Instagram Stories & Highlights Scraper

📸 Save Instagram stories and highlights for content research

Instagram Stories & Highlights Scraper helps marketers, creator teams, and researchers collect public Instagram stories and saved highlights. Get one row per photo or video, with account details, media links, saved download files, and times. Use the data to review content and keep copies after Instagram's media links expire.

• Save live stories from public brands for a campaign review.
• Collect the photos and videos in a profile's saved highlights for a content audit.
• Read link stickers and mentions to study where story content sends people.
• Get one highlight by its link to review a specific collection.
• Include items saved on earlier runs to review content that is no longer live.

🗂️ Photos, videos, and story details

Each dataset row is one story item, whether it comes from live stories or a highlight. Highlight items include the highlight ID and, when available, its title and cover image. Other available fields include dimensions, video length, link stickers, mentions, and a reshared post link.

The Actor saves copies of media files as well as Instagram's own media URLs. The saved files can stay available after Instagram's URLs expire, subject to your Apify storage retention. Optional fields appear only when available. Duplicate story IDs are saved once per run. If the same item is found through several inputs or highlights, the saved row describes the occurrence that was saved first.

▶️ Collect stories from accounts or links

1. Add public usernames, @handles, profile links, story links, or highlight links to Accounts or links.
2. Choose live stories, highlights, or both for usernames and profile links.
3. Set a run-wide item limit, or leave it empty to collect all available items.
4. Start the run, then open its dataset and download links.

You do not need to supply an Instagram login, cookies, or API key. Private accounts are skipped. Available content can change between runs, and a run can return fewer items than the limit.

⚙️ Input

Input fields

Field	Type	What it does
accounts	array of strings	Required. Mix usernames, @usernames, Instagram profile URLs, story URLs, and highlight URLs. The form prefills instagram; this is not a schema default. Invalid inputs are skipped.
contentTypes	array of strings	Accepts stories, highlights, or both. Defaults to both when omitted. An empty array skips usernames and profile links. Story and highlight links select their own content regardless of this choice.
maxItems	integer	Run-wide maximum number of unique story items. Accepts whole numbers of 0 or more. Omit it or use 0 for no item cap. The form prefills 5; this is not a schema default.
includeExpired	boolean	Defaults to false. Includes items this Actor saved on earlier runs that are no longer returned for an account. Usernames and profile links use the selected content types. Account story links (/stories/username/) include past stories only, regardless of contentTypes, and exclude past highlight items. It does not recover unseen content or add past items to a single-item story link or a highlight link.

A story URL ending in /stories/username/ selects that account's live stories. A URL with a story ID selects only that story. A highlight URL selects the items in that highlight. You can mix these with usernames and profile links in one run.

Example input

This is the public input from the successful default-input beta run:

{
  "accounts": [
    "instagram"
  ],
  "contentTypes": [
    "stories",
    "highlights"
  ],
  "maxItems": 5,
  "includeExpired": false
}

🧾 Output

Output fields

Live stories and highlight items share this row shape. Fields that do not apply or are unavailable are omitted.

Field	Type	What it does
id	string	Instagram story item ID.
url	string	Instagram link to the story item.
input	string	Submitted account or link that led to the saved item.
owner	object	Account that posted the item.
owner.username	string	Instagram username.
owner.id	string	Instagram account ID, when available.
owner.fullName	string	Account display name, when available.
owner.isVerified	boolean	Whether the account has a verified badge, when available.
highlight	object	Highlight that holds this item. Omitted for live stories.
highlight.id	string	Highlight ID.
highlight.title	string	Highlight title, when available.
highlight.coverImageUrl	string	Highlight cover image URL, when available.
mediaType	string	image or video.
width	integer	Media width in pixels.
height	integer	Media height in pixels.
videoDuration	number	Video length in seconds. Only for videos.
imageUrl	string	Instagram photo URL or video preview image URL. It can expire.
videoUrl	string	Instagram video URL. Only for videos. It can expire.
imageFileUrl	string	Download link for the saved photo or video preview image.
videoFileUrl	string	Download link for the saved video file. Only for videos.
postedAt	string	Posted time in ISO date-time format.
expiresAt	string	Live story expiration time in ISO date-time format.
capturedAt	string	Last time this Actor saved the item, in ISO date-time format. Past items keep their earlier capture time.
linkStickers	array of objects	Link stickers, when present.
linkStickers.url	string	Web address opened by a sticker.
mentions	array of strings	Mentioned Instagram usernames, when present.
resharedPost	object	Post or reel reshared in the story, when present.
resharedPost.url	string	Permanent Instagram post or reel URL.
resharedPost.ownerUsername	string	Original post owner's username, when available.

Example highlight item

This genuine video row comes from a successful beta run:

{
  "id": "3398250234472938888",
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/stories/instagram/3398250234472938888/",
  "input": "instagram",
  "owner": {
    "username": "instagram",
    "id": "25025320",
    "fullName": "Instagram",
    "isVerified": true
  },
  "highlight": {
    "id": "18223279177302854",
    "title": "close friends",
    "coverImageUrl": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.71878-15/756700225_1653985762331725_8429300849500507026_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s150x150_tt6&_nc_cat=1&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=acbce5&_nc_ohc=CS02agR9HxEQ7kNvwGcNOY7&_nc_oc=Adp6wqvbFviX0dSmXSY_rbWfni4K6U6DG7m1uHy9DndThFvhWj3wLzay8ghhDsFDeOo&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent.cdninstagram.com&_nc_gid=pydoxZ0DREgHgyf4j_e9UQ&_nc_ss=7b689&oh=00_AQTFZ4dreV1exAi3IessKD2SYauLmjHmy69fqBkSimoxWg&oe=6AF0947E"
  },
  "mediaType": "video",
  "width": 720,
  "height": 1280,
  "videoDuration": 15,
  "imageUrl": "https://scontent-jnb2-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.71878-15/553371552_1466879574367694_447362504004074224_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e15_tt6&_nc_cat=103&ig_cache_key=MzM5ODI1MDIzNDQ3MjkzODg4OA%3D%3D.3-ccb7-5&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=58cdad&efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6IlNUT1JZLnhwaWRzLjY0MC5zZHIudmlkZW9fZGVmYXVsdF9jb3Zlcl9mcmFtZS5DMyJ9&_nc_ohc=2ZX7u4o9hJQQ7kNvwE_n8q5&_nc_oc=AdrfOPhYyCrKnU6H9ckwsCZzz9NqnUQSRECTuyq8QIz4cuIieUl-A03Ou6Vckfu9mU4&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-jnb2-1.cdninstagram.com&_nc_gid=EV_AA4am645GCXbRwld3fQ&_nc_ss=7b689&oh=00_AQTfVz27xrEAvmK5F2jhwuEP066dKvnT9UF-4au4i7z-Sw&oe=6AEF3441",
  "videoUrl": "https://scontent-jnb2-1.cdninstagram.com/o1/v/t2/f2/m78/AQPV7AvHfaG9MIs3LiSITpbxkDqMwQHcfHTFVqYxTG7VBxJZOYp87i4HBo4GsWYP_6zTafYVDZTT5gYa5xYnxT5af7173SQCAHRyIcE.mp4?_nc_cat=110&_nc_sid=5e9851&_nc_ht=scontent-jnb2-1.cdninstagram.com&_nc_ohc=5YA4hzMd7D0Q7kNvwEQnNcT&efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6Inhwdl9wcm9ncmVzc2l2ZS5JTlNUQUdSQU0uU1RPUlkuQzMuNzIwLmRhc2hfYmFzZWxpbmVfMV92MSIsInhwdl9hc3NldF9pZCI6MTE0Njc0Nzg5OTcxNDE5OCwiYXNzZXRfYWdlX2RheXMiOjg2MCwidmlfdXNlY2FzZV9pZCI6MTA4MjYsImR1cmF0aW9uX3MiOjE1LCJ1cmxnZW5fc291cmNlIjoid3d3In0%3D&ccb=17-1&vs=cfe2bfec8b4d2eb6&_nc_vs=HBksFQIYUWlnX3hwdl9wbGFjZW1lbnRfcGVybWFuZW50X3YyLzQxNEY2MUUyOTE2MDlDOTBGRkFBNjhDNjJBNUNEQjkwX3ZpZGVvX2Rhc2hpbml0Lm1wNBUAAsgBEgAVAhhGaWdfeHB2X3JlZWxzX3Blcm1hbmVudF9zcl9wcm9kLzkwMzMzMDUxNTEyNTE1NF84NzMwODM5MjIxOTkzNTgxMzY3Lm1wNBUCAsgBEgAoABgAGwKIB3VzZV9vaWwBMRJwcm9ncmVzc2l2ZV9yZWNpcGUBMRUAACas6qzTwb2JBBUCKAJDMywXQC4AAAAAAAAYEmRhc2hfYmFzZWxpbmVfMV92MREAdegHZZSpAQA&_nc_gid=EV_AA4am645GCXbRwld3fQ&_nc_ss=7b689&_nc_zt=28&oh=00_AQT8xhlCmjb-drAL93I2shkeGsAfPo07PicwsQf-9ZSKPA&oe=6AEB4F3B",
  "imageFileUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/PuAoHIZkGfEPh6Umd/records/3398250234472938888-image?signature=1fA5SSYDxI12MWdtYaYuA",
  "videoFileUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/PuAoHIZkGfEPh6Umd/records/3398250234472938888-video?signature=kl4cfLQkXfKMnRWm2Q3F",
  "postedAt": "2024-06-25T13:43:22.000Z",
  "capturedAt": "2026-11-04T05:46:50.953Z"
}

💳 Pricing

You pay for each unique story item saved to the dataset. A photo is one item, and a video with its preview image is one item. Items returned from earlier runs are charged when saved to the new dataset too. Empty accounts, skipped inputs, and items that cannot be saved do not create story-item charges.

Apify plan	Price per story item (USD)
Free	$0.0031
Bronze	$0.0027
Silver	$0.0018
Gold, Platinum, Diamond	$0.0009

These are the configured story-item prices. Check the pricing panel for current prices and any separate Apify platform or storage costs.

🔌 Integrations

Export the dataset as JSON, CSV, or Excel, or read it through the Apify API. Use Apify schedules for repeat collection and the saved media links in your own download workflow.

❓ FAQ

Can I see who viewed Instagram story highlights?

This Actor does not return viewer lists or view counts. It returns public story and highlight content with the fields listed above.

Can I get stories that expired before my first run?

Only if they are still available in a public highlight or this Actor saved them on an earlier run. includeExpired does not recover content the Actor has never saved.

Does a highlight link collect the whole profile?

No. It selects only the items in that highlight. Use a username or profile link and select highlights to collect the profile's available highlights.

Why are some items missing?

The item cap, unavailable content, or a failed media download can reduce the count. Private, missing, and invalid inputs are skipped. The run log reports skipped inputs and collection problems. If a profile's full highlight list is unavailable, the Actor warns that some highlights may be missing.

Can I create or edit highlights, or open my private Instagram archive?

No. The Actor collects public content and copies it to Apify. It does not change Instagram accounts or access a user's private story archive.

Do the download links last forever?

Instagram media URLs can expire. The saved file links use Apify storage and remain subject to its retention and access settings. Keep your own copies when you need a separate archive.

📝 Changelog

v0.0 (04-11-2026)

• Initial release.

🆘 Support

For issues, questions, or feature requests, file a ticket and I'll fix or implement it in less than 24h 🫡

🔗 Related Actors

• Instagram Stories Scraper: Collect active stories when you do not need highlights.
• Instagram Post & Reel Content Scraper: Collect feed posts and Reels alongside your story research.
• Instagram Reels Comments Scraper: Read public Reel comments to study audience responses.
• Instagram Profile Stats Scraper: Add public audience and profile counts to a content review.
• Instagram User Search Scraper: Find public accounts by keyword before collecting their stories.

Made with ❤️ by Maxime Dupré