How to prevent others from downloading your Instagram reels and protect your creative content

Instagram Reels has become a highly popular feature among users, offering a platform for short, engaging videos. While these videos provide an outlet for creative expression, some content creators may worry about unauthorised downloading or sharing of their original work.

Despite Instagram not offering a built-in feature to download Reels directly, various third-party apps and websites have emerged that allow users to save videos from the platform. If you are a creator looking to protect your content from being downloaded by others, Instagram has a setting that can help prevent this.

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How to Block Reels Downloads on Instagram

If your account is public, anyone can download your Reels unless you modify your settings. To disable this feature, follow these steps:

1. Create and edit your Reel, then tap "Next" at the bottom right.
2. Tap "More options" located at the bottom.
3. Scroll down and locate the option “Allow people to download your Reels.” Toggle it off.
4. Tap the top left to return to the previous screen, then tap “Share” at the bottom to post your Reel.

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For those with private accounts, no one can download your Reels unless you switch your account to public. Additionally, any downloaded Reels will display an Instagram watermark and include your username and audio attribution. It's important to note that downloaded Reels are not permitted for commercial use.

For Instagram users under 18 with public accounts, the default setting for downloading Reels is off. However, this setting can be changed at any time.

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Instagram Revives Old Feature for Reel Interaction

Instagram has also announced the return of a feature that resembles the old activity feed, which was discontinued in 2019. This new addition will display Reels that your friends have liked or commented on. While this might be a throwback for some users, it could lead to concerns about privacy, as users may not want all their interactions with Reels to be visible to their friends. As with the previous activity feed, there could be reluctance among users to publicly engage with content, given the potential for it to be shown to their network.