How to Save Your Reels (and Repurpose Them Everywhere)

You put your heart into creating that Reel – filming it, editing it, writing the caption – before finally sending it off into the world. 🦋

So… why let it disappear into the content void after just a couple of days?

One Instagram Reel can do SO MUCH more marketing magic for your business when you know how to save your Reel and reuse it strategically. 

After all, did you think the biggest creators out there were making brand new content every single day? 

Nope! That’s the power of repurposing! ♻️

The creators getting the best results on Instagram and social media aren’t reinventing the wheel every time they make a new post. 

Many times, they’re making sure they’re getting the most out of the content they already made.

Part of that starts with knowing how to properly save your Instagram Reels. 

Today, I’ll be showing you exactly how to save your Reels AND how to repurpose them so they keep bringing you new views, followers, and sales long after the first time you hit publish. 

Pin this to your Instagram Marketing board! 👇🏼

Tips for Saving Your Instagram Reels the Smart Way

When a Reel gets a LOT of views, don’t let it wither away or fade off into the distance. 

Make sure to get as much mileage out of it as you can. Repurposing your Reels keeps the momentum going!

BUT to repurpose your Instagram Reel (and we’ll get into how to do that in just a bit), you’re going to need a fresh copy of it. 

That means a version saved to your camera roll that isn’t blurry, that doesn’t have a watermark, and that’s clean and ready to reuse whenever you need it. 

Here are a few tips for how to save your Instagram Reels the smart way, so that your top performing content gets way more mileage! 

How to Save Instagram Reels Without a Watermark

When you download an old Reel directly from Instagram, it downloads with a watermark of the Instagram logo and your username. 

That’s not quite ideal if you plan to reuse the post again. 

Reposting Reels with a watermark can hurt performance. Both Instagram and Tiktok have made it abundantly clear that they DON’T want to see watermarks – even when the video is being reposted back onto their own platform. 

So, how do you save an Instagram Reel without a watermark? 

The fastest and easiest way I’ve found, is to use Snapinsta.to. 

Snapinsta is a free online tool that lets you download your Instagram Reels easily. All you have to do is copy the link to your Reel, paste it into the downloader, and save the clean version to your phone or device. 

⚠️ Heads up though – While the site itself is easy to use, the hardest part is dodging the pop-ups coming at you from every direction! 😅 Aaaand there’s always a teensy tiny chance you’re loading your computer with malware. So even though I use it myself quite often, download with caution. 

➡️ Side Note About Saving Reels Directly from Instagram

If you do choose to save old Reels directly from Instagram, be aware that Instagram is compressing old Reel downloads for some reason.

So, if you scroll back to posts from a year ago planning to download them, remove the watermark, and re-upload, they’re going to be blurry. 

But that’s just all the more reason why you need to have a smarter way to save your Reels. 

Here’s my new favourite way to save my Instagram Reels. 👇🏻

How to Save Reels Using Instagram’s Edits App

The Instagram Edits app makes editing, saving, organizing, and reposting your Reels soooo much easier. 

Edits gives you one place where you can fully create and edit your Reels AND it connects directly to your Instagram. Now, you can publish your new Reel the moment it’s ready to go.

For all your new Reels, you have your original video project in saved Edits itself (watermark-free and crystal clear!). When you’re ready to reuse or repost that same content, all you have to do is head back to the project and make new changes. It also frees up your phone for more cute pics of your dog instead of work, which is always a win! 🐶

For downloading or saving one of your older Reels, simply remix your post and send it to Edits. 

You won’t be able to re-edit text or captions that are already added to the video, but you’ll be able to save your Reel without the watermark to download or repost. 

As an added bonus, Edits lets you title your drafts to keep them organized. For example, I like to label blank b-roll footage “b-roll” so I can add text later when I’m batching.

One thing to keep in mind, though: just like the drafts in Instagram itself, Edits is phone-specific. 

If you delete the app or accidentally smash your phone while creating b-roll Reel footage, your work is gone. Thankfully, Edits allows you to save your Reel from Instagram directly to your phone or camera roll without posting. That way, you back up your best content in Google Drive or Dropbox and always have a fresh copy ready to use.

Speaking of b-roll Reels… stumped on what text to add to that b-roll footage you have saved? Check out my B-Roll Text Formulas for free to get you started!

How to Save Instagram Reels with Music (The Honest Answer)

Now, when it comes to saving Instagram Reels, how to save your Reels with music is a question that comes up a lot. 

Here’s the honest answer: Usually, you can’t. 

When a Reel uses copyrighted or trending audio, Instagram typically won’t let you download that video to your phone with the music attached. The same goes for any drafts or saved videos that you’ve attached music to. 

That music or audio is licensed for use on the platform, not for exporting everywhere else.

Your best bet is to use royalty-free music or original audio. If you Google “royalty-free music” you’ll find a ton of options you can use or, if you search in Instagram, some music/audio will have a little “RF” beside it indicating that it’s royalty-free. Doing this will make it much easier to save, repost, or repurpose content across platforms later.

And if you really want to reuse a trending sound, you can save your Reel without the audio and upload it into a scheduler like Later and set it to notify you to post. This way, you can open the app and add a fresh trending audio track before reposting your saved Reel down the line.

So, now that you know how to save your Instagram Reels properly, let’s talk about the next big step: REPURPOSING. 

3 Ways to Repurpose Instagram Reels You Saved

Learning how to save your Instagram Reels is step one. Repurposing those saved Reels is step two – and it’s where the magic begins. 🪄

One piece of content can turn into more reach, more views, and more chances to attract clients without you having to film something brand new every single day. 

Repurposing your Instagram Reels helps you create content faster, post more consistently, and make the most out of the content you already know is working. Plus, the more you create, the more you learn what performs well, and the easier it becomes to improve your content over time. 

So, instead of putting all the pressure on one or two Reels to carry your marketing for the week, you can turn one post into several strategic pieces of content to support your visibility and keep your content calendar full. 

Without further ado, here are three simple ways to repurpose your saved Instagram Reels.

1. Repost Your Saved Reel As-Is

The simplest way to repurpose Instagram Reels you’ve saved is just to repost it.

Give it about 3-6 months to let your original post run its course then publish it again.

Easy-peasy. No editing. Just save, publish, done. 

A lot of people feel uncomfortable doing this because they worry people are going to remember. But think of it this way: we’re consuming SO MUCH these days. Just scroll through Instagram for 15 minutes, and you’ll probably watch around 60 videos. 

People don’t remember as much as you think they do. 

In fact, in marketing, you’ll learn that folks need to hear you say something at least 32 times before they remember it. 

32 TIMES!! So, there’s really no need to worry about reposting the same exact Reel once or twice.

Plus, the more they see you, the more they trust you. So it really IS okay to just repost something. 

➡️ Side note: Repost Your Reel to Trial Reels 

If you have access to them, you can also repost your Reel as-is to your Trial Reels. 

With Trial Reels, Instagram chooses a new set of people (who don’t already follow you!) it thinks will enjoy your content and shares your Reel with them. 

It’s a simple way to test your Reels with a new pool of viewers and grow your reach without creating anything new. 

Want to learn more about Trial Reels?

READ MORE: The Full Scoop on Trial Reels and How to Actually Use Them.

2. Repurpose Your Instagram Reel in New Formats

Another way to breathe new life into the Reels you’ve saved is to repurpose them into new formats. 

This is something that I remind my clients about all the time…

If something you posted impacted people – as in it performed suuuuper well, got tons of comments, and got you really good sales – find other ways to get that message out AGAIN. 

For example, say you made a really good point in a b-roll Reel. Repurpose that b-roll reel into a talking head reel by using that moment as your hook – then riff, expand, or dig deeper.

Or if it was your talking head Reel that took off, take your whole script and repurpose the content into a written carousel. 

Or maybe it was a concept you talked about in a Reel that your audience absolutely ATE UP. Turn it into a series and do more videos with more tips and tricks on the same topic. 

Remember: you don’t need to create entirely new content for every post. When your content performs, that’s your people saying they want more of this. So give the people what they want!!

Double, triple, quadruple down on what’s already working instead. 

3. Repurpose Your Saved Reel on Other Platforms

Finally, the last way to repurpose Instagram Reels is to share them beyond Instagram. 

That’s the beauty of vertical video. Other platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook Reel are geared around it. Even platforms like Pinterest and LinkedIn have started leaning in towards video content. 

So, all you have to do is record once in Instagram Reels, then share it to your audiences across other platforms. 

Just be careful not to spread yourself too thin. 

It’s better to be really good at one platform than to just be okay on all of them. 

Trying to give every platform 100% of your energy is a shortcut to burnout every time. 

Instead, choose one primary platform (like Instagram) and focus the majority of your social media marketing energy there. 

Then, when you see a Reel performing well, repurpose it to 1-2 other platforms to extend its reach.

That way, you can prioritize your primary platform, repurpose to your secondary ones, and enjoy the extra reach without a ton of extra work! 

Bonus: Let Your Post Inspire a New Post

Here’s one last bonus content repurposing tip for the road:

When a Reel performs well, ask yourself: What was it about this post that worked?

Was it the hook? The format? The messaging?

One time, I had a Reel go viral because I asked a rhetorical question that everyone began answering in the comments. And because of how the Instagram algorithm works, it kept being shared to more and more new viewers. 

Sometimes it’s obvious why a Reel took off. Sometimes it takes a little bit of dabbling to figure it out. 

Either way, double down on what works and use it to inspire new posts. 

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Knowing how to save your Instagram Reel properly is step one but what you do next with those saved Reels is even more important. 

When you learn how to save clean, watermark-free, reusable versions of your content, creating Reels becomes a heck of a lot easier. 

You’re no longer starting from scratch. Instead, you have a pretty solid video that’s ready to work for you again either as a repost or as repurposed content. 

That means you can save HOURS of time, post more consistently, reach more people, and have more chances to bring in new clients. 

And if you want to make repurposing your saved Instagram Reels even easier, grab a strong, strategic hook from my Hooks Library in my 50 Hooks Bootcamp mini course. 

Just grab your saved reel, swap out your old hooks for a new one from the Hooks Library – and BOOM – you’ve got fresh content that’s ready to pull in new clients, with barely any extra work.

In the mini course, you’ll get everything you need to write hooks for every piece of repurposed content (and new ones too!). You’ll find lessons on what makes a hook resonate, a library of hooks you can start using NOW, and ChatGPT prompts that work with the library to create unlimited custom hooks. 

➡️ Get The 50 Hooks Bootcamp and make your next Reel easier to create (and way harder to ignore).