Q:I'm worried all the wonderful memories I captured and uploaded using Instagram might disappear without the opportunity to keep them on my own hard drive for posterity's sake. Is there any easy way for me to view and download my Instagram photos onto my computer for safe keeping?
Sent by Emily
Editor - Since you didn't specify whether you were using the iOS or Android version, and more importantly whether you're using a OS X or Windows machine, I'll offer recommendations for both operating systems:
The first is for Mac users: InstaDesk2 is a full featured OS X Instagram client which will allow you to not only view and download your gallery, but also manage multiple users and view those you follow in defined people lists. InstaDesk is going to set you back $4.99, but if you're a dedicated Instagram photographer, it's not an unreasonable amount to pay for such a feature rich app.
InstaBackup for Mac OS X does away with the bells and whistles, honing in on the task of downloading all your Instagram images at one fell swoop. If all you care about is downloading all your images at once, InstaBackup is a low risk proposition at the cost of "free".
Windows users can turn to the Free Instagram Downloader 1.1.1, allowing users to download their whole library...and surprisingly anyone else's by entering their user name!
(Image: Gregory Han)
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This tip isn't going to help with photos already in Instagram, but moving forward you could use If This, Then That (ifttt.com.) It's a great web service that integrates with multiple sites ranging from blogs to social networks, online storage and now home automation. I have a recipe that grabs all of my Instagram pics and puts them into Dropbox. The great thing is this happens automatically in the background so you don't have to startup a program and manually transfer the photos. I also find it useful when showing people pics of my beautiful daughter on my iPhone or iPad. I can even show pics that my wife has taken.
I always save a copy to Flickr, this way I can make an album and have a backup there... It is fun if you want to export them to a table top book or something too.
I use a Mac OS and iPhone, but with the Cloud it back it up onto my computer every time I plug in my phone. You could try that if you're using Mac/iPhone for instagram.
In addition to MRSMOLLYK I use a PC and iPhone and I have cloud backup automatically transferring to home PC when I get on to my home wireless.
Use http://downgram.com to download your Instagram photos.