Recently more people have been telling me they want to step away from Facebook and Instagram, but they don’t want to lose the photos they’ve saved there. The good news is you can easily download and save your photos before saying goodbye to these platforms. Here’s how to save all your photos from Facebook or Instagram.

How to Save All Your Photos from Facebook

Facebook provides a simple way to download all the photos and videos you’ve shared. Here’s how to do it:

1. Request the Download
   • Find Settings & Privacy in your Settings (from desktop or mobile).
   • In Settings look for the Your Facebook Information section.
   • Click on “Download your information.”
   • Choose Specific Types of Data.
   • Make sure Posts is selected.
   • Select Download to device.
   • Change Date Range to All time and Media Quality to High.
     
2. Download your File
   • Wait for Facebook to process your request (this can take awhile). When it’s ready you’ll see it in the Download your Information screen.
   • Download the file to your computer.
     
3. Extract and Organize
   • Extract the zip file. Your photos and videos will be in the posts/media folder.
   • It’s important to note that Facebook strips all metadata when you share photos on their site, so there will be no date information in these downloaded files for easy organizing. They are also a compressed, lower-quality file than the original.

Note that this archive does not include other people’s photos that you’ve been tagged in, only the photos you’ve shared.

How to Save All Your Photos from Instagram

Instagram also allows you to download your data, including photos and videos. Here’s how:

1. Request the Download
   • Find Settings within your Profile
   • Navigate to “Privacy and Security” (desktop) or “Your Activity” (mobile).
   • Select “Download your Information.”
   • Choose Specific Types of Data.
   • Make sure Content is selected.
   • Select Download to device.
   • Change Date Range to All time and Media Quality to High.
     
2. Download Your File
   • Check your email for a link from Instagram (it can take up to 48 hours). Click the link and download the zipped file to your computer or device.
     
3. Extract and Organize
   • Extract the zip file. You’ll find your photos and videos within the media folder.
   • It’s important to note that Instagram strips all metadata when you share photos on their site, so there will be no date information in these downloaded files for easy organizing. They are also a compressed, lower-quality file than the original.

What next?

After downloading your photos, if you need more help creating one organized photo collection that contains these items and ALL your other photos, with proper backups in place, my Backup Bootcamp™ course will help!