Instagram Video Downloader
To download an Instagram Reel, tap the three dots on the post, choose Copy link, then paste that URL into the box on this page and press Download. Public Reels and public video posts save as MP4, including ones other downloaders wrongly report as private. Private accounts and Stories cannot be downloaded.
Only download content you own or have the right to save. Respect each platform's terms — this tool is for personal use, not redistribution.
On iPhone? Arca saves links like this straight into an encrypted vault — never into a shared Downloads folder.
Get Arca freeHow to download
- 1
Copy the post link
Tap the three dots above the post and choose Copy link. In a browser, the address bar URL works too. Tracking parameters after the ? are harmless and can be left in place.
- 2
Paste it above
Drop the link into the box on this page and press Download. Nothing is saved to an account — there isn't one.
- 3
The MP4 downloads
Files are named from the post's shortcode, for example instagram_DZQV2GcKSa8.mp4, since Instagram posts have captions rather than titles.
Link formats that work
-
https://www.instagram.com/reel/SHORTCODE/ -
https://www.instagram.com/p/SHORTCODE/
Quality you can expect
Reels download at the resolution Instagram serves for web playback, typically 1080×1920 for a vertical Reel. Instagram re-encodes everything on upload, so the file you get reflects Instagram's compression, not the creator's original export.
What doesn't work
Stated plainly, because finding out after three failed attempts is worse.
- Private accounts are inaccessible. If you cannot see the post while logged out, neither can this tool.
- Stories and Highlights require a logged-in session and are not supported.
- Photo carousels return the images; a video inside a carousel comes back as one of the selectable items.
- A post deleted or made private after you copied the link will fail even though the link looks valid.
Why some Instagram links fail
The reliable test is to open the link in a private browsing window. If Instagram plays the video without asking you to log in, this tool can fetch it. If you hit a login wall there too, the post is genuinely gated and no downloader can reach it without an account.
This is why Stories do not work. They are only ever served to authenticated sessions, and supporting them would mean holding Instagram credentials on a server — exactly the kind of thing this site exists to argue against.
Why this works when other Instagram downloaders don't
Most tools ask Instagram for the post page and read the video out of the HTML. Instagram now returns a stripped shell for a large share of Reels, so those tools report the post as private or deleted when it is neither. That is the failure you have probably seen elsewhere.
This one falls back to Instagram's own logged-out API instead: it bootstraps the session tokens the page hands out, then asks for the media directly. No login, no account, no third-party service — just the request Instagram's own web player makes. When a Reel is genuinely private or the account is locked, this returns nothing and the tool says so honestly rather than blaming your link.
Filenames are shortcodes, not captions
An Instagram post has no title. What it has is a shortcode — the DZQV2GcKSa8 part of the URL — and that is what the downloaded file is named after. It looks opaque, but it is stable and unique, and pasting it back into an instagram.com/reel/ URL will find the original post again.
If you save many Reels, renaming them on arrival is worth the ten seconds. A folder of shortcodes is unsearchable.
On iPhone
The same thing, into an encrypted vault
A browser download lands in a shared Downloads folder that other apps, backup services, and anyone holding your phone can read. Arca does this same paste-a-link step on iPhone, except the video is encrypted the moment it arrives and never passes through your Camera Roll.
Questions
Can I download Instagram Stories? +
No. Stories are served only to logged-in sessions, so fetching them would require holding an Instagram account on the server. This tool has no accounts and no stored sessions, so Stories are out of reach.
Can I download from a private account? +
No. If the post is not visible to a logged-out visitor, it cannot be fetched. Being a follower of the account does not change this — the tool has no access to your session.
Other Instagram downloaders say my Reel is private. Why does this one work? +
Most tools read the video out of the post page's HTML, and Instagram now serves a stripped page for many Reels — so those tools report a public post as private. This one falls back to Instagram's own logged-out API, the same request its web player makes, which still returns the video. If a Reel really is private, this returns nothing and says so.
Does the downloaded Reel have a watermark? +
This tool adds nothing. Reels reposted from TikTok often carry a TikTok watermark burned into the frames by whoever reposted them, and that cannot be removed by downloading.
Why is the file named with random letters? +
That is the post's shortcode, taken from the URL. Instagram posts have captions rather than titles, so there is no filename to inherit. The shortcode is unique and will lead you back to the original post.
Other platforms
All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. Arca is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed, or sponsored by any platform named on this page. Only download content you own or have the right to save.