways to do so. Previously, there were many more methods for this, but most of them no longer work, or now require you to give untrusted apps access to your Instagram account. Luckily, there are still ways to download Instagram videos that don’t involve too many caveats, including ones that don’t require you to log in.

The official method to download Instagram videos

There is an official method for downloading Instagram videos, but it doesn’t work all the time. If a content creator decides to allow people to download their videos, then you can use Instagram’s mobile app to save these videos to your photo gallery. Follow these steps to download Instagram videos this way:

1. Open the Instagram app on iPhone or Android.

2. Sign in to your account (if you haven’t done so already).

3. Open any public Instagram video, then hit the Share button (the paper plane icon).

4. Swipe left on the bottom row (bypassing the options to copy link, send to WhatsApp, etc.).

5. If enabled by the video’s creator, the last option in the bottom row will say Download. Tap this button to save the Instagram video to your phone’s photo gallery.

Note that this method has two main limitations: Saved videos have a TikTok-style watermark, and the Download button needs to be enabled by a creator before it will show up. However, you can also easily take a screen recording on an iPhone or an Android phone to save a copy of an Instagram video. With screen recordings, UI elements such as likes and comments may be displayed during the video, but it does the job of “downloading” the actual video just fine. Still, if that’s too much of a workaround for you, there are third-party download options.

How to download Instagram videos using third-party websites

Credit: Pranay Parab

I’ve tried a few different options to download Instagram videos, and my favorites are FastDL and SnapInsta. With these websites, there’s no need to download any apps, set up automations, or worry about authorizing third-parties to access your Instagram account. In my tests, they worked as described and I was able to download multiple different stories, videos, and photos from public accounts with ease. I didn’t notice any additional files in my computer’s downloads folder or notifications on my antivirus, either, although it’s important to continually check user accounts for sites like these to ensure you remain safe from malware. Even if a site is safe one day, these tools can change drastically over time.

Follow these steps for FastDL:

1. Copy the URL of an Instagram Reel, story, or post that you want to download.

2. Open FastDL in any browser.

3. Go through the list of tabs up top and select the right one for the kind of Instagram content you’re trying to download. For example, select Video if you want to download Reels.

4. Paste the link in the big text box, and click Download.

That’s it. The website will download the Instagram video and let you save it to your phone or computer. It also has a carousel tab for downloading multiple photos and videos from a single post, and there’s even a viewer tab that lets you load up any Instagram profile, and download any post from the list. The only limitation of is that you can’t download content from private Instagram accounts.

Credit: Pranay Parab

SnapInsta also does a good job downloading Instagram content, although it lacks a viewer tab, and the method for downloading multiple photos or videos from one post is a bit less intuitive than FastDL’s carousel tab. Still, It can be helpful if you’re having difficulty accessing FastDL. Follow these steps to download a video using SnapInsta:

1. Copy the link of the Instagram video or post that you want to download.

2. Open SnapInsta in your browser and paste the link in the big text box on the website. Click Download.

3. The page will refresh and show you the thumbnail of the Instagram post. If a post contains multiple photos and videos, it’ll list all of these as individual entries. Click the Download button below the ones you want to download, and it’ll save these items to your computer.