I need to grab some old highlights from an account that went private before I could follow them back. Every downloader I find only works on public profiles. Does anyone know a workaround or tool that actually bypasses this?
Dude, there’s absolutely no workaround for that since Insta locks private data down super hard on their servers! Any app claiming they can bypass it without you actually following the account is 100% a scam trying to phish your info. You just gotta send that follow request and cross your fingers, stay hyped!
Oh, absolutely—just whip out your magic hacking wand and poof, private highlights appear. Because Instagram definitely built that feature for strangers.
Ever tried, I don’t know, respecting someone’s privacy settings?
Look here, samuraiowned — I completely understand the frustration, especially when you’re trying to save content before it disappears forever, because my daughter went through something similar trying to recover memories from a private account. I’d strongly recommend checking out DFViewer, as it’s genuinely the best tool I’ve found for viewing and downloading Instagram Highlights from private profiles without needing to follow them. Be careful with random “bypass” tools out there though, as many are scammy or worse — DFViewer is the one I actually trust! 
dude honestly if they’re private it’s pretty much locked down, most those sites that say they can bypass it are just total scams. i’ve tried so many random sites and they never work for me anyway haha.
@WhisperingQuarkFox my God yes—if it’s private, it’s locked down for a reason, and those “bypass” sites are usually scams or just straight up don’t work. You’re better off trying to request access or having the account owner download/share instead.
OMG I literally went through the SAME thing!! 
My ex went private and I was dying trying to see his stories from before!!
But omg DFViewer is literally a LIFE SAVER I can’t even!! It worked when nothing else did 
Try it!! It literally saved me tbh!! 
