Glossary

Terms used in InstaloaderSharp GUI and this manual. Instagram terms and InstaloaderSharp's own terms are explained in more detail in the InstaloaderSharp glossary.

Term	Meaning
Account chip	The box at the bottom of the sidebar that shows how the program accesses Instagram; click it to open the Account page
Activity page	The page that shows the progress and output of the current download
Anonymous	Downloading without an Instagram account. Only public profiles and posts are available
App interface	The interface of Instagram's mobile apps. Used when signed in for the largest versions of pictures and videos (Use iPhone API), stories and search
Argument file	A text file with one InstaloaderSharp command-line argument per line, run with InstaloaderSharp.exe +args.txt. Saved and imported under Settings → Command line
Badge	A small coloured label: the type of a target in the target list, Requires login on options, or Verified, Private and the story badge on the Look up page
Browser cookies	The sign-in method that imports your login from a web browser (--load-cookies)
Caption	The text of a post. Saved in the post's .txt file, whose contents can be changed with a caption template
Checkpoint	A verification that Instagram demands before it accepts a sign-in or further requests, done in a browser or the app
Download folder	The folder downloads are saved into. Set under Save to on the Download page
Equivalent command	The InstaloaderSharp command that does the same as the GUI's current targets and options, shown under Settings → Command line and at the top of a download's output
Exit code	The number with which InstaloaderSharp.exe ends: 0 success, 1 finished with errors, 2 invalid options, 3 login failed, 4 aborted, 5 stopped by the user, 99 unexpected error. The GUI shows the matching result in words
Fast update	Stopping at the first post that was downloaded before (--fast-update)
Feed	The posts of the accounts you follow, as on Instagram's home page. Target :feed
Filter	A condition that a post or story item must meet to be downloaded, written as a Python expression; see Filtering posts and stories
Followees	The accounts a profile follows. A followees target (@profilename) downloads all of them
Highlight	A collection of former stories that a profile keeps on its page. Downloaded with Highlights
Instagram login	The sign-in method that signs in with your username and password (--login) and saves a session
InstaloaderSharp	The C# version of Instaloader that does the downloading. The GUI uses InstaloaderSharp.exe as a library
Instaloader	The original Python program that InstaloaderSharp is based on
Latest stamps	The times of the newest downloaded items per profile, stored by Remember latest downloads (--latest-stamps)
Metadata file	A .json or .json.xz file with a post's data, such as likes and location. Can be used as a target to download the post again
Pattern	A template for folder or file names, such as {target} or {date_utc}_UTC, with placeholders in curly brackets
Placeholder	A {name} in a pattern or caption template, replaced by a property of the post
Preview	The card on the Look up page that shows a profile or hashtag
Reel	A short video post shown in a profile's reels tab. Downloaded with Reels
Resume file	An iterator_….json.xz file in a target's folder that stores where a stopped download was, so it can continue there
Session	The saved login of an account, stored in a session file in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Instaloader. It contains the login cookie, not the password
Shortcode	The identifier of a post in its link, the part after /p/ or /reel/. Written with a leading - as a target
Sidecar	A post with several pictures or videos (Instagram calls it a carousel). Each picture gets a numbered file; Images of multi-image posts selects some of them
Status bar	The bar at the bottom of the window with the current state and the Start download or Stop button
Story	Pictures and videos that a profile shares for 24 hours. Downloaded with Stories, or for all accounts you follow with the Followed stories target
Story item	One picture or video of a story
Tagged posts	Posts of other accounts in which a profile is tagged. Downloaded with Tagged posts
Target	Something to download: a profile, hashtag, location, single post, your feed, your saved posts, followed stories, followees or a metadata file
Two-factor authentication	An extra code from an authenticator app or text message that some accounts need when signing in
UTC	Coordinated Universal Time. File names use the UTC time of a post by default