Going live on Instagram? Now you can save live videos to your phone

Like to go live on Instagram but hate to see your videos disappear as soon as you're finished? The photo-focused social media platform now has a solution just for you.

Starting today, Facebook-owned Instagram is rolling out the ability to save live videos to your phone once you've wrapped up a broadcast. This means you can relive (and re-share) your best live moments long after you've moved on to something else. 

While live videos will still vanish from the app proper, you can download the video to your handset by clicking the Save button in the upper right-hand corner. Only the video itself will port over to your phone; all comments, likes, viewer numbers and other interactions won't make the leap. 

Once saved, click Done, and your video will be forever enshrined in your camera roll, though it will no longer be visible on the Instagram app itself.

This is a change of course for Instagram, which made a point when live video first rolled out on the platform that it wanted videos to disappear to foster a pressure-free environment for users. But because Facebook lets you save live videos, it's not surprising Instagram ended up following suit. 

Users on iOS and Android should see the save ability now. Instagram promises more improvements to come for live stories as the year progresses. This, apparently, is just the start.

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Michelle Fitzsimmons

Michelle was previously a news editor at TechRadar, leading consumer tech news and reviews. Michelle is now a Content Strategist at Facebook.  A versatile, highly effective content writer and skilled editor with a keen eye for detail, Michelle is a collaborative problem solver and covered everything from smartwatches and microprocessors to VR and self-driving cars.