The best Instagram image downloader 2019

Instagram is all about sharing: you take photos and share them online with your followers. But what about when you want to save photos and videos you encounter on the image-based social network?

There are hacks you can use to download images directly from Instagram without the need for additional tools, but you'll find things much easier if you turn to a dedicated utility

This may take the form of a website that can grab the images you point it at, a browser plugin that lets you download photos on the fly, or it could be a standalone program that you can use to download single images or entire collections. Here we take a look at five such tools so you can find the one the best suits your needs.

When you start using these downloaders, just try to be considerate of other people – many images will be subject to copyright, so keep that in mind.

1. Image Downloader for Instagram

If you tend to browse Instagram on your computer rather than your phone, and you're a Chrome, Firefox or Opera user, this extension could be just what you've been looking for. Image Downloader for Instagram does exactly what the name suggests, making it incredibly simple to grab images you like.

The extension adds a download button to all Instagram images, and clicking this will automatically download an image to your default download location. Only the highest resolution versions of images are downloaded, so there's no need to worry about poor quality pictures. There are no settings for you to fiddle with, but a toolbar button gives you the option of toggling the extension on an off if you want.

Image Downloader for Instagram works very well, but it is simple. Not only are there no options to configure, but it is only capable of downloading one image at a time, and it can't download videos. Still, for those with basic needs, it is ideal.

Image Downloader for Instagram

2. Free Instagram Download

DVDVideoSoft has a history of providing tools for downloading content from various website – including YouTube and Skype – so it comes as little surprise that it is also responsible for an Instagram downloader.

Free Instagram Download is incredibly simple to use. Just copy the URL of an image or video, paste it in to the program and you can start downloading. You can download images one by one, or build up a download list and grab them en masse. There are also options available that mean that once you paste a URL into the program, the download will start automatically.

If you upgrade to the paid-for version of the software you will enjoy better performance, and there is the promise that the ability to download everything from a user account at some point in the future.

Free Instagram Download

3. DownloadGram

It may well be that you don't download Instagram images often enough to warrant installing a dedicated piece of software – so you may be interested in using a website to take care of your downloads instead. And this is exactly what DownloadGram is.

This is a website designed with the sole purpose of downloading Instagram images in mind. All you need to do is copy the address of an image or video, and you'll be given the chance to save it to your hard drive.

To save you from having to keep visiting the site, you have the option of installing a bookmarklet to your browser toolbar which will enable you to download images and videos with a quick click of a toolbar button. It's simple and no-frills, but that's often all you need!

DownloadGram

4. 4K Stogram

4K Stogram is a standalone program for Windows, Linux and macOS that makes it easy to download anything you want from Instagram, or – as the developer points out – to back up your own account.

The tool works by enabling you to 'subscribe' to an account, hashtag or location (these are essentially constantly updated searches. You can then browse and download images and videos, but you are limited to subscribing to two searches in the free version of the program.

If you're willing to pay for an activation code for 4K Stogram – $9.99/£9.54 (about AU$18) for a three-computer license – you'll gain access to a handful of extra capabilities. Paying for a license will enable you to not only subscribe to an unlimited number of users, but also to download Stories. But even if you stick with the free version of the tool, it's a pretty capable piece of software.

4K Stogram

5. Free Instagram Downloader

Another website that enables you to download from Instagram, using the descriptively-named Free Instagram Downloader means there's no need to install any software to grab photos and videos from the social network.

Unfortunately there's no browser bookmarklet available, so you'll have to visit the site every time you want to download something, but this is small price to pay. The process of downloading is very simple – just enter the name of the user you are interested in, and you'll be presented with all of the images that have been uploaded. You can then opt to download individual images, select several pictures, or download everything as a zip file. It's a simple tool, but it does what you need, so there may be no need to look any further.