How to Record Instagram Live

Going live on Instagram is one of the best ways to connect with your audience in real-time, but its value shouldn't end when the broadcast does. Recording that live session opens up a world of content opportunities that can fuel your social media strategy for days or even weeks. This article will show you exactly how to record your own Instagram Lives, how to save someone else's (with permission, of course), and what to do with the video once you have it.

Why You Should Always Record Your Instagram Live

You put time and effort into planning and hosting your live stream. Letting it disappear after 24 hours (if you share it to your story) is a massive missed opportunity. Saving the video file transforms a one-time event into a permanent asset. It’s the ultimate foundation for content repurposing, allowing you to maximize the reach and impact of your original broadcast.

Here are just a few ideas for what you can do with a recorded Live:

• Create Short-Form Video Clips: Scour the recording for 15–60 second highlights, compelling quotes, or key takeaways. These are perfect for turning into Reels, TikToks, or YouTube Shorts.
• Share a Replay: Upload the full video to YouTube or place it behind a sign-up wall on your website to grow your email list. This lets people who missed the live version catch up on their own time.
• Make Audiograms: Strip the audio from the video, pick a powerful soundbite, and turn it into a shareable audiogram using a simple design tool. It's a fantastic way to promote a new podcast episode or a key message on your feed.
• Design Quote Carousels: Find the most impactful statements from your Live and turn them into eye-catching graphic carousels for your Instagram feed.
• Write a Blog Post: Transcribe the entire conversation and use it as the scaffolding for a detailed blog post that dives deeper into the topic you discussed.

By recording your Live, you shift from being a content creator who is always on the hamster wheel to a savvy strategist who makes every piece of content work harder for them.

How to Save Your Own Instagram Live

Thankfully, Instagram makes it incredibly simple to save your own live broadcasts. You don't need any third-party apps or complicated workarounds. Instagram automatically saves your completed live streams to a private in-app archive, ready for you to download whenever you want.

Here's how to find and download your video after your broadcast ends.

Step 1: Go Live and End Your Broadcast

Start and run your Instagram Live session as you normally would. When you're finished, tap the 'X' in the top right corner and then tap 'End Video' to stop the stream.

After ending the broadcast, you'll see a screen with options to "Share to your story" or "Discard media." It doesn't matter what you choose here. Even if you discard it, your video is already being sent to your private Live Archive.

Note: Prior to a 2021 update, you had to manually download your Live from this screen. The new archive system is much more reliable and convenient.

Step 2: Access Your Live Archive

Now, let's go find that recording. The Live Archive is tucked away in your settings.

1. Go to your Instagram profile.
2. Tap the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the top-right corner.
3. Tap on 'Archive.'
4. At the top of the Archive screen, you'll see a dropdown menu. It might default to 'Stories Archive.' Tap it and select 'Live Archive.'

You should now see a list of all your past live broadcasts, with the most recent one at the top.

Step 3: Download the Video to Your Phone

From your Live Archive, tap on the broadcast you want to save. You'll see a "Save" button with a download icon. Tap it.

The video will be downloaded to your phone's camera roll or gallery. Remember that this video file will not include the comments, likes, or other live engagement features. It will only be the raw audio and video from your stream. This is perfect for editing and repurposing.

How to Record Someone Else's Instagram Live

What if you want to save a live stream that isn't yours? Maybe you're attending a workshop you want to re-watch, or a peer is sharing valuable information you want to reference later. Here, the process is different, as Instagram doesn't offer a built-in feature for this.

A quick but important note: Always respect the creator's privacy and intellectual property. Recording and re-distributing someone else's content without their permission can be a violation of Instagram's terms of service and copyright law. Whenever possible, ask for permission. For our purposes, we'll assume you're recording for personal use, like re-watching a tutorial later on.

The most straightforward method to record someone else's Live is by using your device's built-in screen recording function.

Method 1: Using Your Phone's Built-in Screen Recorder

Both iOS and Android devices have free, built-in tools for capturing everything on your screen. This is the quickest way to record a Live in the moment.

For iPhone Users (iOS):

1. Set Up Your Control Center: First, you need to make sure the Screen Recording shortcut is available. Go to Settings >, Control Center. If 'Screen Recording' isn't already in the 'Included Controls' section, scroll down and tap the green '+' icon next to it.
2. Start Recording: When the Instagram Live you want to record is playing, swipe down from the top-right corner of your screen (or swipe up from the bottom on older iPhones) to open the Control Center. Tap the Screen Recording button (a solid circle inside another circle). After a three-second countdown, your phone will start recording everything on the screen.
3. Capture Audio: To make sure you record the sound, press and hold the Screen Recording button in the Control Center. A menu will pop up where you can tap the 'Microphone Audio' button to turn audio on.
4. Stop Recording: Once the Live is over, tap the red recording indicator at the top of your screen and confirm you want to stop. The video file will be automatically saved to your Photos app.

For Android Users:

The process is similar on most modern Android devices.

1. Find the Recorder: Swipe down from the top of your screen to open the Quick Settings panel. Look for the 'Screen recorder' icon. If you don't see it, you may need to edit your Quick Settings panel to add it.
2. Start Recording: Tap the 'Screen recorder' icon. A small menu will likely appear, asking you if you want to record with media sounds, with media and mic sounds, or with no sound. Choose 'Media sounds' to capture the audio from the Instagram Live.
3. Stop Recording: A small, floating recording toolbar will likely appear on your screen. To stop recording, just tap the stop button on that toolbar. The video will be saved to your phone's gallery, typically in a 'Screen recordings' folder.

Pro-Tip for Mobile Recording: Before you start, enable 'Do Not Disturb' mode on your phone. This will prevent incoming calls, messages, and other notifications from appearing on screen and interrupting your recording.

Method 2: Using a Computer for Higher Quality

Recording on a desktop or laptop usually gives you a more stable, higher-quality result. Your internet connection is typically more reliable, and you don't have to worry about running out of battery or storage. You can watch the Live on Instagram.com and use screen recording software.

For Mac Users (QuickTime Player):

Your Mac comes with a fantastic free tool called QuickTime Player.

1. Open QuickTime Player from your Applications folder.
2. From the top menu bar, go to File >, New Screen Recording.
3. A small recording control panel will appear. You can choose to record the entire screen or drag to select just the portion containing the Instagram Live video.
4. Click the 'Record' button to start.
5. When you're finished, click the stop button in the menu bar and QuickTime will show you the video. From there, you can save it anywhere on your computer.

For Windows Users (Xbox Game Bar):

Windows has a built-in screen recorder called the Xbox Game Bar.

1. Open the Instagram Live in your web browser.
2. Press the Windows Key + G to open the Game Bar overlay.
3. In the 'Capture' widget that appears at the top left, just click the Record button (the circle icon).
4. To stop, press Windows Key + Alt + R. The video will be saved to the 'Captures' folder within your Videos library.

Final Thoughts

Saving your Instagram Live is a critical first step in making your content work smarter, not harder. Whether you use Instagram's built-in archive for your own broadcasts or a screen recorder for others, having a video file unlocks countless ways to repurpose your message across different platforms.

Once you have those recordings, organizing and scheduling all the repurposed content can feel like a job in itself. That's why we built tools at Postbase that make it easy to manage your entire social media presence. With our visual content calendar, you can plan out all those Reels, carousels, and video clips you created from your one Live session. Then, you can schedule everything to publish across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and more, all from a single dashboard - and trust that it will go live reliably, every time.