diff --git a/docs/supportedsites.rst b/docs/supportedsites.rst
index 9e409dcf..73a97e4d 100644
--- a/docs/supportedsites.rst
+++ b/docs/supportedsites.rst
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ ImageFap             https://imagefap.com/               Images from Users, Gall
 imgbox               https://imgbox.com/                 Galleries, individual Images
 imgth                https://imgth.com/                  Galleries
 imgur                https://imgur.com/                  Albums, individual Images
-Instagram            https://www.instagram.com/          Images from Users, individual Images, Tag-Searches
+Instagram            https://www.instagram.com/          Images from Users, individual Images, Tag-Searches Optional
 Jaimini's Box        https://jaiminisbox.com/reader/     Chapters, Manga
 Joyreactor           http://joyreactor.cc/               |joyreactor-C|
 Keenspot             http://www.keenspot.com/            Comics
diff --git a/gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py b/gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py
index 871236b5..475e24bc 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@
 import hashlib
 import json
 from .common import Extractor, Message
-from .. import text
+from .. import text, exception
+from ..cache import cache
 
 
 class InstagramExtractor(Extractor):
@@ -21,11 +22,14 @@ class InstagramExtractor(Extractor):
     filename_fmt = "{sidecar_media_id:?/_/}{media_id}.{extension}"
     archive_fmt = "{media_id}"
     root = "https://www.instagram.com"
+    cookiedomain = ".instagram.com"
+    cookienames = ("sessionid",)
 
     def get_metadata(self):
         return {}
 
     def items(self):
+        self.login()
         yield Message.Version, 1
 
         metadata = self.get_metadata()
@@ -40,6 +44,46 @@ class InstagramExtractor(Extractor):
                 yield Message.Url, \
                     'ytdl:{}/p/{}/'.format(self.root, data['shortcode']), data
 
+    def login(self):
+        if self._check_cookies(self.cookienames):
+            return
+        username, password = self._get_auth_info()
+        if username:
+            self.session.cookies.set("ig_cb", "1", domain="www.instagram.com")
+            self._update_cookies(self._login_impl(username, password))
+
+    @cache(maxage=360*24*3600, keyarg=1)
+    def _login_impl(self, username, password):
+        self.log.info("Logging in as %s", username)
+
+        page = self.request(self.root + "/accounts/login/").text
+        headers = {
+            "Referer"         : self.root + "/accounts/login/",
+            "X-IG-App-ID"     : "936619743392459",
+            "X-Requested-With": "XMLHttpRequest",
+        }
+
+        response = self.request(self.root + "/web/__mid/", headers=headers)
+        headers["X-CSRFToken"] = response.cookies["csrftoken"]
+        headers["X-Instagram-AJAX"] = text.extract(
+            page, '"rollout_hash":"', '"')[0]
+
+        url = self.root + "/accounts/login/ajax/"
+        data = {
+            "username"     : username,
+            "password"     : password,
+            "queryParams"  : "{}",
+            "optIntoOneTap": "true",
+        }
+        response = self.request(url, method="POST", headers=headers, data=data)
+
+        if not response.json().get("authenticated"):
+            raise exception.AuthenticationError()
+        return {
+            key: self.session.cookies.get(key)
+            for key in ("sessionid", "mid", "csrftoken")
+        }
+
     def _extract_shared_data(self, page):
         return json.loads(text.extract(page,
                           'window._sharedData = ', ';</script>')[0])
diff --git a/scripts/supportedsites.py b/scripts/supportedsites.py
index 31b78530..6d653f42 100755
--- a/scripts/supportedsites.py
+++ b/scripts/supportedsites.py
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ AUTH_MAP = {
     "exhentai"   : "Optional",
     "flickr"     : "Optional (OAuth)",
     "idolcomplex": "Optional",
+    "instagram"  : "Optional",
     "luscious"   : "Optional",
     "mangoxo"    : "Optional",
     "nijie"      : "Required",
diff --git a/test/test_results.py b/test/test_results.py
index f379e607..8d268457 100644
--- a/test/test_results.py
+++ b/test/test_results.py
@@ -251,9 +251,10 @@ def setup_test_config():
     config.set(("extractor", "password"), name)
     config.set(("extractor", "nijie", "username"), email)
     config.set(("extractor", "seiga", "username"), email)
-    config.set(("extractor", "danbooru", "username"), None)
-    config.set(("extractor", "twitter" , "username"), None)
-    config.set(("extractor", "mangoxo" , "password"), "VZ8DL3983u")
+    config.set(("extractor", "danbooru" , "username"), None)
+    config.set(("extractor", "instagram", "username"), None)
+    config.set(("extractor", "twitter"  , "username"), None)
+    config.set(("extractor", "mangoxo"  , "password"), "VZ8DL3983u")
 
     config.set(("extractor", "deviantart", "client-id"), "7777")
     config.set(("extractor", "deviantart", "client-secret"),