How to Download All Photos From a Carousel Post (2026)

An Instagram carousel looks like one post, but it's really a bundle of up to twenty separate files. Each slide can be a photo or a video. That's why so many downloaders hand you only the first image: they find one file and stop looking.

ReelsDownloader's carousel downloader lists every slide in the post. You can save the ones you want individually or grab the whole set as one ZIP file. This guide covers both, plus how to open the ZIP on each device.

Copy the post link

You need the link to the post itself, not the profile.

1. In the Instagram app, open the carousel post.
2. Tap the Share icon (the paper plane) under the post, then tap Copy link.
3. On a computer, open the post so it fills the window and copy the address from the browser bar. It contains /p/ followed by a code.

A profile link (instagram.com/username) won't work, because it points at an account, not a post.

See every slide

Paste the link into the box on the Instagram downloader or the home page and tap Download. After a few seconds you get a grid of cards, one per slide, in the order they were posted. The heading tells you how many were found, so you can check the count matches the number of dots under the post in Instagram.

Each card shows a preview and a label saying whether it's an image or a video. Tap a photo to see it full size before you save it.

Option 1: save slides one by one

Tap Download on each card you want. Photos are saved as reelsdownloader-image-1.jpg, reelsdownloader-image-2.jpg and so on, with the number matching the slide's position.

This is my preferred method when:

• you only want two or three slides out of ten;
• you're on an iPhone and want the photos straight in your Photos library, since individual files are easier to move there than a ZIP;
• the post has several long videos and your phone is low on memory.

Option 2: Download all as a ZIP

When a post has two or more files, a Download all button appears above the grid with the file count in brackets. Tap it once.

1. The button shows progress as it collects each file, such as "Zipping 3/8…".
2. It then shows "Building zip…" while it packs everything together.
3. When it says "Saved zip ✓", a single file named reelsdownloader-instagram.zip is in your downloads.

Inside the ZIP, files are numbered in slide order: reelsdownloader-image-1.jpg, reelsdownloader-video-2.mp4, and so on. Photos and videos sit side by side, so you can tell at a glance which slides were clips.

The ZIP isn't compressed. It's roughly the same size as all the files added together, so a carousel with several videos can be large. On mobile data, that's worth knowing before you tap.

Occasionally a file can't be packed into the ZIP. When that happens, the tool saves everything else in the ZIP, opens the missing file separately, and shows a note saying how many were opened that way. Save those by hand and nothing is lost.

How to unzip on each device

Android

1. Open Files by Google (or My Files on Samsung) and go to Downloads.
2. Tap reelsdownloader-instagram.zip.
3. Tap Extract. The files go into a new folder next to the ZIP.
4. Delete the ZIP afterwards if you want the space back.

If the extracted photos don't show in your Gallery straight away, move the folder into Pictures. Our guide on where downloaded files go explains why Gallery apps sometimes skip the Download folder.

iPhone

1. Open the Files app and go to Downloads.
2. Tap the ZIP once. Files expands it into a folder with the same name.
3. Open the folder, tap Select, and select all the files.
4. Tap Share, then choose the option to save them to Photos.

Saving straight to Photos needs this extra step because Safari always puts downloads in Files first. If you only want a few slides, Option 1 is less work on iPhone.

Windows

Right-click the ZIP in your Downloads folder and choose Extract All, then Extract. You can also double-click it to look inside without extracting, but you need to extract before editing the files.

Mac

Double-click the ZIP. macOS unpacks it into a folder in the same place.

Things to know about carousel files

• Photo size. Instagram stores carousel photos at up to 1080 pixels on the long edge. That's far sharper than a screenshot, which also captures the app's buttons and icons.
• Cropping is permanent. Instagram crops every slide to the shape of the first one when the post is uploaded. If slide four looks oddly cropped, that crop is in the stored file and can't be undone.
• Order matters. Carousels are often step-by-step tutorials or before-and-after comparisons. The numbering keeps the sequence intact, so avoid renaming the files in a way that scrambles it.

Troubleshooting

• "No downloadable media found." The account is probably private, or the post was deleted. Open the profile in Instagram: if it says the account is private, the post can't be downloaded unless the owner makes it public.
• Only one result appears. Check you copied the link to the carousel post and not a single Reel. Reels are one video, not a set.
• "Couldn't build a zip — files opened separately instead." This usually means the phone ran short of memory. The files open one by one so you can still save each of them. Next time, use Option 1 on large carousels.
• The ZIP won't open on an old phone. Install Files by Google from the Play Store. It handles ZIP files on any Android version it supports.

For other Instagram formats, see how to download Instagram Reels and how to save Instagram Stories. If a public post still fails, the help center lists every error message and what it means.

Carousels are popular with artists and teachers because the format rewards effort. Saving one for reference is fine. Splitting it up and reposting the slides without credit is not.