Instagram head Adam Mosseri said Wednesday that the app now allows all users across the world to download public Reels to their devices. Prior to this rollout, you could only save Reels to the Instagram app for viewing them later.
Mosseri said on his broadcast channel on Instagram that downloaded Reels will have an Instagram watermark with an account name — just like the one you see on TikTok.
Users can tap on the share button and select the download option to save a reel. Accounts will have the ability to turn off downloading for their Reels. You can turn off the download option through Settings > Privacy > Reels and Remix and tap on the “Allow people to download your Reels” toggle.
Notably, if you are downloading a Reel that uses a licensed audio clip, the downloaded video will not have any audio. Only Reels with original audio tracks will have sound in the downloaded clip.
The company started allowing Reels download for U.S.-based users in June and now it is rolling out the ability to users across the world.
In 2021, Instagram stopped recommending clips with a TikTok watermark (or any other watermark). In August 2022, YouTube began embedding a logo-based watermark on downloaded Shorts — the company’s short video product — to deter cross-platform sharing.