How to Use the Instagram Story Extractor

Step 1: Connect your Instagram account

To let the Phantom act on your behalf:

1. Install the PhantomBuster browser extension and connect your Instagram session in one click.
2. If you’re not using Chrome or Firefox, you can retrieve your session cookie manually (see our cookie guide).

Step 2: Provide profile URLs

Decide which Instagram profiles you want to extract stories from. You can provide input in one of the following formats:

1. Paste a single Instagram profile URL.
2. Provide a Google Sheet with a list of Instagram profile URLs (make sure it’s shared with “Anyone with the link”).
3. Upload a CSV file with a list of Instagram profile URLs (make sure it’s publicly accessible, and note that CSV upload is only available on paid plans).

→ If you’re using a spreadsheet, the Phantom defaults to the first column (A). To use a different column, enter the column’s header name in the field “Name of column containing profile URLs.”

Step 3: Configure extraction behavior

• Number of profiles from which to extract stories per launch (optional):
  • Default = 10.
  • If left empty, the Phantom will process all available profiles in one launch.

Advanced settings (dropdown in setup)

1. Watcher mode (optional):
   • Enable this to process your entire spreadsheet every launch, ensuring new stories are always captured.
2. Filter stories by mentions (optional):
   • Only retrieve stories that mention certain usernames.
   • Enter them with @ and separated by spaces (e.g., @username1 @username2).
   • Leave empty to extract all stories.

Result file settings (dropdown in setup)

• Name your results file (optional)

  • You can customize the file name.

    If you rename the file between launches, the Phantom will create a new results file and start processing inputs from scratch.

Step 4: Select launch frequency

Choose how often the Phantom should run:

1. Launch manually: Start the Phantom yourself whenever you need.
2. Launch once at a specific time: schedule a one-time run at a set date and time.
3. Launch repeatedly: schedule regular runs (e.g. once per day, several times during working hours).
4. Launch after another Phantom: chain automations together so this Phantom starts right after another finishes.
5. Advanced scheduling: customize the exact minutes, hours, days, or months when the Phantom should run.

→ For a complete walkthrough of scheduling options, see our guide to scheduling Phantoms automatically.

Step 5 (Optional): Advanced settings

Advanced settings are available if you want to fine-tune how your Phantom runs, but by default they’re already optimized for most use cases.

We recommend leaving them as they are unless a guide specifically instructs you to change something.

→ For a detailed overview of all advanced options (like execution limits, retries, email notifications, proxies, webhooks, and file management), see our Advanced settings guide.

Launch and results

When you’re ready:

1. Click Launch to start your Phantom.
2. Once it finishes, open the Results tab in the Phantom console to see the data collected.
3. Download your results as a CSV or JSON file.

→ To learn how to export your data to Google Sheets, integrate with other tools, or reuse it in more automations, check our Access and Export your Phantom Results guide.

Export and input limits on the Free plan
If you’re on the Free plan or Free trial, some features are limited:
- CSV exports include only the first 10 rows of results.
- CSV download links (for dynamic viewing in Google Sheets or integrations) are not available.
- JSON exports are not available.
- CSV upload as an input method is not supported.
To unlock all features, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan.

What you give (Input) and What you get (Output)

This section gives you a detailed breakdown of everything you need to provide to run this Phantom, and everything you’ll receive once it completes.

What you give (Input)

What you get (Output)

Tips and troubleshooting

Common pitfalls

• Using a private spreadsheet (make sure it’s set to “Anyone with the link”).
• Forgetting to enable Watcher mode → Without it, repeated launches will only extract new inputs, not recheck existing profiles.
• Stories not loading: Sometimes Instagram doesn’t provide stories data, especially if the same input was already viewed before. In those cases, the Phantom may end with an “Error loading stories” message. If that happens, wait about an hour and try again, the data should load once Instagram responds correctly.

If you run into errors or account issues

• Check how to troubleshoot your phantom using Logs.
• Browse the Fix Issues & Troubleshoot Errors section for solutions to common problems.
• Review our Automation Rate Limits by Platform guide.
• Check our Best Practices for Social Media Automation guide.

Suggested automations

• Instagram Profile Scraper → Enrich story owners’ profiles with bios, emails, and follower counts.
• Instagram Followers Auto Follow → Engage with users featured in stories.
• Instagram Hashtag Search Export → Expand your dataset by collecting posts from the same hashtags mentioned in stories.