Instagram is a powerhouse for visual content, a place where billions share their photos and videos daily. Whether you’re a seasoned photographer showcasing your portfolio or simply capturing everyday moments, Instagram’s dynamic nature means content can easily get lost in the feed. Knowing How To Save A Photo From Instagram is a valuable skill, ensuring you preserve your visual memories or curate inspiration from others.
Perhaps you’re looking to back up your own cherished Instagram shots, repurpose them across different platforms, or maybe you admire a photo from another user and want to keep it for inspiration. There are many reasons why saving Instagram photos is useful. This guide provides you with step-by-step methods to effectively save photos from Instagram, covering various scenarios and devices.
Saving Your Own Instagram Photos Directly to Your Phone
Instagram provides a straightforward option to automatically save the photos you upload directly to your phone’s gallery. This is incredibly useful for photographers who want to maintain a local backup of their work. Here’s how to set it up:
Launch the Instagram app and navigate to your profile. This is usually done by tapping your profile picture or a person-shaped icon at the bottom right of the screen. The exact icon might vary slightly depending on your app version.
Find your Instagram profile by clicking the person icon. Credit: instagram
Once on your profile, locate and tap the menu icon, represented by three horizontal lines, typically found in the top right corner.
Yep, click here next. Credit: instagram
From the menu that appears, select “Settings,” usually the top option. Then, proceed to “Account” and look for “Original Photos” if you are using an iOS device, or “Original Posts” for Android.
Click “original photos” within your Instagram profile. Credit: Instagram
Finally, toggle the switch next to “Save Original Photos/Posts” to the “on” position (it should turn blue).
annnnd swipe Credit: instagram
With this setting enabled, every photo you upload to Instagram will automatically be saved to your phone’s photo library. This ensures you always have a copy of your Instagram photography readily available on your device.
Saving Photos from Other Instagram Users Within the App
Instagram also allows you to save posts from other users within the app itself. This is a great way to curate inspiration, save photography ideas, or bookmark content you find valuable. Importantly, users are not notified when you save their posts.
To save a post, simply tap the bookmark icon located beneath the image, on the right side, along with the like and comment icons. This action saves the post to your general “Saved” folder.
Create an Instagram collection to save all your favorite posts. Credit: instagram
For more organization, you can save posts into specific collections. To do this, tap and hold the bookmark icon. A pop-up will appear, displaying any collections you’ve already created and offering an option to create a new one by tapping the “+” symbol. Collections are perfect for categorizing saved photos by theme, project, or interest.
Curate collections of your favorite images. Credit: instagram
To access your saved photos and collections, go back to your profile and tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines). From the menu, select “Saved.” This will take you to all the content you have bookmarked and organized into collections.
Instagram collections are an underrated feature. Credit: instagram
Remember, this saved content is private to you. Only you can see your saved posts and collections, and other users will not know you have saved their content. This is a fantastic feature for personal use and inspiration gathering within Instagram.
Downloading Instagram Photos to Your Desktop Browser: A Workaround
Instagram’s design prioritizes copyright and user content control, meaning direct downloading of other users’ photos isn’t a standard feature on either desktop or mobile. However, a clever workaround exists for desktop users who need to download an image. Please be mindful of copyright and use downloaded images responsibly and ethically.
To download an Instagram image using this method, first, open the specific Instagram photo in a new browser tab. If you are not logged into Instagram, you might need to right-click on the image and select “Copy Link Address” to get the direct image page URL. Once on the image page, right-click anywhere on the page (but near the image) and select “View Page Source” from the context menu.
Going to an Instagram post’s backend. Credit: screenshot / instagram
This action opens a new tab displaying the page’s source code. Don’t be intimidated by the code! Scroll through it or use your browser’s “Find” function (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F) to search for “.jpg”. Locate the first URL ending in “.jpg” that you find.
A gorgeous backend. Credit: screenshot
Carefully copy the URL text that is enclosed within quotation marks. Paste this copied URL into a new browser tab and press Enter. The image will now load directly in the browser. You can then right-click on the image and select “Save image as…” to download it to your computer, just as you would with any other image online.
By mastering these methods, you are now equipped to save your own Instagram photos for backup and sharing, as well as save inspiring content from other users for your personal use. Whether you’re archiving your photography, creating mood boards, or simply saving beautiful images, knowing how to save a photo from Instagram enhances your experience on the platform.
