How to Download Instagram Videos in 2026 — Full Step-by-Step Guide
The easiest way to download Instagram videos in 2026 — any public account, all videos at once, cloud-processed, delivered as an organized ZIP.
Instagram still doesn't give you a way to save videos locally. In 2026 the options are: screenshot (useless for video), screen record (low quality), or use a download tool. Most download tools ask for one URL at a time. The fastest approach by far is downloading the entire profile at once with IgDownCloud: install a free Chrome extension, open any public Instagram account, click download. The cloud pulls every video and photo and sends you a ZIP. No Instagram account needed to download, works on Mac and Windows.
Before installing anything, it's worth understanding the different ways to download Instagram videos and why most of them fall short the moment you need more than one or two. Screen recording, pasting a URL into a free site, and using an extension that processes the whole profile aren't the same thing — each method has a different ceiling for what it can do well, and picking the wrong one for what you actually need is the most common reason people end up frustrated with this process.
What you'll need
- Chrome, Edge or Brave browser
- IgDownCloud extension — free
- A public Instagram profile
How to download Instagram videos — step by step
Free account, Chrome extension, done. Here's exactly how.
- 1
Create a free IgDownCloud account and install the Chrome extension
Go to igdowncloud.com and sign up with your Google or Microsoft account — no credit card, takes 30 seconds. Then install the free Chrome extension from the Chrome Web Store. The extension works on Chrome, Edge and Brave and connects your Instagram session to the cloud download service.
- 2
Go to any public Instagram profile and open the extension
Navigate to any public Instagram profile in your browser. Click the IgDownCloud extension icon. It detects the account and shows the post count automatically — no URL copying needed. You'll see how many posts are available to download.
- 3
Click Download — get an email when your ZIP is ready
Hit the download button. Cloud servers start pulling every video and photo immediately. You can close your browser — nothing runs on your device. When it's done, you get an email with a link to your ZIP file. Inside: every video and photo from the profile, numbered in post order, original quality, no watermarks.
Comparing every way to save Instagram videos
The most basic option is recording your screen while the video plays. It works on any device with nothing to install, but the result is never the original file — it's a recording of what's on screen, limited by your own screen's resolution, with system audio mixed in instead of a clean audio track. Fine for one video, but trimming the start and end of every recording and repeating the process for several videos quickly turns into a long, mediocre-quality task. On mobile, you also have to turn on screen recording from quick settings before opening Instagram, easy to forget until you've already missed the moment you wanted to capture.
The next step up is sites that ask you to paste a post's URL. They deliver the real MP4 file, without the quality loss of screen recording, but they only work one video at a time and depend on the tool staying in sync with Instagram's internal structure — when Instagram changes something, these sites commonly stop working for a while until someone updates them. It's a reasonable option if you only need one specific video, but it doesn't scale if you want several from the same account: copying each post's URL, pasting it, waiting, and repeating quickly becomes more work than screen recording, just with better final file quality.
The third tier is downloading the entire profile with a tool that processes everything in the cloud, like IgDownCloud. Instead of repeating the process video by video, one click downloads every video, photo and Reel from the account at original quality, packaged into a ZIP. It's the only one of the three methods that doesn't force a choice between quality and quantity — you get both at once. Processing happens on external servers, so neither your connection quality nor your computer's performance affects the result, something that does matter with screen recording.
Which method to use depending on what you need
If you just want to save one video occasionally and don't mind the risk of the tool being down that particular day, a paste-a-URL site can be enough for light, occasional use.
If you need several videos from the same account, want to archive a whole profile's content, or simply prefer not to depend on a free tool still working when you need it, downloading the full profile with IgDownCloud is the more reliable option — one process covers everything you might need from that account, now and later. For design teams, community managers, or anyone who regularly reviews reference content, this saves repeating the same search process over and over.
Whichever method you choose, remember you're downloading public content that belongs to someone else — for personal use, reference or archiving it's generally accepted, but republishing or using that content commercially requires permission from the original creator.
Download Instagram videos for free — no credit card
Start with a free account. Download any public Instagram profile in minutes.
Get Started FreeFrequently asked questions
- Do I need an Instagram account to download?
- No Instagram account is required to download public profiles with IgDownCloud. You just need a free IgDownCloud account (sign up with Google or Microsoft) and the Chrome extension.
- Does this work on Mac and Windows?
- Yes — IgDownCloud works on any desktop computer running Chrome, Edge or Brave. Mac, Windows and Linux are all supported. The cloud does all the processing, so the operating system doesn't matter.
- Can I download someone else's public profile?
- Yes — any public Instagram profile can be downloaded, not just your own. If the account is public and visible without logging into Instagram, IgDownCloud can access and download it.
- What's the best way to organize downloaded files?
- Files in the ZIP are already numbered in post order (001.jpg, 002.mp4, 003.jpg…), so they're naturally organized. Once extracted, you can sort by file extension to separate photos from videos, or rename the folder to the Instagram account name for easy reference.