How to Save an Instagram Story With Music (What Works)

To save an Instagram story with music, download it from the story editor before you post it, or screen record it while it plays. Saving a story after it is posted, or letting Instagram save it to your camera roll automatically, drops music added with the music sticker, because that audio is licensed for playback inside Instagram only.

That covers your own stories. Other people's stories are harder, and it is worth being clear up front about what does and does not work, including what our own tools can do.

Why Instagram removes the music

The songs in Instagram's music library are licensed from record labels for use on Instagram. The licence covers people watching your story in the app. It does not cover a copy of that song sitting in your camera roll, where it could be posted anywhere. So when Instagram exports a story you have already published, it leaves the music sticker's audio out.

Sound you recorded yourself is different. If you filmed a video with music playing in the room, that audio is part of your recording, and it stays when you save. The removal only applies to tracks added through the music sticker or the music library.

Method 1: Download your story before posting

This is the cleanest option for your own story, because you get the file straight from the editor at full quality.

1. Create your story as usual and add the music sticker with the song you want.
2. Before you tap Your story, tap the three dots at the top of the editor (on some versions it is a down arrow).
3. Choose Save or Download. The story is saved to your camera roll.
4. Play the saved file before you post, to confirm the song came through.

Many people find this keeps the music. Instagram has changed its export behaviour before, though, and it can vary by region and app version, which is why checking the saved file matters. If it comes out silent, use the screen recording method below instead.

Method 2: Screen record the story

Screen recording captures exactly what plays on screen, sound included, so it works for any story you can watch. It is lower quality than a direct export and includes anything else on screen, but it is reliable.

On iPhone

1. Make sure Screen Recording is in Control Center. If not, add it in Settings, Control Center.
2. Open the story, then swipe down from the top right corner to open Control Center.
3. Tap the record button and wait for the three second countdown.
4. Go back to Instagram and let the story play with the sound on.
5. Stop the recording from the red indicator at the top of the screen. The video is saved to Photos.

On Android

1. Swipe down twice from the top of the screen and find Screen record in Quick Settings.
2. When asked, choose to record Media sounds or Device audio, not the microphone, so the music is captured cleanly.
3. Start recording, play the story, and stop from the notification. The file goes to your gallery.

Trim the start and end in your phone's photo editor afterwards to remove the Control Center or notification shade.

Method 3: Your story archive

If Save to Archive is on, which it is by default, every story you post is kept privately after it expires. Open your profile, tap the menu, choose Archive and switch to the Stories archive. From there you can watch, re-share or highlight old stories with the music still playing inside Instagram.

Downloading from the archive is the same as saving after posting, so the music sticker's audio is removed from the file. The archive is useful for keeping the story with music in the app. For a file with music, go back to screen recording.

Saving someone else's story with music

Instagram gives you no save option for other people's stories, and we want to be straight about the web tools here, including ours. Stories are only served to logged-in viewers, so a website that reads public posts without an account cannot reach them reliably. We tested this in September 2026 and our tool could not fetch stories, so we are not going to tell you it can.

What does work depends on what the story actually contains:

• The story is a shared reel or post. Tap the preview in the story to open the original, copy its link from the share menu, and paste it into our Instagram Reels downloader. Reels download with their audio, including licensed music, because the song is part of the reel's own audio track.
• You want the song, not the video. Tap the music sticker to see the track name and artist, then find it on a music service. That gets you the full song in proper quality rather than fifteen seconds of it.
• You want the story itself. Screen record it as described above, and keep it for yourself. Stories disappear by design, and the person posting it chose that. Ask before saving or sharing someone's story, particularly if it shows them or their friends.

Be careful with apps and websites that claim to save anyone's stories anonymously. Many ask you to log in with your Instagram account, which hands your password to a stranger and can get your account restricted for automated access.

Saving reels with music instead

If you are trying to keep a video with its soundtrack for good, a reel is the better format to save. Reels are public posts with the audio mixed into the file, and they do not expire. Our Instagram downloader saves them as MP4 with sound on any device, and if all you want is the soundtrack, the MP3 options on the Reels page save just the audio.

If a reel download fails or comes out silent, our guide to Instagram Reels downloads that are not working goes through each cause, and saving Reels on iPhone and Android shows where the file lands.