How to Save Instagram Stories Before They Expire
Stories disappear after 24 hours, which is the point of them, but sometimes you want to keep one. The right method depends on whose story it is.
Your own stories
- Archive: unless you turned the setting off, Instagram keeps your old stories in your Archive. Open your profile menu and choose Archive.
- Save to your phone: while you’re viewing your own story, tap the three dots (More) and choose Save.
- Highlights: add a story to a Highlight and it stays on your profile until you remove it.
For your own content, these are better than any downloader, because they keep the original quality.
Someone else’s public story
- Open the story in the Instagram app.
- Tap the paper-plane icon, or the three dots, and look for Copy link.
- Open the story downloader, paste the link and press Download.
- Save the video or photo.
Things to know
- Be quick. After 24 hours the link stops working and there’s nothing left to fetch.
- No Copy link option? Then that story can’t be shared by link, and we can’t get it either.
- Public accounts only. Private stories can’t be fetched.
- We don’t log in to Instagram when we fetch a story, so your own account isn’t involved.
As always, saving a story for yourself is one thing and reposting it is another. Ask first. Our guide to the rules explains more.