How to Download Instagram Posts Using Python

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How This Python Code Downloads Instagram Posts

If you want to download an Instagram post using Python, this code makes it super simple with the help of a package called instaloader. Let’s understand how it works step by step.

✅ First, Install the Required Package

To make this code work, you only need one package:

pip install instaloader

This command installs the Instaloader library, which allows Python to download Instagram content like posts, reels, profile pictures, etc.

🧾 Full Code Provided:

import instaloader
def download_instagram_post(post_url):
    loader = instaloader.Instaloader()
    try:
        parts = post_url.rstrip('/').split('/')
        shortcode = parts[-2]
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error extracting shortcode: {e}")
        return
    try:
        post = instaloader.Post.from_shortcode(loader.context, shortcode)
        loader.download_post(post, target="downloads")
        print(f"✅ Successfully downloaded post: {shortcode}")
    except instaloader.exceptions.InstaloaderException as e:
        print(f"❌ Failed to download post: {e}")
if __name__ == "__main__":
    url = input("Enter Instagram post URL: ").strip()
    download_instagram_post(url)

🪛 How This Code Works — Step-by-Step

🔹 Step 1: Import the instaloader Library

import instaloader
  • This line loads the Instaloader module into your code.
  • Without this, you cannot access Instagram content via Python.

🔹 Step 2: Define a Function download_instagram_post

def download_instagram_post(post_url):
  • This function is the main logic block that takes an Instagram post URL as input.

🔹 Step 3: Create an Instaloader Object

loader = instaloader.Instaloader()
  • This line creates an instance of Instaloader that handles downloading.
  • Think of it like a smart Instagram downloader tool.

🔹 Step 4: Extract the Post Shortcode from the URL

parts = post_url.rstrip('/').split('/')
shortcode = parts[-2]
  • Instagram URLs look like this
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  • https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl7E9d1P3Xp/
  • The shortcode is the unique ID (Cl7E9d1P3Xp) of the post.
  • This code splits the URL and extracts that shortcode for further use.

🔹 Step 5: Load the Post Using the Shortcode

post = instaloader.Post.from_shortcode(loader.context, shortcode)
  • This tells Instaloader: “I want to download the post with this shortcode.”
  • It uses Instagram’s public API to fetch the post’s data.

🔹 Step 6: Download the Post

loader.download_post(post, target="downloads")
  • This downloads the Instagram post and saves it into a folder named downloads.
  • If the folder doesn’t exist, it will be created automatically.

🔹 Step 7: Get the Post URL from the User

if __name__ == "__main__":
    url = input("Enter Instagram post URL: ").strip()
    download_instagram_post(url)
  • This part runs when you execute the script.
  • It asks the user to paste the Instagram URL, and then calls the function to download the post.

💻 How to Run This Code in VS Code

  1. Open VS Code
  2. Create a new Python file, e.g., instagram_downloader.py
  3. Paste the code inside that file
  4. Open a terminal inside VS Code (press Ctrl + ~)
  5. Run this command to install the package:
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  • pip install instaloader
  1. Now run your script:
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  • python instagram_downloader.py


  1. It will ask:
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  • Enter Instagram post URL:
  1. Paste any public Instagram post link, like:
  1. Press Enter, and the post will be downloaded into a folder named downloads.

📁 What Gets Downloaded?


  • The image or video of the post
  • A .txt file with the caption
  • Metadata like upload date and hashtags

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