How to Save Instagram Stories on iPhone and Android Without Screenshots

Taking a screenshot is the quickest way to keep an Instagram story, and also the worst. The picture gets cropped to your screen and the reply box comes along with it. Videos don't work at all. Screen recording handles video, but you end up with your notifications and the Instagram interface baked into the clip.

There are cleaner ways to save a story. Which one you use depends on whose story it is.

Saving your own stories

Instagram already keeps a copy of every story you post, as long as the archive is switched on. It's on by default. To find old stories, go to your profile, tap the menu in the top-right corner and choose Archive. You'll see everything you've shared, sorted by date, including stories that expired months ago.

To save one to your phone, open it from the archive (or while it's still live), tap More (the three dots) and choose Save. On an iPhone it goes to the Photos app. On Android it goes to your gallery.

If you'd rather have every story saved automatically, open Settings and privacy, then Archiving and downloading, and turn on saving stories to your camera roll. On Android the setting says gallery instead of camera roll. From then on, each story you post is also saved to your phone as a normal photo or video.

Saving a story you were tagged in

When someone mentions you in their story, Instagram sends you a message with a button to add it to your own story. If you share it that way, it becomes one of your stories, so it lands in your archive and you can save it like any other. If you don't want to post it, take a screenshot instead: Instagram doesn't let you download a story you were only mentioned in.

Saving someone else's story

Instagram doesn't give you a download button for other people's stories. Apart from screenshots, your option is a tool that loads the original files.

StoryLurk does this for public accounts. Open the Instagram story viewer, type the username or paste a link to the profile, and tap Search. The account's current stories appear in the order they were posted, and each one has its own Download button. You get the same file Instagram serves: the full-size photo, or the video with its sound.

A few things are worth knowing before you try:

• It only works for public accounts. If the account is private, there's nothing to download.
• Stories disappear after 24 hours. If the account hasn't posted in the last day, the list will be empty.
• Close Friends stories aren't public, so they won't show up.
• You don't log in to Instagram, so your name doesn't appear in the story's viewer list.

Some browsers open a video in a new tab instead of downloading it. If that happens, press and hold the video and choose the save option from the menu.

Story photos are usually 1080 pixels wide. That's the size Instagram stores, so the download looks as sharp as the story did in the app, which a screenshot on a smaller phone screen won't.

Where the files go on iPhone

Safari doesn't save downloads to the Photos app. It puts them in the Files app, in the Downloads folder. On most iPhones that folder is inside iCloud Drive.

To move a story into Photos:

1. Open the Files app and go to Downloads.
2. Tap the photo or video to open it.
3. Tap the share button and choose Save Image or Save Video.

It's an extra step, but what you end up with is the original file rather than a recording of your screen.

Where the files go on Android

Chrome saves downloads to the Download folder on your phone, and most gallery apps pick them up on their own. In Google Photos, look under Library, in the folder called Download. If you use a different browser, check its downloads menu. The file is usually in the same folder.

On a computer, the file lands wherever your browser normally puts downloads.

Check the highlights if you missed a story

Stories that an account wants to keep often end up in its highlights, the circles under the bio. Highlights don't expire, so if a story is gone, look there next. The Instagram highlight viewer opens the highlights on a public profile and lets you download the clips one at a time.

What you can't save

Once a story expires and isn't in a highlight, it's gone from public view. No tool can bring it back, because Instagram only keeps it in the owner's private archive. The same goes for stories from private accounts and Close Friends lists.

If a site claims it can show you those, be careful. The only way to get them would be to use somebody's login, and handing over a password to a stranger's website is a good way to lose your account.

Be fair with what you save

Saving a story so you can look at it again later is one thing. Posting it somewhere else is another. Photos and videos belong to the people who made them, so ask before you share someone's story anywhere else, and give them credit when you do.