How to find instagram posts

Instagram search by image: full guide

You may have seen a photo on the Internet by chance and want to know whose it is. Or a friend may have sent you a photo, and you are too shy to ask who’s in it, or you just never look for an easy way. Whatever it is, we will tell you how to perform Instagram search by image. You will know how to perform reverse search and other ways to find a person.

There is no Instagram reverse image search, so you have to open Google or Microsoft Bing. You will almost never find a direct link to a profile in the social network. But you’ll find a name or a username from different websites. Then you can try to find someone’s profile on Instagram using the names.

Google reverse search helps to find profiles by photo regardless of the country. That’s why we recommend you start looking for the person’s info with it.

Click the camera icon in the Google search box.
Provide a picture: put a URL or upload from a computer.
Click Search by image.

You can’t upload a photo through a browser. To search Instagram by image, use an official Google app.

Tap the camera icon (1).
Upload a photo (2) or take a picture (3).

In the Google Lens app on iOS or Android:
— Choose Search with your camera and take a photo (1).
OR
— Upload a picture from Camera roll (2).

From the gallery:

Open a picture and tap Share.
Choose Search image.

Bing is good for searching with a picture on English versions of sites. If you are sure a user runs a social page in English, try it. It increases chances, because the search results differ from Google’s reverse search.

Reverse image search in Microsoft Bing is available both on a computer and a smartphone.

Choose the border icon on the search page.
Upload a photo (2). You can also capture from a phone, and put a link from a computer (3).

On iOS and Android, you can search a name and username with a picture made from camera or uploaded from Camera roll.

If you are interested in social media, you might like the article on how to boost your Instagram bio. You can put as many links in it as you want, and also photos, videos, and many other things. Read how you can do it here.

People often use the same account data in all social media. Use a name or username you see under photos in the search or on the websites to find a user on Instagram.

Type the names in Google or Bing search boxes and add "Instagram". If the profile is public and run actively, you’ll find it. If the profile is private, and the user is not so active in social media, the likelihood they’ll be in the search results is much less.

Search the profile in both engines — they often show different pages. And one may find the page when another can’t.

If you didn’t succeed with the search engines, search a user right in Instagram.

Type the name and username you’ve found in the Instagram search. Choose Top or Accounts tab. You will see a list of users who used these names to fill the name and username boxes in their profile settings.

Only Latin letters are allowed in the username. Any alphabet is supported in the name box. Thus, if you are looking for a person from a foreign country, try to type their first and last names in their native language.

If you see a long list, you have to spend a lot of time scrolling. However, you know what the person looks like and don’t have to check every profile. Go to those with a familiar face on profile photo. We also recommend checking Instagram profiles with pictures.

Type a username from another social network in the search box. It is also a users’ ID, and that’s why it is unique. You’ll find a page with this username in no time. But be aware, someone else may use it in Instagram. You'll know it by photos in the profile.

It’s not that easy to find a user who is not active in social media. If methods above didn’t help, use hashtags and location to search Instagram by image. You can also look for a profile among followers in accounts.

Search for a user on a tag’s explore page. They may have added tags in their posts, or they may have been tagged on a photo with a tag. Also pay attention to the caption under a post, there may be a username you are looking for. And check comments section, the user might be there.

Search for a user with low-frequency tags. They have fewer posts on their pages, which means you don’t have to scroll for long.

Consider what’s pictured on the photo you’ve got.

If what you see is a person playing the guitar, use the instrument’s series or model as a hashtag. It is low-frequency, and if there is a picture with the user on the tag’s explore page, you’ll find it quickly.

You don’t want to perform Instagram search by image using high-frequency tags like "guitar" or "music". You won’t find on their explore page even a popular person.

A gym’s name may appear in the photo of an athlete. Use it as a low-frequency hashtag to find a profile. And don’t use high-frequency tags of sports brands or exercises, they won’t help to find anyone.

Look for students by education-related tags. Every student belongs to a club or society in their universities, which have their own tags. For example, type #crimsonems in the search box. The tag’s page has few posts, if there is a post with the person you need, you’ll quickly find it.

You should also try searching by the name of a university or college, or a major. The one you are looking for may be tagged on a group photo.

Search for an adult by a tag of a company. It may be a shop’s name, a salon or bank they work in.

You can search for them by the activity — event planning, maintenance, insurance service. Maybe the person on the photo is a prominent specialist in their field? Then, it won't be difficult to find them.

If a photo you’ve got shows a group of friends, think back whether they called themselves somehow. It may be a good hashtag to find a person, as there won’t be many pictures.

You can go to a profile of someone in the picture and search for an unusual hashtag under a post. Probably it’ll be the hashtag of their company.

Users can tag a place when posting. If you recognize a place in a photo, open the relevant location page. Probably you’ll see more photos with the person you are looking for. Maybe even those they posted themselves.

You won’t see a person’s photo or video on a hashtag page if:

the author's profile is private. Its content is available only for the subscribers.
a tag is used too often. Photos with the hashtag goes down quickly. They are replaced by new content.

You may find a user among the followers of thematic public profiles or mutual acquaintances. Follow the principle of searching by IG hashtags above.

Look for a musician among the followers of a musical instruments brand, local nightclubs or a famous singer profile. Look for a sportsman on a page of a gym or Olympic champions.

Students, especially if they are in clothes with a university logo, search in accounts of the educational institute. Adults can be found among the followers of a company's profile.

Go to an account and search for a familiar face among the profile pictures. Type a name or username on the search box at the top if you know them.

The apps give you the results of Google image search. Their only advantage is convenient interface. But if you are used to searching with a mobile app, use Google Lens to find Instagram by image.

Online services for searching a profile with a picture provide the same reverse image search results. Their advantage is offering pictures and sites form several searching engines. For example, Reverse image search and Duplichecker collect data from Google, Bing, Yandex, Baidu.

There are no instruments which have proved to search Instagram by image in 100% cases. Using a search engine, you may find a name and username from an actively used public account.

You have to look for users who are not so active on the Internet among followers of others’ accounts.

If no method above helped you to search Instagram by image, it might be the person hasn’t signed up on Instagram.

How to Use Instagram: A Beginner's Guide

Over the past few years, Instagram has seen exponential growth — from one million users at its inception to over one billion in 2022.

If you're interested in getting an Instagram account, or just created one but aren't sure how to use it, you're in luck. Here, we're going to cover all the basics, so you can learn why Instagram is the top social media platform for engagement today.

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a social media platform that emphasizes photo and video sharing via its mobile app. You can take, edit, and publish visual content for both followers and non-followers, as long as your account is public. Users can interact with your content via likes, comments, shares, and saves.

It's hard to remember a time before Instagram. At one time, "Do it for the 'gram" was a common saying, which meant, essentially, "Do something so we can take a picture and post it to Instagram."

Since then, Instagram has placed a larger and heavier emphasis on video. So you no longer hear the phrase “Do it for the ‘gram.” I bet, though, that a second version of the phrase will soon follow. (Maybe “Do it for reel?”)

If you're not part of the one billion users on Instagram, you might want to reconsider. The app is a great chance to engage with top brands and stay a part of friends' lives. When I want to see how my college friends are doing, I don't check Facebook, I check Instagram. Plus, you can follow your favorite celebrities or political figures to see candid photos of their everyday lives.

Additionally, it's a phenomenal platform for investigating what other brands are doing — for instance, Nike uses the Instagram Stories' feature to promote inspirational athlete stories you won't find anywhere else.

How to Sign Up for Instagram

To sign up for Instagram, all you need to do is download the Instagram app on your phone and click the 'Sign up' button. You can choose to sign up through Facebook or use your email or phone number. After you choose a username and password, you’re ready to build your profile.

If you're ready to sign up for Instagram, follow these steps below:

Go to the Instagram site on your desktop, or download the Instagram app from the App Store (iPhone) or Google Play Store (Android).
If you're on desktop, click "Log in with Facebook", or fill in the form with your mobile number or email, name, username, and password. Then click "Sign up".
On Android, click "Sign Up With Email or Phone Number".
On iPhone, select "Sign Up".
Enter your email address or phone number, then click "Next". Alternatively, you can sign up with your Facebook account.
Once you've filled out your username and password, you will be instructed to fill out your profile info. Then, tap "Done".
If you register with Facebook, you'll need to log into your Facebook account if you're currently logged out.

How Do Instagram Notifications Work?

When your account is created, you'll want to adjust your notifications so you only receive the information you want. For instance, you can choose to receive notifications when you get likes from everyone — but, alternatively, you might decide to only receive notifications when you get a like from someone you follow. Or, you might turn off notifications for likes altogether.

You can adjust notifications to "Off", "From People I Follow", or "From Everyone", for the following categories — Comments, Comment Likes, Likes and Comments on Photos of You, Follower Requests, Accepted Follow Requests, Friends on Instagram, Instagram Direct, Photos of You, Reminders, First Posts and Stories, Product Announcements, View Counts, Support Requests, Live Videos, Mentions in Bio, IGTV Video Updates, and Video Chats.

If you're overwhelmed by that list, I get it — I am, too. If you're unsure what notifications you want to receive, you might start with your notifications on "From Everyone", and if certain notifications begin to annoy you, you can turn them off later.

Free Resource

Instagram for Business Templates & Guide

Fill out this form to access the Instagram for Business Kit.

To customize which notifications you receive, follow these steps:

1. Open up the Instagram app on your phone.

First up, open up the Instagram app on your mobile device. You can also access Instagram on desktop if you prefer. Then, head to your profile by clicking the image of your profile picture on the bottom right.

2. Access “Settings.”

After you arrive at your profile, click the hamburger menu on the top right-hand corner.

A popup menu will appear. Tap “Settings.”

3. Tap “Notifications.”

On the next screen, click "Notifications."

There, you’ll be able to change the notification settings depending on category. These categories include:

Posts, Stories, and Comments
Following and Followers
Direct Messages and Calls
Live and Video
Fundraisers
From Instagram
Email and SMS
Shopping

You also have the ability to pause all notifications by toggling the Pause All option up top.

4. Check off the notifications you want to receive.

Access each category individually and choose the notifications you want to receive. Here are the options, for example, for “Posts, Stories, and Comments”:

The options will vary depending on category.

And that's it! Next, let's explore how to connect your other social media accounts to your Instagram, so when you post an image to Instagram, you can share it with your other online audiences, as well.

Can you connect to Instagram to other social accounts?

Yes, you can connect Instagram to Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook, but it’s no longer done through Settings, as it used to be.

Now, you do it on a per-post basis.

If you want to share a post to other platforms, you navigate to the actual post you want to cross-publish on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, and then manually share it that way.

Here’s how:

1. Open up the Instagram app.

2. Navigate to your profile.

3. Tap on the post you’d like to cross-post.

4. Click the three dots on the top right-hand corner of the post.

5. On the pop-up menu, click “Share.”

Note: Don’t click “Share to,” which will give you an option to AirDrop or share the post to your contacts.

6. Toggle the accounts you’d like to share the post to. If you’re not already signed in, you’ll need to do so right within the Instagram app.

Once you’ve connected your accounts for one post, you can then toggle the sharing options for any new posts without needing to sign in again.

If you connect Instagram to Facebook, you can share your Stories across both accounts. We talk more about how to do that below.

How to Connect Instagram to Facebook

Since Instagram and Facebook are owned by the same company, Meta, you can connect the two accounts for a more seamless experience. Connecting your Instagram and Facebook accounts allows you to:

Share Stories across both Instagram and Facebook
Login with Facebook into Instagram
Sync your profile name and picture across both profiles
Use Facebook Pay on both platforms
Access your shopping activity on both accounts

If you’re a frequent Facebook user, then connecting your account to your new Instagram profile is highly recommended. Here’s how:

1. Open up your Instagram app.

2. Click on your profile picture on the bottom right-hand corner.

3. Click the hamburger menu on the top right-hand corner.

4. Tap “Settings.”

5. Under the Meta logo, tap “Accounts Center.”

6. Tap “Set up Accounts Center.”

7. Follow the prompts to log in into Facebook.

Done! Your two accounts are now connected. Here's how it'll look like once you're finished:

In the next section, I'll show you when a linked account comes in handy.

Upload, Edit, and Post an Image

Now, for the most important part of Instagram — how to upload and post an image.

Instagram is an entirely visual platform. Unlike Facebook, which relies on both text and pictures, or Twitter, which relies on text alone, Instagram's sole purpose is to enable users to share images or videos with their audience.

On Facebook, you might choose to post 100 photos on an album. On Instagram, you need to be choosier about which photos you post. There are a few reasons for this — first, you don't want to post more than once a day (typically). And you don't want to post too many similar photos.

For instance, it would be odd for you to post fifty photos from the same beach vacation on your Instagram profile. Instead, you might choose five or six, and place them all within the same post.

(These are called carousel posts, and they allow you to share multiple photos in one post only. Carousel posts are awesome for posting similar pictures in one package while keeping your overall profile aesthetic diverse.)

Curious about creating an aesthetic? To learn more about Instagram account themes and get inspiration, take a look at these Instagram themes. Additionally, if you want to embark on a deep-dive, you can take HubSpot's Instagram Marketing Course.

Now that we've covered that, let's explore how to upload, edit, and post an image.

1. Click the "+" icon at the top-right hand corner.

When you tap the “+” icon, you’ll be prompted to choose the type of post you want to share. Since we want to publish a post directly on our profile feed, tap “Post.”

2. Choose your media file.

Here, you have three options. You can look through your Photos library on your phone, you can take a new picture from right within Instagram, or you can take a new video. For our purposes, I looked through my Photos library and found a picture of Boston I wanted to use. Then, I clicked "Next" in the top right.

3. Add filters if desired.

There are two categories you can use to edit your image — "Filter" and "Edit". Instagram automatically shows you filters first. You can scroll through the carousel and click any of the filters to apply it to your image.

Additionally, if you want to use a filter but you want to tone it down, double tap the filter and move the cursor to the left to lessen the intensity of the filter.

4. Edit your image if desired.

Next, click "Edit". Here, you can adjust contrast, brightness, structure, warmth, and more. When you're happy with your edited image, or if you don't want to edit it at all, click "Next" in the top right.

5. Write a caption and toggle sharing settings.

Now, you can add a caption, tag people (you can only tag someone if they also have an Instagram account), and add a location. Additionally, click the button beside Facebook or another linked social media account to share your image on that platform, as well. When you're ready to publish, click "Share" in the top right.

If you don’t want to use your app to post on Instagram, you can also do so from your computer. Learn how to post to Instagram from a Mac or PC here.

Upload an Image or Video to Your Stories

Instagram Stories is a feature that allows you to post videos or images that disappear after 24-hours. Instagram's Stories feature is similar to Snapchat in terms of content — users often post more casual and candid videos and images, offering glimpses into their every day lives.

For instance, on your normal feed, you might post a heavily-edited picture of yourself and friends at a baseball game. But you might post a more candid video to your Story of the stadium singing "Sweet Caroline".

To learn how to upload an image or video to your Stories, follow these steps:

1.

Tap your profile picture in the upper left-hand corner.

Alternatively, swipe right on your feed or tap the “+” button in the top navigation bar.

2. Capture or add your media.

Once you're within the Stories feature, you can take a picture or video right from within the app. Alternatively, if you have an image saved to your phone that you'd like to use, you can choose it from your media library.

3. Add stickers or filters.

On the left-hand side, you have a few different editing features.

The “Create” button lets you add a location, hashtag, time, date, and other fun images or emojis to your picture.

The “Boomerang” option allows you to create a looping video. And the "Aa" icon is your text button. Once you click "Aa", you have the option to change your font.

If you click the smiley face icon, you'll see the following screen. Simply click on one of the icons to add them to your image. If you don't like it, drag it to the bottom, and a trash can will appear so you can delete it.

For instance, I clicked the smiley face icon to add a poll to my image. You can also swipe to the left or right to add filters to your photo or video.

4. Publish your Story.

Once you're happy with your content, you can either click the white arrow icon in the bottom right, which allows you to share your Story with everyone who follows you, or select “Close Friends” first, so that only your close friends see it.

Then you’re done! Your Story is immediately live.

How to Follow on Instagram

It's incredibly easy to find and follow users. Using Instagram's search feature, you can find celebrities, brands, and friends. Additionally, you can search "Tags" or "Places". "Tags" is particularly useful if you know what type of content you want to find, but you're not sure who posts about it.

For instance, you might search "#familyrecipes" under tags — your results will include any images with that hashtag. As you peruse, you might find someone who posts content you really like, and you can choose to follow them so their content appears on your feed.

To follow someone, follow these three easy steps.

1. Click on the search icon at the bottom of your screen.

It looks like a magnifying glass and will be right next to the “Home” button.

2. Next, type in a person, topic, or brand.

For this example, I searched "architecture.”

Instagram allows you to either search all posts that contain the word “architecture,” or “See all results” and see tags and places.

3. Tap the account you’re interested in following.

Once you're on someone else's account, you'll see a blue "Follow" button at the top. For public profiles, you can click and immediately begin following that account. However, if the profile is private, you may need to wait for them to accept you first.

And that's it! You're on your way to becoming a pro. To take your account to the next level, plan out your next posts using an array of content ideas and templates.

Using Instagram is Key for Growing Your Personal Brand

If you want to grow both professionally and personally, then using Instagram is more important than ever. You can start by observing first, then begin posting as you learn your way around the user interface. With over one billion users, Instagram is an extremely worthwhile social media platform to join — and it’s only set to keep growing as time goes on.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in November 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

How to find an old post on Instagram by filtering it by date - iOS and Android - Crast.net

The Instagram app, commonly known as IG or Insta, is a social networking site created in the United States and currently owned by Meta. Its main function or purpose is to allow its users to create a profile in which you can share either photos or videos with your followers, with the possibility of adding various filters, frames or effects. Due to the influence this social network has had since its launch, it is considered the most popular in the photography category.

Users of this web platform and app also have other features that allow them to interact with it, such as posting stories and a messaging section. Usually in a profile with a lot of posts, this is somewhat tedious for users. find the old post in particular, so it's a good trick to know how to search for it by filtering it by date. Next, a way to do this from an iOS or Android device.

How can I see the history of my old Instagram posts?

Since its launch, the social network known as Instagram has made it clear that its main function is to allow users to share posts. Whether it's photos or videos, both options have the ability to add filters, effects, or frames for their users before publishing . Instagram aims to provide its users with the tools they need when creating their posts, as they can find options such as editing a caption, location, or tagging other people.

Those who have an account on the Instagram platform that has been active for a long time using its various tools and features when sharing their lives through posts. from your main feed or through stories that are 24 hours long. For these users who have made posts on their profile for a long time, when they want to search and find an old post, they have a very tedious task, unless they know a way to make the job easier.

Therefore, so that when searching for an old post on an Instagram profile, and finding it was not so difficult, there are various methods that can be useful. For posts in the main feed, the only way to get them is to scroll down the profile until you find the one you're looking for. On the other hand, in the case of shared stories, you can find a file with a history of previous posts made on an Instagram profile.

Archive my old posts

A very effective way to make your main feed more attractive to new followers is to leave old and boring posts behind. However, these are usually good memories for the people who posted them, so the best option is to learn how to archive all old posts. When archiving a post, in this case the oldest one (may be the post you want), the user has the option of enter the section of archived publications and find your old posts there.

Without having to tediously search your entire profile feed to find them, on top of all that, you'll get only post that best fits with what you want to share with your followers. To archive an old post, it's simple, you just need to navigate to the post you want to archive, click on the three dots on its top right side to display the options, and click on the archive option.

Delete my old posts

A more drastic method to make Instagram more attractive to new Instagram followers is to remove old and similar photos and videos that might look boring and not convey what the user wants at the moment. However, it should be noted that when deleting old posts from the profile, they will not end up in the archive where they can be restored, that is, they will be deleted forever.

In this case, before doing this option, it is better to think carefully about whether you want to archive publications and save memories so that no one sees them. Or if you really want delete post on instagram . If that's the case, then it's easy because you just have to navigate to the post you want to delete, click on the three dots on its top right side to display the options, and click on the delete option.

How do I filter my old Instagram posts by date?

For Instagram users, this can be a tedious situation in some cases. have to look for a photo or video of that was posted on their profile a long time ago, although they know the date it was posted, they don't know how to search. Instagram has a tool that lets you view old posts sorted by date.

On an Android device

Entering the old posts section and filtering them by date in Instagram is easy, the steps are as follows. First, enter the Instagram application, and go to the profile, there click on the three bars and click about the file option then you can see the section of previously made publications, moving to the right you can see the same section, but organized in a calendar by date, there you can find the exact date of the old publication and retrieve it.

iPhone

In case you want to get the Instagram calendar section from iPhone where you can find old posts sorted by the date they were posted, the procedure is very similar to that for Android. First enter the application, go to the profile section and click on the three bars in the upper right corner to display the options, click on the file option, there you can see three icons, click on the calendar icon, that's it, you can find publications by their date.

Search Instagram like a pro

English

Screenshot of Instagram.

Editor's note: This OSINTCurio.us project post Technisette is based on a presentation on Instagram search from the 2019 Netherlands Conference on Open Source Data Search.

Before we start

While you don't need to have an Instagram account to search for data, it can come in handy to track certain hashtags and profiles.

You can create an account through the mobile app or website. To register an Instagram profile, use your email or Facebook account.

For most of what I'm going to show you, you don't need to login. If you need to log in to the page, click the small blue “Log In” button ( log in ) in the upper left corner of the screen.

Search string

Enter any Instagram profile at random to find the search bar at the top. You do not need to be logged in to do this.

For example, Instagram.com/search gives you a personal profile, but you'll see the search bar appear at the top of the screen.

Search for people

Searching for people on Instagram may not be as effective as it seems at first glance. For example, if I search for "Mark Zuckerberg", I will get a random profile first and only then the real profile of Mark Zuckerberg.

Google or any other search engine, in this case, may be more effective. Use, for example, advanced Google search (Google Dorks):

site: Instagram. com “mark zuckerberg” .

Left: Instagram search results. Right: Google results.

There are quite a few tools that provide the ability to search for content on Instagram.

Picdeer.com simplifies the user search process because hashtags and users are not mixed up in the search results as they are in a regular Instagram search. Here you will see a list of hashtags on the left and a list of users on the right.

Similar resources also include sites pictame.com and sometag.com.

Search results on Picdeer.com.

If you are looking for a specific type of user, such as people belonging to a particular group or religion, you might be interested in what people write in their biographies.

Searchmy.bio is a search engine that will only search in the bio section of user profiles.

You can sort the results according to different criteria: “most followers” ( by the number of subscribers ) or “most relevant” ( the most relevant ) or add hashtags to the search query.

Screenshot of Searchmy.bio.

When you find the profile you are interested in, you will find several useful extensions, starting with Helpertools for Instagram for Google Chrome.

In the example below, I used Mark Zuckerberg's profile, @zuck.

Helpertools for Instagram is partially free. I haven't used the paid version yet, but the free version has a couple of really cool features. In particular, you can compare two profiles with each other. These profiles must be opened in order for Helpertools to demonstrate its magical power. Depending on the number of followers/followers, this may take some time as Helpertools pauses in order to prevent Instagram from detecting the tool's suspicious activity.

But my favorite feature is the “Business account” section.

In Mark's case, it is marked as “false”, which means that Mark does not have a business account. Having a “business account” ( business account ) is not exactly the same as having a “verified” ( verified ) account. You can switch from a regular to a business profile by yourself by changing the settings, and Instagram does not check any information.

Results from Helpertools for Instagram.

Mark's account is not a business account. So let's find another example that is one.

For example, an account for a cheese shop in the Netherlands. Take a look at the profile: there is no contact information here.

Let's look in Helpertools to see if this page is a business account...

Yes, this is a business account!

We can even see what category they have chosen for their profile. But wait, this is just the beginning!

To get more information, you will now need to create a profile or log into your profile on a mobile phone (or a good emulator) connected to the internet.

Now open the mobile application and log into your account. (I used the android app). When you go to the profile of a cheese shop, you will see several buttons under the inscription bio. One of them is “Contact” ( contact ). If you click on “Contact”, a pop-up window will appear and give you all the contact information associated with this profile (which is entered by the account owner). Thus, we see an email address that was not visible before!

There is another button here: “Call” ( to call ) and it will give you a phone number!

So we got an email address and a phone number.

Remember: if we were to explore the profile through the website, we would not see this information!

1. Log in through the mobile application. 2. Find the desired profile and check the “Contact” tab ( contact ). 3. Press “Call” ( to call ) to see the phone number or “Email” to see the email address.

Statflux.com will help you analyze your profile. In addition to information from the profile itself, it will also provide additional statistics, for example, the average number of likes and comments.

It will also give you the posts with the most likes and the most comments.

When you're looking at a profile with a lot of posts and don't know which one might be of interest to you, statflux.com can help you figure it out.

Examples from @zuck on Statflux.com.

Enlarge your profile photo and download images from your account

In Instagram, the profile picture is cropped (taken in a circle). But sometimes you want to see the whole photo, because that way you get a little more information about what's going on in the background, or, for example, see who else is in this image.

There is a way to get this from source, but the DownAlbum extension also allows you to do this.

DownAlbum can help you increase your profile picture not only on Instagram but also on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Ask.fm and Weibo.

Once the extension is installed, a “Download photo” button will appear right below the profile picture ( download photo ). Click on the link and a new page will open with an enlarged profile photo that you can use to explore further.

Example from DownAlbum.

DownAlbum also gives you the opportunity to download photos to your computer - just right-click on the enlarged image and save the photo.

Another possibility is the website instasave.io. Enter the username of the profile you are interested in and click the “download” button ( download ) under each photo to save it.

Both of these functions will help you download images to your computer one by one.

But what if you need to download all the photos in your profile? To do this, there is an extension for Google Chrome called Downloader for Instagram + Direct Message , which can help you download many photos.

When this extension is installed, you will see a button in the top right corner.

Select the rightmost button to download the entire profile. Make sure you have downloaded the entire page to download all materials. As you can see in this example, Zuckerberg has 141 posts, but this tool shows that there are only 24. If you scroll down the page, you can download more photos.

And one more thing: don't forget about the “Tagged” section ( search by tags ) on Instagram! To do this, you need to log in, but sometimes this gives you the opportunity to explore many other images on the topic. The “Tagged” section under the bio, next to the “Posts” section ( publications ).

Shown on the right: Downloader for Instagram + Direct Message.

Instagram Stories

Instagram “Stories” ( and Stories ) are short videos or photos that users can edit by adding stickers, text, color and GIFs. (If you want to learn more about the stories, check out this article from Buffer Editor Ash Reid.)

Usually stories are displayed for 24 hours, but you can "highlight" them so that people can see them longer. Such highlighted stories (“highlight”) can be categorized.

You can tell if a profile has stories by looking at the profile picture. If there is a colored circle around it, then there are stories in the profile.

If you want to see these stories, you will need to login.

Left: @zuck's profile has no stories. Right: @bbc profile has stories.

Sometimes a profile has these highlighted stories that are categorized. You will see these stories right below the bio.

Click on a category to view stories.

Under bio you will find highlighted stories categorized.

Search stories

Stories can only be searched if they are tagged with a location (geotag) or a hashtag.

You can search for stories in the web version; if you search for a hashtag or geotag at the top, you will see a round photo in a colored circle. Click on a photo to find stories that match that specific tag or location.

Instagram search results.

You can make it easier to find stories by using the Downloader for Instagram extension in Google Chrome.

When set, a small icon with Instagram colors can be seen at the top right.

Click on the logo to open a new page where you will see a menu as shown in the screenshot; now you will be able to watch your friends' stories, their online broadcasts, location, as well as the search function.

I searched for the hashtag #Amsterdam and chose one of the options: with a small flag at the end.

Search results from Downloader for Instagram.

If you click on search results, no stories are displayed. Click on the icon with a black eye, then they will immediately appear. With the arrows (left and right button), you can switch between them.

The user who uploaded the stories is shown on the left (shown in blue in the screenshot).

And also very useful: Downloader for Instagram gives you the option to download one or more stories linked by the same hashtag (the feature is circled in red at the top left).

Download stories using the buttons in the top right corner.

Keyword search

If you're not looking for hashtags, but just words used in posts, Instagram is probably not the best tool, as you can see in the screenshot example below on the left.

For this, it is better to use Google search or any other search engine.

For Google, use the search operator Inurl:instagram.com/p/ “keyword” , where the word “keyword” (keyword ) is replaced by the word or phrase you want to find. For example, I took “dinner time” ( dinner time ).

Left: Keyword search on Instagram. Right: Keyword search on Google.

Now you can see that one of the results contains the words “dinner time”, while the phrase “dinner time” ( dinner time ) is not used as a hashtag here. Therefore, if you were to enter these keywords in the Instagram search bar, you would not find this post.

Google search result.

Search hashtags

In the search results, check more than just the first few photos. These will be "Top" ( most popular ) photos, but they won't always give you what you're looking for. Be sure to scroll down and check out “Most Recent” ( newest ).

To search by hashtags, remember to use a symbol (eg #osint).

And one more thing: there are many websites that will help you search for hashtags on Instagram. For example, pictame.com and hashatit.com.

Instagram hashtag search. Scroll down to “Most recent” ( newest ).

Hashtag tracking

When you find a hashtag and want to follow it, make sure you are logged in and click on “Follow” ( follow ) to see new posts that are associated with that particular hashtag.

How to follow a hashtag on Instagram.

Download posts with selected hashtags

Downloading posts with the hashtags you need is very easy if you use the Google Chrome extension Downloader for Instagram .

Open the page to the extent you need to download and use the extension to download the posts associated with the hashtag.

Download posts with specific hashtags using “Downloader for Instagram”

Search by location

You can search by location using the search bar at the top of the website. You will be able to identify the location by the icon in the form of an inverted drop.

Select a location to see what stories and posts have been published from that location. Moreover, in order to choose a geolocation, you yourself do not have to be physically located in this place.

Please note that the user can specify any location, and this does not mean at all that he really was there. So a photo of me standing in front of the Grand Central Station in Amsterdam could be geolocated as Times Square in New York simply because I told Instagram that the photo was taken there. If you want to include your real location in your photo, you must give Instagram permission to use your location data.

Search results by location on Instagram.

Are you not sure if Instagram has the place you are looking for? Or do you not know the correct spelling of a geographical name? Check out Instagram.com/explore/locations. Below is a list of countries. Select the country and city you are interested in.

Filter your results by country and city to see what places are available in a particular city.

Search for previously published posts by location

An Open Data Research (OSINT) enthusiast shared this video with me on how to find Instagram posts by location within a given time period. I have to admit that this is quite difficult, but although the video was made back in 2017, this method continues to work in 2019! Watch the video here and the script in Python here .

This video explains how to calculate the date you are interested in. Once you have a date, you can search for the location you need.

Look at the URL; at the end you add: ?max_id= followed by the number you calculate.

For example: https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/3001373/times-square-new-york-city/?max_id=1817012758118400

Scroll down to the “Most recent” section ( newest ) - it now shows older posts.

The photo on the left is from August 27, 2011, but it appears as the first result in the “Most recent” section ( newest ).

That's it!

These were some basic Instagram search methods.

Of course, there are a million other ways, methods, websites, extensions and scripts that you can use to make your Instagram search easier. If your favorite method is not listed in this article, please leave your comments below or email our editor at [email protected]! This way we can all learn from each other.

Are you ready to learn more?! Open Part 2 (Part 2) on how to search on Instagram!

This article originally appeared on OSINTCurio.us and is reprinted here with their permission.