The window

This page explains the parts of the program's window and how options are presented.

Contents

• Overview
• The sidebar
• The pages
• The status bar
• The taskbar button
• How options are shown
• Dialogs
• Display scaling and window size

Overview

┌──────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Logo         │  Page title                                          │
│              │  Short description of the page                       │
│ Download     │                                                      │
│ Activity     │  Sections with options ...                           │
│ Look up      │                                                      │
│ Account      │                                                      │
│ Settings     │                                                      │
│              ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Account chip │  Status bar: state · details   [progress] [Start]    │
└──────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The window has a dark theme. Text has an accessible contrast, and the control that has the keyboard focus is outlined.

The sidebar

The sidebar on the left switches between the five pages. Click a page, use Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+5, or select the sidebar with Tab and use the ↑ and ↓ keys.

While a download runs, Activity shows a Live badge. When a download ends while you are on another page, the badge shows Done, or the number of errors and warnings, until you open the Activity page.

At the top of the sidebar are the logo and the GUI's version. At the bottom is the account chip: it shows how the program accesses Instagram:

The chip shows	Meaning
Anonymous, Not signed in	Downloads are anonymous
@username, Instagram login	You sign in with your Instagram account; the session has not been checked yet in this run
@username, Signed in (green dot)	The session was verified, by Sign in, Check session or a successful download
Browser cookies, Cookies from Firefox	The login is imported from a browser when a download starts

Click the chip to open the Account page.

The pages

Page	What it is for	Manual page
Download	What to download (targets), what to include, which posts and where to save	Adding targets, Choosing what to download, Keeping an archive up to date, Filtering posts and stories
Activity	Progress, counters, recent files and the complete output of the current download	Running a download
Look up	Previewing profiles and hashtags, and searching Instagram	Looking up and searching
Account	Sign-in method, checking the session, saved sessions	Signing in
Settings	Advanced options: naming, caption files, resuming, connection, behaviour, the command line, about	Settings reference, Command line and the GUI

Pages scroll when they are taller than the window. Changes take effect immediately; there is no Save or Apply button. Options are remembered between runs (see Where data is stored).

The status bar

The status bar at the bottom is always visible, whatever page you are on.

When no download runs, it shows whether you can start, and a summary of what will happen:

Status	Meaning
Ready to download	Everything is set; the line below shows the number of targets, the sign-in method and the download folder
Add something to download	The target list is empty
A problem, in amber	Something must be fixed first, for example an invalid filter; see Running a download

The Start download button is on the right (Ctrl+Enter or F5).

While a download runs, the status bar shows the current step ("Retrieving posts from profile natgeo"), the progress ("Profile 2 of 5 · 12 of 240") and the number of errors so far, with a progress bar and the Stop button (Shift+F5). After the download, it shows the result, such as Download complete or Completed with 2 problem(s).

The taskbar button

The program's taskbar button shows the download's progress, like a file copy in Explorer: green while it runs, red when the download ended with errors, yellow while it is stopping.

How options are shown

Most options are rows in a card:

• The title says what the option does, and the description underneath explains it. Where an option corresponds to a command-line option of InstaloaderSharp, the description names it, for example (--fast-update).
• A Requires login badge marks options that only work when you are signed in.
• Switches show their state as On or Off. Clicking anywhere on the row flips the switch.
• Options that depend on another option are greyed out when they do not apply, for example Compress JSON when Metadata JSON is off.
• Text fields show a grey hint when empty, usually the default value. A field with an invalid value gets a red border, and its row explains why.

Dialogs

Messages and questions appear in dark dialogs. The button on the right is the main answer (Enter); Esc cancels. When the program needs your password or a two-factor code, it asks in such a dialog, never in a console window.

If something unexpected goes wrong, a dialog titled Something went wrong shows the error and its details. Please include that text when you report a bug (see Building and contributing).

Display scaling and window size

The program adapts to Windows' display scaling (for example 125 % or 150 %). The window's size and position, and whether it was maximized, are remembered. On the Activity page, the list of recent files is shown when the window is wide enough.