How to Organize Downloaded Pinterest Images and Videos

Downloading a board takes minutes. Finding one useful reference inside an anonymous folder six months later can take longer than collecting it again.

If the files came from the PinBoardSaver Pinterest board downloader, most of the sorting is already done: the ZIP mirrors the sections of your board, every file name carries the ID of its pin, and a text file records which board the export came from and when. The quickest way to organize Pinterest downloads is to learn that structure first, then add the three things it cannot know: which project the files belong to, which of them made your shortlist, and which you are actually allowed to publish.

What is inside a PinBoardSaver ZIP

To get the archive described below:

1. Open your board in Chrome and click the PinBoardSaver icon.
2. Leave "All Pins" checked, or check only the sections you need. Pins that sit outside every section are listed as "Not in a section".
3. Click "Start Download".
4. On the "ZIP Ready!" screen, click "Download to Device".

On the free plan each download is capped at 20 pins; "Select Pins Manually" lets you choose which 20, and Premium removes the cap. If the extension is not installed yet, the install link is on the Chrome extension page.

For a board called "Dream home" with two sections, the archive looks like this (the pin names and IDs are invented, the pattern is real):

Dream_home_pinterest_board.zip
├── 0_info.txt
├── 1_Oak_console_table_1029384756102938.jpg
├── 2_pin_5647382910564738.jpg
├── Living_Room/
│   ├── 1_Linen_sofa_with_oak_legs_2938475610293847.jpg
│   ├── 2_Reading_corner_lighting_8374651029384756.mp4
│   └── 3_Gallery_wall_layout_4756102938475610.png
└── Kitchen/
    ├── 1_Warm_stone_countertop_6574839201657483.jpg
    └── 2_Open_shelving_3847561029384756.gif

• The archive is named after the board: <board name>_pinterest_board.zip. Spaces in board and section names become underscores.
• The root holds 0_info.txt and the pins that are not in any section. The leading zero sorts the info file ahead of the numbered pins.
• Every board section becomes a folder with the section's name, and numbering restarts at 1 inside each folder. A board without sections gives a flat archive.
• GIF pins stay GIFs, and video pins are saved as MP4 when Pinterest provides an MP4 file.

What 0_info.txt records

An abridged example for the archive above:

Pinterest Board Download
========================

Board Name: Dream home
Board URL: https://pinterest.com/yourname/dream-home/
Owner: yourname

Downloaded: 2026-09-10T08:41:12.000Z

Statistics:
-----------
Total pins downloaded: 7
Sectionless pins: 2
Sections: 2

Section breakdown:
  - Living Room: 3 pins
  - Kitchen: 2 pins

Board URL and Owner identify the board the archive came from. Downloaded is a UTC timestamp, which tells two snapshots of the same board apart.

The counts in 0_info.txt describe the pins queued for download, not the files successfully saved. The extension writes this file before fetching the media, so failed downloads or pressing "Stop" can leave fewer files in the ZIP than the counts suggest. Check "Pins" and "Failed" on the "ZIP Ready!" screen, then inspect the extracted files before treating the archive as a complete backup. Pinterest's board counter can differ from these counts as well.

How to read a file name

Every file follows the pattern {n}_{pin name}_{pinId}.{ext}. Take 3_Gallery_wall_layout_4756102938475610.png:

• 3 is the position of the pin in the list Pinterest returned for that folder. A missing number means that pin could not be fetched; the "Failed" counter on the result screen shows how many.
• Gallery_wall_layout is the pin's title, or its description when there is no title. Only Latin letters, digits, hyphens and underscores are kept, spaces become underscores, and the name is cut at 100 characters. A pin with nothing usable is simply called pin.
• 4756102938475610 is the Pinterest pin ID. Put it into https://www.pinterest.com/pin/<id>/ and you are back on the source pin, with its description, the account that saved it and, when the pin has one, the link to the website it came from.

That ID is why a separate spreadsheet of source links is unnecessary, and why the raw export is worth leaving exactly as it is.

A ZIP made with "Select Pins Manually" is simpler: one flat list of files with the same name pattern, an archive called pinterest_pins_<date>.zip, and an info.txt that lists every selected pin with its title and ID. It does not record the board, so keep that in the folder name if it matters.

Organize around projects, not file formats

Avoid one giant Images folder and another giant Videos folder. Start from the reason the material was collected: Cafe rebrand, Kids room, Autumn campaign. Inside the project, three folders are enough: 01-raw, 02-shortlist and 03-approved.

Extract the ZIP into 01-raw and do not edit anything there. The section folders, the info file and the pin IDs are your record of what the board looked like on that day. The archive name has no date in it, so two exports of the same board get the same name; if you keep snapshots, put the date in the folder name (YYYY-MM-DD-dream-home).

Rename only the shortlist

Renaming 500 raw files creates work without adding value. Review the export visually, copy the 20–40 strongest references into 02-shortlist and rename only those. Describe why the reference matters and keep the pin ID at the end: warm-stone-countertop_6574839201657483.jpg. You get a name that desktop search can find and a file that still leads back to its pin.

Pick one vocabulary and stick to it: warm, not a mixture of warm, cosy and cozy for the same idea.

Separate reference from licensed assets

03-approved is for the small set of references that defines the agreed direction, not for production assets. A file should only reach a folder of publishable material once its license, permission or ownership is clear, and the account that saved a pin is often not the owner of the image. Open the pin through its ID, follow the link to the source site and start the rights check there. The same rule covers video pins and GIFs: saving a file does not give you the right to publish it. The guide to using images saved from Pinterest goes through the common cases.

Build moodboards from the shortlist

The "ZIP Ready!" screen also has "Create PDF" (layouts "One per page" and "Collage"), "Export as Image" and "Copy for Figma". All three work on the pins of that download, so the way to get a curated export is to curate first: use "Select Pins Manually", pick the shortlist on the board, download it, then export from the same screen.

The details are in the guides to the Pinterest-to-PDF export, moving a Pinterest board into Figma and building a moodboard from Pinterest. Keep the full archive outside the design file either way; a board of 40 chosen images is easier to discuss than one of 400.

Back up what would be expensive to recreate

The ZIP is already a good backup unit: one file with the images, the structure and the info file inside. Keep it for collections tied to active work, hard-to-find research or a decision you may need to explain later, on a second drive or a cloud folder that is separate from the working computer. Delete abandoned directions from time to time. A library stays valuable only while it stays searchable.

A five-minute routine after every export

1. Move the ZIP into the project's 01-raw folder and extract it there.
2. Open 0_info.txt to identify the board and export date. Check the extracted files against "Pins" and "Failed" on the result screen; the info file's counts are the queued pins, not a record of successful downloads.
3. Copy the strongest references into 02-shortlist and rename them, keeping the pin ID.
4. For anything that may influence final work, open the pin by its ID and check the source.
5. Build the moodboard, or close the archive until it is needed.

If you are starting from Pinterest now, read how to download a Pinterest board first, and downloading Pinterest board sections if you only need part of a board.

FAQ

Where do Pinterest downloads go?

"Download to Device" hands the ZIP to Chrome, so it lands wherever Chrome saves files: the Downloads folder of your computer, unless you changed the location under Settings → Downloads.

How do I find the original source of a Pinterest image I downloaded?

Take the pin ID from the end of the file name and open https://www.pinterest.com/pin/<id>/. The pin page shows the description and, when the pin has one, the link to the site the image came from.

How do I organize Pinterest boards into folders?

Pinterest has no folders; the closest thing is board sections. Sort your board into sections before you export it and each section arrives as a folder, so the sorting you did on Pinterest carries over to your disk.

Can you download a whole Pinterest board?

Yes. With your board open in Chrome, leave "All Pins" checked and click "Start Download". The free plan saves 20 pins per download; Premium removes the cap.

Why are my downloaded Pinterest images not showing in the gallery?

A photo app cannot see files that are still inside a ZIP. Extract the archive first, then import the extracted folder or point the app at it.