In a major stride towards enhancing user accessibility and content sharing, Instagram has extended its reel-saving capabilities beyond the platform. Earlier available only for sharing within Instagram, the ability to download Instagram Reels to your phone gallery is now a global feature accessible to users worldwide.

Global Rollout of Reel Download Feature

Initially introduced for public accounts in the US, the capability to download Reels directly to your phone’s gallery is now available worldwide. Previously, users were restricted to sharing Reels from public profiles to their Stories or Direct Messages and could access saved Reels through the application’s dedicated tab. However, this update extends the freedom of sharing downloaded Reels across various other platforms, significantly expanding their accessibility.

Announcement by Instagram Head Adam Mosseri

Adam Mosseri, the Head of Instagram, took to his Broadcast channel to announce this breakthrough feature. He confirmed that users globally can now download Reels from public accounts directly to their phone’s camera roll. These downloaded Reels will feature the Instagram creator’s handle as a watermark, akin to the watermarking system on TikTok, offering due credit to the original creator. Given that the feature is progressively rolling out, it might take some time to appear on all user accounts.

Customization and Privacy Options

The public account owner possesses the authority to disable the Reels download feature. If this feature is disabled, users won’t have the option to save Reels from these accounts to their phone galleries. However, they can still save Reels within the Instagram application for later viewing, accessible through the Saved tab.

For public account owners who wish to manage this feature, disabling the default download option for their Reels is possible. Users can navigate to Profile > Settings and Privacy > Sharing and Remixes > Downloading your Reels and toggle off the download button.

Enhanced Sharing Capabilities

The ability to download Reels empowers users to share these videos across diverse social media platforms. Previously, users needed to copy and paste links to share Reels on external platforms. However, this update enables Reels saved to camera rolls to be shared directly as video files on various social media apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, etc., eliminating the need for link sharing and enhancing the ease of cross-platform sharing.

This evolution in Instagram’s Reels feature offers users greater flexibility in sharing and preserving captivating content, fostering a more inclusive and interconnected digital experience across social media platforms.