Shortcuts can trigger a script through the Share Sheet, but Apple never gave that trigger a way to reach into another app’s media and lift a file out of it. Instagram Download builds that bridge with Scriptable. Share a post, story, reel, or profile and the original photo or video lands on your iPhone at its native quality.
Inside the shortcut
Point it at a post, story, highlight, reel, or profile picture and Instagram Download fetches the original file behind it, up to 2160p at 60 fps HDR when Instagram serves that quality. It also reaches private accounts you already follow.
When Instagram hands over video in VP9, a format iOS won’t play or save into Photos, a-Shell mini’s ffmpeg tool converts it to H.265 so the file opens. Keep the original format if quality matters more than compatibility. Any batch with even one VP9 clip gets routed to Files entirely, images included.
What it can grab
- Posts – the photos and videos shared to a feed
- Stories and highlights, including ones from accounts you follow but don’t own
- Reels, saved at their original quality rather than a re-encoded copy
- Profile pictures, useful when there’s no paper airplane button to tap
Getting it set up
- Install the free Scriptable and a-Shell mini apps from the App Store. Instagram Download calls both behind the scenes and won’t run without either one.
- Tap Add Shortcut on this page to open the shortcut in the Shortcuts app.
- Scroll to the bottom of the preview and tap Add Shortcut again to confirm. You’ll need iOS 15 or later on your iPhone.
- Grant whatever permission it asks for on first run, including access to Scriptable and, if Photos is your save destination, your photo library.
Running the shortcut
Day to day, this lives in Instagram’s own Share Sheet. Tap the paper airplane icon under a post or story, choose Share to…, then pick Instagram Download. It hands you back to a small Scriptable browser once the file’s saved, and you can keep sharing more posts into that same window, though leaving it open in the background too long tends to break the session.
Profile pictures and a private account’s stories don’t always show a paper airplane button. For those, run Instagram Download from the Shortcuts app, choose Open Instagram in Scriptable, and use the stop-shaped button in that in-app browser to grab whatever’s on the current page. Sharing from Safari works too, though it can miss the highest available quality.
Where your downloads land
Files land wherever the Save to Files/Photos option last pointed, and toggling that setting off and back on makes the shortcut ask again. Run Instagram Download from the Shortcuts app to open its user settings and pick a different folder or album. A mixed VP9 batch ends up in Files regardless of that preference, since Photos can’t store the format.
When something goes wrong
A video won’t save to Photos. It probably came through as VP9. Keep the original if quality matters most, but expect Files rather than Photos to catch it.
The Scriptable browser stops responding. Close it and run the shortcut again — that freeze mostly shows up after the window sat open in the background too long.
There’s no paper airplane button on a story or profile. Skip the Share Sheet. Run Instagram Download from the Shortcuts app and use Open Instagram in Scriptable plus the in-browser stop button instead.
Quick answers
Do I have to pay for Scriptable or a-Shell mini?
No cost either way. Both are free App Store downloads, and Instagram Download doesn’t ask for anything beyond installing and opening them once.
Can it grab stories from a private account?
As long as you already follow that account, yes. The shortcut only sees what your own Instagram session can see, so there’s no bypass involved.
Why does the video quality change from post to post?
Instagram decides the format per clip, not the shortcut. Up to 2160p60 HDR is possible when Instagram serves it that way, but plenty of posts simply don’t get that treatment.
