Instagram is famously the place to go to look at photos, get distracted by reels, and watch videos. If you want to see videos about food, travel, , or anything in between, Instagram is quickly becoming the .
But if you want to share that video beyond an Instagram DM or sending the link to a friend, it can be difficult. You can save the video, but that won’t actually save it to your phone or desktop — instead, it will add it to your saved post bookmarks, which makes it easier to find and watch it later on Instagram.
Sometimes, though, you just want to have that video on your own device, and the app doesn’t make it particularly easy to download and save videos. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways you can do this without the innate help of Instagram.
Before you decide to download a video, though, always check in with yourself. You don’t want to download copyrighted content or a private video from a friend who might not want it shared widely. Once the coast is clear, here are some tips for downloading and saving Instagram videos.
1. Pick out your video
Credit: SCREENSHOT MASHABLE/INSTAGRAM
I, personally, desperately want to have the Mashable video of a mixed-reality panther rampaging through the Carolina Panthers stadium saved onto my phone. So, start by finding the video you want to download and save.
2a. Screen record
The first way you can download and save Instagram videos is simply by . To do this on your , swipe up and click the button that looks a bit like a target.
Credit: screenshot mashable
Then, watch the video play all the way through. Once the video is done, click the red bar at the top of your screen. You’ll be prompted to stop the screen recording; click “stop” and the video will be saved to your photos. There, you can edit it to your liking.
Credit: screenshot mashable/instagram
If you don’t have the option to swipe up on your iPhone to screen record, — and two other ways to download and save Instagram videos without using screen record at all.
2b. Third-party apps
Credit: screenshot mashable/ keeppost
You can download and save a video from Instagram in the same way you would download a video from or , too: by copying the share link, and pasting that link into a third-party website designed to do all of that work for you.
This works best on a desktop, but you can also do it from mobile. Once you have the Instagram video link copied, you’ll want to go to a website like or . There, you’ll be prompted to paste the copied link and click download.