How to Save Instagram Stories and Reels (Your Own and Others’)
Instagram makes it easy to save your own Stories and Reels - and offers a few built-in options for other people’s content. Here’s what works and where your saved items go.
By AdminPublished 2 min read
Instagram Stories vanish after 24 hours, but Instagram gives you several ways to keep them. The options are different for your own content and for content posted by other people.
Menu names can vary slightly between app versions and regions.
Save your own Story
While it’s live:
- Open your Story.
- Tap More (⋯) in the corner.
- Choose Save (on some versions you can save just that photo/video or the whole Story).
The file goes to your phone’s gallery or camera roll.
After it expires - the Story archive:
Instagram keeps your expired Stories in a private archive, which is turned on by default.
- Go to your profile and tap the menu (☰).
- Tap Archive and make sure Stories archive is selected at the top.
- Open any Story and use More › Save to download it.
You can check that archiving is on under your Story settings (look for Save story to archive).
Keep Stories on your profile with Highlights
Highlights pin Stories to your profile beyond 24 hours. Tap Highlight at the bottom of a Story, or New (the + circle) under your bio, and choose Stories from your archive.
Save your own Reels
Your Reels are already on your profile. To keep a copy on your phone, open the Reel, tap ⋯ and look for Download or Save to camera roll. When you post a new Reel, you can also turn on saving the original to your device in the posting settings.
Saving other people’s Reels and posts
- Bookmark (Saved): tap the bookmark icon on any post or Reel to add it to your private Saved collection. Only you can see it.
- Download: for many public Reels, Instagram shows a Download option in the share menu, as long as the creator hasn’t turned downloads off. Downloaded Reels include an Instagram watermark with the creator’s username.
- Share: send it to a friend in a DM or to your own Story (if the creator allows resharing).
What about other people’s Stories?
Instagram doesn’t offer a download button for Stories posted by other accounts. Respectful options are:
- Ask the person to send you the photo or video.
- Send it to a chat using the share (paper plane) button, if they allow it, so you can find it again while it’s live.
- Screenshot, for a personal copy.
Be careful with third-party “story downloader” websites that ask for your Instagram login. Never enter your password on a site other than Instagram - it’s a common way accounts get stolen.
Using others’ content responsibly
If you plan to repost someone else’s photo or video, ask first and credit them. Reposting without permission can break Instagram’s rules and copyright law, and it may get your post removed.
Also on WhatsApp? See how to save a WhatsApp Status.
