Once you've posted a photo using Instagram, the incredibly popular social photo network, it's locked into its tiny filtered form. Instagram doesn't even let you download it after the fact — you need to screenshot it or resort to a third-part ripper, even for your own photos. What Instagram does let you do, however, is set it to save a high resolution "2048x2048" version of your final, filtered photo to your camera roll as you post it. (I put the resolution in quotes because it really seems to vary, sometimes a bit lower, sometimes higher.) To save those original photos, all you have to do is enable the feature.
How to turn on Instagram's save-to-Camera Roll setting
- Launch Instagram from your Home screen.
- Tap on the Me tab at the bottom left.
- Tap on the Settings icon at the top right.
- Scroll down and toggle Save Original Photos to on.
Once that's enabled, Instagram will save a high-resolution copy of all your finished, filtered photos to your Camera Roll.
How to easily find your original, high-res Instagram photos
- Launch Photos from your Home screen
- Tap on the Albums tab at the bottom middle.
- Scroll down and tap on the Instagram album.
All the same photos can be found in your Camera roll, but the album collects them in one, easier to browse place.
