How to download Instagram Reels and videos as MP4

To download an Instagram Reel, tap the Share arrow or the ⋯ menu on the Reel, choose Copy link, paste that link into a browser-based downloader such as vidstill, and save the MP4 it returns. Instagram's own Save button does not do this: it bookmarks the Reel inside the app and gives you no file. This guide covers that difference, the copy-link route step by step on a phone and a computer, where the file lands on each device, and the videos that cannot be downloaded at all, which include anything from a private account.

What Instagram's Save button actually does

Every Reel and post has a bookmark icon: the ribbon under a feed post, or Save in the ⋯ menu on a Reel. Tapping it adds the post to Saved on your profile, optionally into a collection. That is useful for finding it again, but it is not a download:

Nothing is stored on your phone. Open Saved without a connection and the videos will not play.
If the creator deletes the post, makes their account private or blocks you, it disappears from Saved too.
You cannot send the video to Messages or WhatsApp as a file, put it in an edit, or watch it in any other app.

Some accounts also see a Download option in a Reel's share sheet. Instagram has rolled this out for public Reels in some regions; when it appears it saves a copy with an Instagram watermark to your phone, and creators can switch it off, so for most Reels it is either absent or produces a branded copy. If you want the video as a plain file, you need the link.

Step 1: copy the link

Reels in the app. Tap the Share arrow (the paper plane) beside the Reel and choose Copy link. The ⋯ menu at the bottom right has Copy link as well.

Video posts in the feed. Tap the ⋯ at the top right of the post and choose Copy link.

On the website. Open the Reel or post and copy the address bar.

All three kinds of Instagram video link work:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/…, and the older /reels/… form
https://www.instagram.com/p/… for a video in the feed
https://www.instagram.com/tv/… for old IGTV uploads, which Instagram has folded into normal video posts but whose links still resolve

Links with tracking parameters after the ? are fine. Links to a profile, a hashtag page or the Explore tab are not videos and will be rejected.

Step 2: paste and save

Open the downloader in your browser and paste the link. Press Go. The video card appears with the account name and length.
Choose MP4 or MP3. MP4 prepares the video at the largest size Instagram offers, typically 1080×1920 for a vertical Reel or 1080×1350 for a feed video, passed through without re-encoding. MP3 gives you the audio track alone at 192 kbps.
Save the file. A Download button appears after a few seconds. Your browser saves the MP4 like any other download.

Prepared files are kept for about an hour and then deleted, so save the file when it is ready rather than coming back the next day.

Where the file lands

iPhone and iPad. Use Safari. When Safari asks, tap Download, then tap the arrow at the top of the screen to see progress. The Reel goes to the Downloads folder in the Files app. To move it into your camera roll, open it in Files, tap Share, and choose Save Video; it then appears in Photos. The two-step route is a limit of iOS, not of the downloader, and the iPhone guide walks through it in detail.

Android. Chrome saves to the Downloads folder and shows a notification. Your gallery app picks up the video on its own.

Mac and Windows. The file goes to your Downloads folder. If the browser opens the video in a tab and plays it instead of saving, use the Download button on the card rather than the browser's player.

The downloader never asks for your Instagram username or password, and you should not give any site that. It fetches only what Instagram shows to a signed-out visitor. That is enough for public Reels and video posts, which is what most people want to save, and it means the tool cannot act on your account, follow anyone, or read your messages. Browser extensions that add a download button inside instagram.com work by reading your logged-in session, which is far more access than the job needs.

The trade-off is that nothing behind a login is reachable, and that is where the list of what does not work comes from.

What cannot be downloaded

Private accounts. If you have to be logged in and approved to see the post, no downloader can fetch it, including from an account you follow.
Close Friends Reels and posts. These are private by definition.
Stories and Highlights. Stories require a login to view and expire after 24 hours. Highlights are Stories kept on a profile, behind the same wall.
Photos. This is a video tool. A single-photo post comes back as unsupported.
Carousels, even when one of the slides is a video. Instagram serves carousels through a different route and they are not supported. Ask the creator for the clip, or use your own original if the post is yours.
Live broadcasts. An Instagram Live is not a video file while it is running.
Deleted posts. A link you kept from last month to a post the creator has since removed comes back as unavailable.

If a post is definitely public and you still see "unavailable", Instagram sometimes hides content from signed-out visitors for a while. Wait a few minutes and try again.

The sound and the words

The MP3 option captures whatever plays in the post: the creator's voice, the music they attached, or both. Reels that use a licensed track are muted in some countries; if the Reel is silent when you open it logged out, the MP3 will be silent too.

Instagram does not publish captions a tool can fetch, so the Transcript tab on the video card transcribes the audio with speech-to-text. For a 30-second Reel that takes a few seconds; for a longer video, up to 30 minutes, about a minute. You get the spoken words with timestamps, which is the thing to keep from a recipe, a tip or a quote rather than the video itself. The Summary tab condenses that transcript into a TL;DR or key points.

Other platforms

The same page takes TikTok, X and YouTube links, so one bookmark covers all of them. Copying a link and pasting it is the whole method on every platform; only each app's Share sheet looks different.

A note on copyright

Instagram creators own their posts. Saving a public Reel to watch offline is generally fine, and your own posts or anything under a Creative Commons licence are always fine. Re-posting someone else's Reel as your own, or using it commercially without permission, is not, and the rules vary by country. Download what you have the right to keep. vidstill does not host copies of videos, and rights holders can request removal of a public video page through the DMCA page. The tool is at vidstill's Instagram downloader.

FAQ

Does Instagram's Save button download the video? No. It bookmarks the post in your Saved list inside the app. There is no file, and it stops working if the post is removed or you go offline.

Can I download a Reel from a private account? No. The downloader only sees what a signed-out visitor sees. Following the account does not help, because your login is not shared with the tool.

Can I download Instagram photos or carousels? No. Only Reels, single video posts and old IGTV links are supported.

How do I get the Reel into my iPhone camera roll? Safari saves it to the Files app. Open it there, tap Share, and choose Save Video.

Is it free? Yes, for a few downloads a day with no account. A free account raises the allowance and Pro removes it.