How to download photos, videos, messages from Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp

Despite the fact that Meta is recognized as an extremist organization, individuals and legal entities will not be held liable for using the services of companies. However, the purchase of advertising on these sites will be considered financing of extremist activities. The bans did not affect the WhatsApp messenger, which is also owned by Meta.

KP and expert Grigory Tsyganov figured out how to save content from Facebook* and Instagram* until the social networks are completely blocked. Now that the blocking has already occurred, it will no longer be easy to save content from the social network. However, if any of your friends or relatives live outside of Our Country, you can ask them to follow the procedures outlined in this article.

How to save content from Facebook*

Embedded Facebook*

Facebook* has its own tool for downloading user information. In order to keep all the data for yourself, you should:

1. In the upper right corner of the Facebook* window, click on your profile photo, thereby going to the “Account” section;
2. Go to the “Settings and privacy” section;
3. Select the item “Your information” in “Settings”;
4. Click on Download Information. To the left of this function there is an option “View”. It is with the help of it that you can choose what exactly you need to save (photos, videos, correspondence), for what period of time, in what quality to save photos and other available options. 
5. You will be prompted to “Create File” and you will confirm the save. Facebook* will start processing your application, the status of which you can track in the “Available copies of your download tool” section. 
6. When the archive of your data is ready, you will receive a notification. In the section where you tracked the status of your application for saving data, a file will appear that you can download in Json and HTML formats.

Third-party funds

In order not to lose your data due to Facebook* blocking, you can use apps to download photo and video content from the social network. The most popular are VNHero Studio and FB Video Downloader.

To save a photo from Facebook* using the English VNHero Studio smartphone app, you need to:

1. Install the VNHero Studio application from the Play Market on your smartphone;
2. Open the application and allow it access to your data (photos, multimedia).
3. You will automatically be taken to the “Facebook* Download” page, where you need to click on the “Your photos” section. 
4. The app will prompt you to sign in to your Facebook* profile. 
5. Then you can select your photos to download. Under each picture there will be a button “HD Download”. By clicking it, you will save the files to your phone.

To save a video from Facebook* using the FB Video Downloader application, you should:

1. Download FB Video Downloader App 
2. Log in to the app and log in to your Facebook* profile. 
3. Select the desired video from your content.
4. Click on the video itself so that the options “Download” and “Play” appear. 
5. Use the video download function using the “Download” button.

Depending on what data you want to save from Facebook*, you can use the option to save content on the social network itself, or you can use different apps to download individual files. It’s better to save the Facebook page* before the blocking becomes full-blown.

How to keep content when blocked by Facebook* in Our Country

As long as the general functionality of the Facebook* services is working, you can save data by following the instructions above. In the event of a total blocking of access to a social network, it will be problematic to “pull out” and save data. Therefore, you should, if possible, take care of a backup copy of the Facebook* page now. 

How to save content from Instagram*

Sending by email

One option for storing information is to send it to an email address. To do this, we do the following:

1. We go to your profile;
2. Press “Menu” (three bars in the upper right corner);
3. We find the item “Your activity”;
4. Select “Download information”;
5. In the line that appears, write your email address;
6. Click “Finish”.

The information will be sent to your email within 48 hours: it will be a single ZIP file with the name of your nickname.

According to some users, the file sent should contain all published photos, videos, archive stories (not earlier than December 2017) and even messages.

Comments, likes, profile data, captions for published posts, etc. – will come in JSON format. These files open in most text editors.

Standalone app or browser extension

You can save videos from Instagram* using the browser extension you are using. One of the most popular and accessible is Savefrom.net (for Google Chrome, Mozilla, Opera, Microsoft Edge). 

To download information, do the following:

1. Install the extension in the browser;
2. We go to the social network;
3. Find the down arrow icon above the video;
4. Click on the arrow and download the file to your PC.

Installing a special application on your smartphone will also help you save data from Instagram*:

• for Android system, ETM Video Downloader is suitable;
• iPhone owners can use the Insget app.

Note that with Insget, you can download IGTV videos, Reels, and photos you’ve been tagged in. But to use this application, you need to open your social network profile in the privacy settings. Insget does not have access to closed accounts.

How to save content from whatsapp

This messenger is not yet blocked, however, downloading information may be necessary for other reasons. Consider the available ways to save content from this application. 

Backup to Google Drive

All copies of correspondence are stored in the smartphone’s memory daily. You can also store chat data on Google Drive. In this case, do the following:

1. go to the “Settings” of the messenger;
2. go to the “Chats” section;
3. select “Backup chats”;
4. click “Backup”;
5. choose the frequency of saving data to Google Drive.

Download to PC

To save a specific correspondence to your PC, you must:

1. enter the chat through the application on the computer;
2. click on the name of the contact or the name of the community;
3. select “Export chat”;
4. send a chat to another messenger or email;
5. save from the host platform to your computer.

In this way, you can download not only text messages, but also photos sent to the chat.

iCloud service

iCloud storage service is suitable for iPhone and iPad owners. To save the necessary correspondence, you need to do the following:

1. We go to the “Settings” section;
2. Select “Chats”;
3. Click “Backup”;
4. Click “Create a copy”.

You will also need to select automatic saving and the frequency of copying.

Popular questions and answers

* The American company Meta, which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram, was recognized as extremist in the territory of the Federation (decision of the Tverskoy Court of Moscow dated March 21.03.2022, XNUMX).