Adding targets

A target is something to download: a profile, a hashtag, a single post, a location, your feed, and so on. Targets are added at the top of the Download page, under Targets. Any number of targets can be downloaded in one go.

Contents

• Overview
• Typing or pasting a target
• Instagram links
• Choosing the type
• Your feed, followed stories and saved posts
• Followees of a profile
• Metadata files
• Importing a list
• The target list
• Warnings about targets

Overview

Target	Shown as	Downloads	Login required	More in the InstaloaderSharp manual
profilename	Profile	All posts and the profile picture of a profile (and, if you choose, its stories, highlights, tagged posts and reels). Private profiles require that you are signed in and follow them.	Only for private profiles	Profiles
#hashtag	Hashtag	Posts with that hashtag	Yes	Hashtags
%location_id	Location	Posts tagged with a location, given by its numeric ID	Yes	Locations
-shortcode	Post	A single post	No (unless the post is private)	Single posts
:feed	Feed	Posts of your feed	Yes	Your feed
:stories	Stories	Current stories of all accounts you follow	Yes	Stories of the accounts you follow
:saved	Saved	Posts you marked as saved	Yes	Your saved posts
@profilename	Followees	All profiles that profilename follows	Yes	Followees of a profile
file.json / file.json.xz	JSON file	Re-downloads a post or story item from a metadata file saved earlier	Depends	Metadata files

The first column shows how the target is written on InstaloaderSharp's command line. In the program you can usually type it the same way, or simply paste an Instagram link.

Typing or pasting a target

Type into the target box and press Enter, or click Add.

While you type, the line under the box shows what will be added, for example "Press Enter to add hashtag: #sunset", or what is wrong, for example "A hashtag may only contain letters, numbers and underscores." Anything that could not be understood stays in the box when you press Enter, so you can correct it, while everything else is added.

You can add many targets at once: paste them one per line, or separated by spaces, commas or semicolons. For example, pasting

natgeo, nasa
#sunset
https://www.instagram.com/p/DdwalmrkTSK/

adds four targets. Quotes and angle brackets around a target are removed, so links copied from a message (<https://…>) work too.

With Auto-detect selected (the default), the type is recognized from the first character:

Starts with	Becomes
a letter, digit, . or _	Profile
@	Profile (as on Instagram; see Followees of a profile)
#	Hashtag
%	Location
-	Single post (shortcode)
:	:feed, :stories or :saved (upper or lower case)
ends with .json or .json.xz	JSON file

Instagram links

Links copied from the Instagram website or app are understood, with or without https://, www. or tracking parameters such as ?igsh=…:

Link	Added as
instagram.com/natgeo/	Profile natgeo
instagram.com/p/DdwalmrkTSK/	Post -DdwalmrkTSK
instagram.com/reel/…/, instagram.com/reels/…/, instagram.com/tv/…/	Post
instagram.com/natgeo/p/…/, instagram.com/natgeo/reel/…/	Post
instagram.com/explore/tags/sunset/	Hashtag #sunset
instagram.com/explore/locations/213385402/paris-france/	Location %213385402
instagram.com/stories/natgeo/…/	Profile natgeo (turn on Stories to get its stories)

Links that do not point to something downloadable, such as instagram.com/accounts/login/ or instagram.com/direct/inbox/, are rejected with "This link does not point to a profile, post, hashtag or location."

Choosing the type

The list in front of the target box sets how the input is read:

Type	Example input	Added as
Auto-detect	anything in the tables above	as recognized
Profile	natgeo or @natgeo	natgeo
Hashtag	sunset	#sunset
Location ID	213385402	%213385402
Single post	DdwalmrkTSK or the post's link	-DdwalmrkTSK
Followees of	natgeo or the profile's link	@natgeo
JSON file	a file path	the full path of the file

With an explicit type, you can leave out the prefix, and the input is checked against that type. A location ID, for example, must be a number.

Your feed, followed stories and saved posts

The buttons under the target box add the special targets that need no name:

Button	Adds	Downloads
Your feed	:feed	The posts of your feed, as Instagram shows them to you. Posts that Instagram suggests from accounts you do not follow are skipped.
Followed stories	:stories	The current stories of all accounts you follow
Saved posts	:saved	The posts you marked as saved

All three require that you are signed in. Maximum number of posts (see Keeping an archive up to date) limits how many posts of the feed and saved posts are downloaded.

Followees of a profile

A followees target downloads every profile that a profile follows. To add one, choose Followees of in the type list and enter the profile's name or link; it is shown in the list as Followees with the detail "every account natgeo follows · requires login". On the Look up page, Add accounts they follow does the same.

On InstaloaderSharp's command line this target is written @profilename. In the target box, however, @natgeo adds the profile natgeo, because that is what @name means on Instagram. Only Import list… and imported command lines use the command-line meaning.

A followees target can mean hundreds of profiles. Consider the size before starting, and see Rate limits and connections.

Metadata files

When Metadata JSON is on, every downloaded post gets a .json or .json.xz metadata file. Such a file can be used as a target to download the post again, for example after deleting its pictures:

• click JSON file… and select one or more files, or
• type or paste the file's path into the target box.

The list shows the file name, with its folder as the detail. The files are saved next to the metadata file. Relative paths are turned into full paths when the target is added, so it does not matter which folder the download runs in. Profile metadata files cannot be used as targets; add the profile by its name instead.

Importing a list

Import list… adds targets from a text file with one target per line, written as on InstaloaderSharp's command line (profilename, @profilename for followees, #hashtag, %123, -shortcode, :feed, file paths). Lines with options (--…) and lines that are not valid targets are skipped and listed afterwards.

To import a file with options as well, such as an InstaloaderSharp argument file (+args.txt), use Settings → Command line → Import args file…; see Command line and the GUI.

The target list

Each target is shown with an icon and a coloured badge for its type, its name, and details such as "requires login" or the post's link. The list grows with its content and scrolls when there are many targets. Adding a target that is already in the list does nothing.

To	Do
Remove a target	Click × on its row, or select it and press Delete
Select several targets	Ctrl+click, Shift+click, or Ctrl+A for all
Copy targets	Select them and press Ctrl+C (copied in command-line syntax, one per line)
Paste targets	Ctrl+V in the list, or paste into the target box
Preview a profile	Double-click it, or right-click → Look up profile
Open a target on Instagram	Right-click → Open on Instagram (for a JSON file: opens its folder)
Remove all targets	Clear all (asks first)

Changes to the list while a download runs apply to the next download.

Warnings about targets

Under the target list, the program shows problems as soon as targets and options do not fit together:

Message	Meaning
Feed, stories, saved posts, followees and locations require login.	Such a target is in the list, but you are downloading anonymously. Sign in on the Account page.
Login is required to download stories - stories will be skipped.	Stories is on, but you are not signed in.
Highlights and comments require login and will probably fail when downloading anonymously.	Highlights or Comments is on, but you are not signed in.
JSON target not found: …	A metadata file in the list no longer exists.
:feed-all and :feed-liked were removed. …	These old Instaloader targets no longer exist; use :feed and the post filter viewer_has_liked.

Warnings (amber) let you start anyway after asking; errors (red) must be fixed first. See Running a download.