When Instagram first hit the App Store in 2010, it garnered a great deal of attention and soon became one of the world’s leading social media networks. But the best was yet to come. Instagram’s popularity skyrocketed with the introduction of features like video posts, GIF stickers, and, of course, Stories.
Instagram Stories are one of the app’s most-used tools. Not only do they make sharing the behind-the-scenes details of your life easy and fun, but businesses and creators have found unique ways to use Stories to showcase their work. Since the Stories feature has a built-in camera, many users simply shoot their content directly before posting. The only caveat is that you need to take extra steps to ensure that your Stories are saved to your iPhone before they disappear after the 24-hour mark.
In this guide, we’ll show you everything you need to know about how to download Instagram Story to your phone.
If you choose to use the built-in Instagram camera — instead of uploading photos from your Camera Roll — you’ll want to know how to save your Instagram Stories before you start posting. You have two options: download the Stories to your Camera Roll, or save them to your Instagram Archive.
In addition to letting you view your Stories beyond the 24-hour limit, the Archive also allows you to do the following:
If you never want to lose your Instagram Stories again, the Archive is your new best friend. Basically, this is the home of all of your Stories within the Instagram app once they’ve been live for 24 hours and disappear from the Stories feature on your profile and homepage. Think of it as your personal library of Stories.
Only you have access to your Archive. None of your followers can see it — unless they have the login information for your account.
By now, you’re probably wondering where the Instagram Archive is located. First, we’ll show you how to find the Archive within the app:
Now that you know where to find your Archive, let’s go over how to save your Instagram Stories to the Archive:
Following these steps will ensure that all of your posted Instagram Stories will be automatically saved to your Stories Archive after the 24-hour mark has passed. You can access them there at any time.
Having your Instagram Stories saved to your Archive is great, but how do you download them directly to your Camera Roll? Luckily, once your photos and videos are saved in the Archive, saving them to your iPhone is just as easy.
Here’s how to save your Stories from your Archive onto your iPhone Camera Roll:
Following those simple instructions will save your Stories from your Archive directly to your Camera Roll.
Downloading a current Instagram Story — as in, one that is still visible at the top-left of your home screen and on your profile — is just as easy as downloading Stories from the past. Here’s how to do it:
Doing this will save your entire Instagram Story as a photo or video to your Camera Roll.
If the idea of having to manually download your Instagram Story every time you post one sounds tedious, we have good news: You can set your Instagram Stories to be automatically saved to your Camera Roll.
Here’s how to automatically download your Instagram Stories:
Now that you’ve learned all the tips and tricks for saving your own Instagram Story, you’re probably wondering if it’s possible to save someone else’s Instagram Story. Unfortunately, there are no in-app ways to download another user’s Stories. There are, however, a few workarounds that people use that make it possible to save almost any Instagram Story.
First of all, you’ll only be able to save someone’s Stories through the following workarounds if the person’s account is public or if you’re one of their approved followers. These tools won’t work on private accounts whose content you cannot see.
That said, just because you can save someone’s Instagram Story doesn’t mean you should. Instagram’s Terms of Use state that you should only “post authentic content,” and should not “post anything you’ve copied or collected from the Internet that you don’t have the right to post,” as it could violate intellectual property rights.
So while you may see no harm in saving a video of you and your friends that was posted on someone else’s Stories, keep in mind that reposting content without the owner’s permission is illegal. Be safe, and be sure to get written consent before you press Publish.
Now that we’ve addressed the legality of saving someone else’s Instagram Stories, let’s go over the tools needed to do so. There are tons of third-party services that will help you save a Story, but for the purposes of this guide, we’ll show you how to use the free tool StorySaver.net.
In order to use this feature, you’ll have to have access to a desktop computer. Here’s how to save Instagram Stories using StorySaver.net:
After you follow those instructions, the photo or video you selected will be downloaded directly to your desktop. You can save or download as many Stories as you want.
If you’d rather download someone’s Stories directly to your Camera Roll, the simplest way to do that is by taking a screenshot or a screencast of the Story.
Here’s how to download Instagram Stories by taking a screenshot:
Following these instructions will result in a screenshot of the Story, which will automatically be saved to your Camera Roll. It’s also worth noting that Instagram does not notify the user if you take a screenshot of their post.
But what if the Story you want to save is a video? In that case, you can take a screencast. First, you need to make sure your screencast control is easily accessible. Here’s how to add it to your Control Center:
Now that it’s in your Control Center, here’s how to use this built-in tool to save another user’s Instagram Story:
Following these instructions will result in a recording of the user’s Story, saved directly to your Camera Roll.
Instagram Stories are an amazing tool, whether you’re on the app to grow your business or just have fun. If you love posting to your Stories, we hope this guide made it easier to save those memories. And if you’re also interested in how to save Snapchat videos, we’ve covered that in details.