How to Download a Pinterest Board Section

Pinterest sections are useful until you need to export them. Your "Home renovation" board may contain separate sections for lighting, kitchens, bathrooms and flooring, while your current meeting concerns only lighting. Downloading the whole board creates a large archive and leaves you sorting through unrelated pins afterward.

A Pinterest section downloader lets you work at the same level of organization you already created on Pinterest. PinBoardSaver, the Pinterest board downloader for Chrome, lists the sections of your board as checkboxes. You select the section you need and get a ZIP in which that section is a folder of its own.

Board, section or individual pin?

Choose the smallest unit that matches the task. Use the online downloader for one image, GIF or video. Download a section for one category inside a larger collection. Download the complete board when its sections belong together and you want a full archive; how to download an entire Pinterest board covers that route.

The difference matters on mature boards: a board may hold thousands of pins collected over years, while the useful section contains only 80 carefully grouped references.

How to download pins from one section

You do not need to open the section itself on Pinterest. The extension identifies the board from the address in your browser, so the board page and a section page open the same panel, with the whole board selected. You narrow the download with checkboxes.

1. If you have not done so yet, install the PinBoardSaver Chrome extension.
2. Open your board in Chrome and click the PinBoardSaver icon in the toolbar. The panel shows the board name with its "Board pins" and "Board sections" counts, then a checklist: "All Pins", "All Sections", "Not in a section" and the board's sections, each with its pin count in parentheses.
3. Clear the "All Pins" checkbox. Everything is selected when the panel opens, and this one click clears the whole list.
4. Select the section you want. "Not in a section" stands for the pins that sit on the board outside every section; leave it unchecked if you only need the section.
5. Check the number next to "Pins to download" and click "Start Download". Keep the tab open while the button shows progress.
6. On the "ZIP Ready!" screen, click "Download to Device" to save the archive.

What is inside the ZIP

The extension names the archive after the board and builds the folders for you. With two sections and "Not in a section" selected, the result looks like this:

Home_renovation_pinterest_board.zip
├── 0_info.txt
├── 1_Oak_hallway_bench_<pin ID>.jpg
├── 2_Entryway_mirror_<pin ID>.jpg
├── Lighting/
│   ├── 1_Brass_wall_sconce_<pin ID>.jpg
│   ├── 2_Paper_pendant_lamp_<pin ID>.png
│   └── 3_Dimmer_switch_detail_<pin ID>.jpg
└── Flooring/
    ├── 1_Herringbone_oak_<pin ID>.jpg
    └── 2_Terrazzo_sample_<pin ID>.gif

• Each selected section becomes a folder named after it, with spaces turned into underscores.
• Files in the root are the pins from "Not in a section". With a single section selected, the root holds only 0_info.txt and one folder.
• File names follow {number}_{pin name}_{pin ID}.{extension}, and the numbering restarts at 1 in every folder. The pin ID leads back to the source: put it into https://www.pinterest.com/pin/<pin ID>/.
• 0_info.txt records the board name, board URL, owner, export date and the number of pins queued from each section. Failed downloads or pressing "Stop" can leave fewer files in the ZIP; check the result screen and extracted files too.
• GIFs are saved as .gif files, and video pins as MP4 when Pinterest provides an MP4 file.

"Select Pins Manually" produces a different archive: a flat ZIP without folders, an info.txt that lists the chosen pins, and the name pinterest_pins_<date>.zip.

PDF, collage image and Figma come after the download

"Create PDF", "Export as Image" and "Copy for Figma" are not alternatives to the ZIP. They sit on the same "ZIP Ready!" screen and use the pins you have just downloaded, so a one-section download gives a one-section PDF.

• "Create PDF" offers two layouts, "One per page" and "Collage". Collage adds "Columns" (2 to 20), "Orientation" ("Portrait" or "Landscape") and "Show pin names". Pages are A4, and the PDF is built from the image files in the download; video files are left out.
• "Export as Image" builds one collage image with 2 to 20 columns, in PNG, JPG or WEBP, at a width of "Social (1080px)", "HD (1920px)", "Print (4000px)" or "Custom".
• "Copy for Figma" puts the downloaded pins on your clipboard for the PinBoardSaver Figma plugin.

The guide to saving Pinterest boards as PDF explains how the two layouts change the document, and how to print a Pinterest board covers paper output.

Several sections at once, and how the free limit applies

You can download Pinterest board sections one at a time or several in one run: select every section you need before "Start Download". Once the list is cleared, "All Sections" selects all of them in one click and leaves "Not in a section" unchecked.

The free plan saves 20 pins per download, and the limit covers the whole run, not each section. With one section selected, you get the first 20 pins Pinterest returns for it. With several, the extension takes the pins from "Not in a section" first, if that box is checked, then works through the sections in the order you selected them and stops at 20 in total. A first section with 20 or more pins therefore uses up the allowance. "Select Pins Manually" lets you choose which 20, and Premium removes the cap.

Manual selection is the one case where opening the section page matters, because it works on the pins shown on the page in front of you. Open the section on Pinterest, click the extension icon, then "Select Pins Manually", click the pins you want and press "Download" in the bar at the bottom of the page.

Why the ZIP can hold fewer pins than the counter shows

The numbers in parentheses are Pinterest's own counters. The archive can be smaller for four reasons:

• Nothing to save. The extension saves pins that have an image or a video file. An item without media data is skipped before the download queue is built.
• A file could not be fetched, for example because Pinterest no longer serves it. Such pins are counted under "Failed" on the "ZIP Ready!" screen and are not in the archive.
• The free limit. When the run was cut at 20 pins, the result screen says "Free User Limit Applied".
• You pressed "Stop" during the download. The archive contains the pins fetched up to that moment.

When to export sections separately

Separate exports work well when each section belongs to a different teammate, client decision or phase of work. An interior designer might send lighting references to one supplier and finishes to another.

They are also helpful when a complete board produces an unwieldy PDF. Several concise documents are easier to review than one hundred-page file.

One practical detail: the archive is always named after the board, not the section. If you download sections in separate runs, unzip or rename each ZIP before you start the next one. For naming and archiving beyond that, see how to organize Pinterest downloads.

Sections for moodboards and Figma

Sections are a convenient staging area for moodboard production. You can collect broadly on the main board, sort candidates into directions, then export only the section approved for presentation. Read how to turn a Pinterest board into a moodboard for a practical editing process.

For design work, importing one section keeps a Figma file lighter and more focused. The Pinterest-to-Figma workflow covers the plugin and its layout options.

A note on rights

Downloading a section does not change who owns the images in it. Most pins belong to the photographer, designer or brand that made them, so treat the files as private reference and get permission before you publish them or build them into client deliverables. What you can do with images saved from Pinterest explains where the line sits.

FAQ

Can I download several Pinterest board sections at once?

Yes. Select every section you need before you click "Start Download". Each section becomes its own folder in the ZIP, and 0_info.txt lists the pin count for each. On the free plan, the 20-pin limit applies to the whole run.

Does the ZIP keep the section names?

Yes. Each folder is named after its section, with spaces turned into underscores, and the board name goes into the name of the archive.

Can I download a section of a secret board?

Secret-board exports have not been verified yet. Before relying on one as a backup, try a small download while signed in to the account that owns the board and check the extracted files.

Is it free to download a Pinterest board section?

Yes, within the free limit of 20 pins per download. A section with 20 pins or fewer fits into one free download. For larger sections, Premium removes the cap.

Can I download a board section on a phone?

No. PinBoardSaver is an extension for Chrome on a desktop or laptop. On a phone you can use the online downloader, which saves one pin at a time and has no section list.