Open web browser, and login to your Instagram account. Then open the web page of the private. As Instagram does not let users save images through their mobile app or their website, some use workarounds such as taking a screenshot of the app, or on their computer, by taking a screenshot of the Instagram page in their browser. This is not necessary, however, if you have a Mac, as there is a trick utilizing Safari that you can use. This tutorial will teach you how to download Instagram photos to your computer.While the social network doesn't offer the ability to download photos, there's a simple workaround that uses Google Chrome's DevTools to retrieve full-size images from Instagram.
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Since launching in 2010, Instagram has quickly become the most influential social media platform. Its visual nature, mainly photos and videos, are attractive and easy to consume. The addition of Stories, a feature first introduced by Snapchat, in 2016 further accelerated the collective Instagram addiction by playing on time sensitivity (Stories disappear after 24 hours).
So, overall, Instagram is taking over. Right now it’s the best place to keep up with friends, follow celebrities, express your creativity, and get inspired by what others are doing. However, if you stumble upon some visuals you like and want to bookmark or download Instagram pictures for later reference, you’ll find that it’s not easy to do, since all Instagram files are DRM-protected.
But there are some workarounds that can show you how to download instagram photos on your iPhone and Mac. On iPhone, for example, you could take screenshots and then crop them to only show the actual photo. Then, you might wonder, how to download pictures from Instagram for Mac?
How to download Instagram photos to Mac
Because Instagram is so dominant today and we post so much (more than 100 million photos every day), for a lot of us, it’s the most complete photo collection of our lives that we have. So let’s first explore how the built-it Instagram photo downloader works to be able to retrieve our own images.
To activate Instagram downloader:
Download Images From Instagram Web
Go to the Instagram website on your Mac
Click on your profile ➙ Settings
Navigate to the Privacy and Security tab
Select Request Download in the Data Download section
Type in your email to receive a link to the archive ➙ Next
Enter your password ➙ Request Download
While it might take up to two days to process your request (although unlikely), Instagram will then email you a package with all your photos, comments, profile information, and more. That’s one way of getting your photos back in full resolution. But what if you only need to get that one photo real quick or something from a profile you’re following?
How to save Instagram photos via source code
The beauty of the open web is that with little technical assistance you can read the source code of any website and get any files you want when you know where to look.
To manually work around the Instagram picture downloader:
Right-click on the photo you like and select to View Page Source or Inspect Element, depending on the browser you’re using
Navigate to the Sources tab
Find the Images folder
Scroll through all the elements and, when you find the photo you’re looking for, literally drag it to your Desktop to save it
This way, not only can you download Instagram photos, you can also save photos from nearly any website on the web.
How to bookmark images on Instagram
If all you want is save Instagram photos so you can simply reference them later, the easiest way to do that is using Instagram’s native bookmarking functionality, which lets you save any video or image, and even organize them into custom collections (on mobile only).
To save Instagram photos and videos to collections:
Open the photo or video you like
Click the bookmarking icon to save it
See all the saved items when you click on your profile ➙ Saved
When you bookmark an image on iOS or Android, you get to also tap Save to Collection and create a new folder or choose an existing one.
How to edit and upload Instagram photos in bulk
After you use the Instagram image downloader to get all your photos from the platform, you might want to rename or resize the files for your local library. Doing it one file at a time would be a complete waste of time. Is there a more automated solution available?
PhotoBulk is a workflow-based image editor that lets you modify dozens or even hundreds of images at once. Apply watermarks, get rid of any metadata, resize, rename, optimize, and even change formats — all with a single click of a button. To edit, simply drag and drop your images into PhotoBulk, add the appropriate functions, and click Start.
You can even use PhotoBulk to create a uniform Instagram profile, where all the pictures are of the same size, don’t have metadata, and feature watermarks to protect your intellectual property. But how do you upload all these pictures back to Instagram?
Uplet is a minimalist Instagram for Mac client that will solve the task of bulk uploading with ease. You can switch between a few accounts, post multiple photos/videos at the same time, and add captions — all from a single intuitive interface.
Efficient as it is, Uplet doesn’t have the traditional Instagram flow you’re used to — with comments, tags, search, and DM messages. If you want a full-featured Instagram app for Mac, get Grids. It has everything you need and is the only desktop app that allows you to post Instagram Stories.

How to save Instagram Stories offline
While we know how to use the Instagram post downloader to get the images and videos you like from your feed, what do you do when you want to save a few Instagram Stories?
It’s easy to download Instagram pictures from your own Stories: just click the three dots to call up a menu and then choose “Save photo.” Downloading someone else’s Stories is trickier. On your iPhone, you could take a screenshot and then crop it to only show the photo. On your Mac, your best bet is to use a high-quality screen-recording app.
CleanShot X is an almost invisible but powerful screenshot taker. Most of the time, the app stays out of the way in your menu bar, always easily accessible. Just click its icon (or set a specific shortcut in Preferences) and choose which way you want to record your screen, from a simple screenshot to a scrolling capture to a timed shot. You can even hide Desktop icons, annotate, and blur sensitive information in seconds.
Capto is the best choice when you need to record video Instagram Stories and edit them using the same tools. The app lets you choose a portion of the screen or a particular app window to record (using a handy menu bar utility), and crop the result right away using built-in features. After that, you can seamlessly share the video online or save it to your local library.
As you can see, there are quite a few techniques to approach the how to download pictures from Instagram problem. You can use CleanShot X for photos, Capto for videos, edit a few at a time with PhotoBulk, and upload using Uplet. These tools really offer you the best Instagram workflow on Mac.
Best of all, PhotoBulk, Uplet, Grids, CleanShot X, and Capto are available to you absolutely free for seven days via Setapp, a platform with more than 190 outstanding Mac apps for practically anything you want help with during your day. Try them all today at no cost and see how software can really power up your life!
Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.
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Instagram is a mecca of inspiration so it’s no surprise that you want to learn how to save Instagram photos on your PC or Mac.
But since Instagram does not allow users to save images directly to their computers (due to copyright regulation), you’ve probably found yourself taking a multi-step process to save your images.
Whether you’re a brand that needs to save UGC photos for reposting or an Instagram user who loves keeping a folder of their favorite photos, here’s how to save Instagram photos on PC or Mac when double tapping or your saved photos folder just isn’t enough!
How to Save Instagram Photos on PC or Mac:

There are 4 different ways to save Instagram photos on PC or Mac.
Download Images From Instagram Mac Free
- Taking a screenshot
- Searching via page source
- Using Sked Social’s Chrome extension
- Saving your own Instagram photos
Method #1: Taking a Screenshot
If size or resolution isn’t an issue for you, the easiest way to save or capture an Instagram image to your PC or Mac is by taking a screenshot.
For PC:
The most convenient way of taking a screenshot of your Instagram image on PC is using Windows’ Snipping Tool. Follow these steps to start screenshotting like a pro!
- Navigate to your Instagram photo within your desktop browser.
- Open the Snipping Tool on your PC. You can find it by selecting the ‘Start’ butting and typing ‘Snipping Tool’ into the Windows 10 search bar.
- Adjust your Snipping ‘Mode’ and then click ‘New’ in the menu toolbar.
- Select the area of the image you want to snip.
- After capturing your snip, select the ‘Save Snip’ button.
- In the Save As box, type a file name, location, and type, and proceed by clicking Save.

For Mac:
- Navigate to your Instagram photo within your desktop browser.
- Hold down Shift + Command + 4
- Drag to select the area of the image you need to capture.
- After taking a screenshot, find the image saved as a .png file on your desktop.

Method #2: Searching Via Page Source
If you want to save Instagram photos at the highest resolution possible, saving via your browser’s Page Source is your best option.
Here’s how it’s done:
- Navigate to the Instagram photo you want to save in your browser.
- Click the “…” at the top right of the photo.
- Click ‘Copy Link’
- Enter the link in your browser’s window and press Enter/Return
- Access Chrome’s Page Source by clicking View > Developer > View Source in Chrome.
6. In the ‘View Source’ window pane, click CTRL + F (PC) or Command + F (Mac) and paste or type in “.jpg”
7. The first URL to appear is usually the image you’re want to save (highlighted below). But you may need to employ trial and error.
8. Copy and paste the URL into another tab/window to produce a window with the image.
9. Right-click on the image and save it to your PC or Mac.
Method #3: Using Sked’s Chrome Extension
When you need to save Instagram photos to repost them for your user-generated content (UGC) campaign, the most efficient way to do so is using Sked Social’s Regram Chrome extension.
Sked Social Regram allows Sked Social users.
Follow these steps to start leveling up your regram skills:
- After signing up for a Sked Social account or free trial, open your Chrome browser and download the extension here. (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/sked-social-regram/ffgpobfpdejceccaekjgoohkbllpohcp?hl=en)
- Click the ‘Add to Chrome’ button and approve any browser prompts.
- Click the Sked Social Regram icon in your Chrome extension toolbar and sign in using your Sked Social account credentials.
- Navigate to the Instagram image link you want to regram and click Sked’s Regram icon.
- Enter your new caption in the caption box

6. If you wish, you can hide hashtags in the First Comment box.
7. ‘Queue’, ‘Schedule’ or send your post to ‘Drafts’ automatically. Note: Before queuing your posts, be sure that your queue posts have been set up in Sked Social.
8. Click ‘Submit Post’
Besides this, you can also use the ‘Upload from Instagram URL’ option on Sked Social to regram images.
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Method #4: Saving Your Own Instagram Photos
If you want to save your own Instagram photos to your PC or Mac, the process is simple and quick, but requires you to enable a feature within the Instagram app before posting.
- Log in to your Instagram account from your mobile phone.
- Tap on your user icon in the lower right corner.
- Tap the hamburger icon in the top right corner.
- Hit the Settings menu, in the lower right corner.
- Click ‘Account’
- Enable ‘Save Original Photos’ by toggling the option to the right.
Enabling this feature automatically saves every photo to your phone in a separate album named, ‘Instagram’.
Over to You
If you want to learn how to save Instagram photos on PC or Mac, you’re not alone! From UGC campaigns to shoutouts or just plain-simple inspiration, the methods discussed above put you on the right track for success.
