How To Screenshot or Record an Instagram Story

There dozens of social networks available in 2021, yet Instagram remains one of the favorites. It features a much cleaner interface than Facebook or Snapchat. Instagram Stories, which is a take on Snapchat’s original concept, helps to make it easy for your friends and family to share what they’re up to in their lives, all without having to keep that stuff permanent.

Of course, if you want to keep something from a story saved on your phone, it’s totally possible. Let’s take a look at how to screenshot an Instagram story, and whether Instagram reports your activity to the user you’re screenshotting.

Does Instagram still Notify about Story Screenshots?

While it used to be that Instagram notified you if someone took a screenshot of your Story, it now doesn’t. Updated in October of 2018, newer versions of Instagram have removed the notification feature altogether. It didn’t work as well as planned and was easily circumvented using Airplane Mode or multiple other tricks to take a screenshot without alerting the uploader. It was a neat idea but didn’t quite work.

Now you can take screenshots to your heart’s content and nobody will be any the wiser!

How to take screenshots or record an Instagram Story

You can take screenshots directly from Instagram or use third party tools depending on what you want to achieve. A screenshot from within Instagram will include the entire screen, not just the Story so will need cropping or editing to get right. Using some third party tools, you can capture the Story and nothing else.

iPhone

Screenshot

1. Open the story you’d like to screenshot.
   
   
   
2. Press the Lock button and Volume up button simultaneously to take a screenshot.
   
   
   

Screen Record

The first step to screen recording a story on Instagram is to add the screen record function to your control center. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Go to settings and select “Control Center.”
   
   
   
2. Scroll down and find “Screen Recording,” and add it to the control center.
   
   

Now that you have the screen record function added to control center, here is how to screen record an Instagram story:

1. Go to the page that the story you’d like to record is located on.
   
   
   
2. Swipe down to access the control center. Hit the screen record icon (a small red circle.) A 3 second countdown should start.
   
   
   
3. After the countdown ends, your screen will be recording. Open the story you’d like to record and let it play.
   
   
   
4. Once the section you’re trying to record is finished, tap the red button in the top left of the screen to end the screen recording
   
   
   
5. Trim your video to include only the story that you’d like to record.
   
   

Android

Screenshot

To take a screenshot from within Instagram, just open the Story and press Power and Volume Down for Android

Screen Record

1. Swipe down from the top of the screen and locate the screen record button (it may be on the second page.)
   
   
   
2. Go to the story that you’d like to record and press Screen Record and press start.
   
   
   
3. Stop recording by swiping down again and tapping the Screen Record notification.
   
   

Where are screenshots saved on your phone?

Once you take a screenshot, you’ll probably want to be able to access it again in the future. Screenshots will be stored in the following locations:

On Android, they will appear in your Gallery or within your DCIM and Screenshot folder.

In iOS, screenshots are accessible through the Albums app and selecting Screenshots.

Using a Third Party Method to Record an Instagram Story

There is really no reason to use a third party app to screenshot or record an Instagram story in 2021, but here are a few options anyways.

Story Saver for Instagram for Android is a decent one. It is free and contains ads but works fine. It’s an Instagram downloader that lets you save Stories onto your phone quickly and easily. A recent update to the app has gathered some complaints because of the ads but otherwise the app works fine.

The KeepStory app for iOS does something similar. It allows you to scan and search Instagram for Stories and download them to your phone. It is designed for social media marketing and has a reposting function as well as a screenshotting tool.

Screenshot Instagram Stories wisely

People tend to upload things to Instagram Stories that they are confident won’t be there in a day or two. That means they might post things they wouldn’t normally or wouldn’t expect to be held against them in the future. If you do decide to screenshot, don’t be that person and wheel it out when you want to embarrass someone or hold it against them. That isn’t cool and won’t win you any new Followers on Instagram or friends anywhere else.

Have any tips/tricks or questions related to screenshots of Instagram Stories? Leave a comment in the section below