How to Transfer Instagram Highlights, Reels, and Videos (2026)

Highlights, Reels, and long-form video posts are often the hardest Instagram content to move. Highlights are curated Story collections with custom cover art. Reels carry audio attribution, captions, and engagement metrics tied to the original upload. Standard "save to camera roll" workflows capture one clip at a time and strip the context that made the content valuable.

If you are migrating to a new account, shutting down a brand profile, or just want offline copies, you need a method matched to each content type. This guide explains what Meta's export includes, what requires manual work, and how to preserve video content without losing quality.

What each content type includes

Instagram's Download Your Information is the starting point for all types. It is not optimized for "import to new account" — you get files and HTML/JSON metadata, not a one-click migration.

Method 1: Full export via Download Your Information

1. Go to Accounts Center → Your information and permissions → Download your information
2. Select your Instagram account
3. Set date range to All time
4. Choose High media quality for video originals
5. If exporting selectively, choose Some of your information → Content — that category covers posts, Reels, and Stories together (they are not separate checkboxes)
6. Pick HTML (human-readable) or JSON (automation-friendly)
7. Submit and wait for Meta's email — up to 48 hours for large libraries

When the ZIP arrives, extract it on a computer with enough disk space — video libraries can be tens of gigabytes.

Finding Reels in the export: Reels typically appear alongside posts in dated media folders. Open posts or equivalent HTML index to match filenames with captions and post dates.

Finding Highlights: Highlights are composed of Stories. If Stories were archived to your account, their media should appear in the stories section of the export. Highlight cover images and the Highlight title text may appear as separate metadata; Highlights are not broken out as a clearly labeled folder, so browse the HTML index of your export to map which files belong to which Highlight.

Method 2: Save individual Reels and videos manually

Your own Reels: Open the Reel on your profile and use Download / Save to device from the ⋯ menu or the Share sheet — available on both iOS and Android. The same option on someone else's Reel works only if that creator has allowed downloads.

Other people's Reels: Download only when Instagram provides a licensed download option or you have rights to the content. Reposting others' Reels without permission may violate copyright.

Highlights: Open the Highlight, view each Story, and save or screen-record — save is strongly preferred over screen recording for quality. Manual extraction preserves neither Highlight order nor cover art efficiently.

Manual methods work for five or ten clips, not for a full creator catalog.

Method 3: Screen recording (last resort)

Screen recording captures playback quality, not source files — compression, UI overlays, and aspect ratio issues are common. Use only for Stories you cannot export any other way; note that muting of copyrighted audio comes from Meta's server-side detection when content is posted, not from the device's screen recorder, so do not assume iOS and Android behave differently.

Method 4: Continuous @handle archive for public content

Public Reels and video posts on your profile can be archived continuously by tools that read your public @handle — no password required. Services like SocialGuardian capture public Reels, feed videos, and metadata on a schedule, which helps when:

• You forgot to enable Story archive for older Highlights
• You need ongoing backup until migration day
• Meta's export is still processing but you want recent Reels safe now

Continuous archive does not capture private Stories, draft Reels, or Highlights built from Stories that were never public. Pair it with the official export for complete coverage. Details on what is captured are on our Instagram backup page.

Back up before you transfer Highlights and Reels

Rebuilding Highlights on a new account means re-uploading each Story segment and redesigning cover art — work you only want to do once. Before you delete the old profile or start mass re-uploading, run a full Meta export and enable continuous capture of your public @handle through social media backup. SocialGuardian preserves public Reels and video posts with captions and dates outside Instagram, so even if a Highlight's underlying Story aged out of Meta's archive, you may still have the clip from when it was posted publicly as a Reel or Story. That independent copy reduces guesswork when reconstructing Highlight reels on a new account.

Step-by-step: transfer Reels to a new Instagram account

1. Export the old account (all time, high quality).
2. Inventory Reels from the ZIP — sort by date or folder.
3. Create the new account; enable 2FA.
4. Re-upload each Reel via the Reels composer. Copy captions from export HTML into the caption field.
5. Audio: If the original used trending licensed audio, search for the same track in Reels editor — it may still be available. Original voiceover-only clips re-upload cleanly.
6. Pin important Reels on the new profile if the feature is available for your account type.
7. Update link-in-bio and cross-platform promo to the new @handle.

Expect to lose view counts, likes, and comments on re-uploaded Reels — engagement does not transfer.

Step-by-step: rebuild Highlights on a new account

1. From the export ZIP, identify Story media files that composed each Highlight — use the HTML index and your memory of Highlight order.
2. Optionally create a local folder per Highlight name (Travel, FAQ, Launch) and copy files in viewing order.
3. On the new account, post each clip as a Story (or upload from camera roll into Story creator).
4. Tap Highlight → New and select the Stories you just posted.
5. Choose or upload cover image — export may include cover assets; otherwise recreate from a frame or brand asset.
6. Repeat for each Highlight collection.

Video quality and format notes

• Meta's high quality export setting provides the best available copy Instagram stored — not always true camera-original bitrate if the platform re-encoded on upload.
• Re-uploading re-compresses video again — avoid multiple unnecessary upload cycles; keep the export ZIP as your master archive.
• Vertical 9:16 Reels should stay vertical; do not crop for feed unless intentional.

Transferring to non-Instagram destinations

You may want Reels on YouTube Shorts, TikTok, or a private NAS — not just another Instagram account.

1. Use export ZIP media files as source — cleaner than re-downloading from Instagram playback.
2. Check licensing on music and branded assets before publishing elsewhere.
3. Expect a watermark: Reels downloaded after publishing carry the Instagram watermark and your username — the only watermark-free copy is the one you save from the editor before publishing.

Storage recommendations for large video libraries

• Store export ZIP and extracted folders on an external SSD or NAS, not only on the phone you might lose.
• Keep two copies during migration month — cloud bucket plus local drive.
• Label folders by date and Highlight name before you forget the mapping.

Summary

Transferring Instagram Highlights, Reels, and videos means exporting with Download Your Information, extracting media from the ZIP, and manually rebuilding on the new account — Meta does not migrate Reels or Highlight collections automatically. Enable Story archive before exporting, choose high media quality, and supplement with continuous public @handle archive for ongoing capture. Manual saves work for a few clips; full libraries need export plus organized re-upload. Start setup at /start/ if you want automatic backup of public Reels while you plan the move.