Instagram for PC

Instagram was specifically designed to work on mobile devices, primarily smartphones. This, however, does not mean that it cannot also be used from a PC, given that the official Instagram application is available on the official Windows 10 store that works on all devices equipped with this version of the Microsoft operating system and then there is Instagram Web, the online version of Instagram accessible from any browser, regardless of the device and operating system used.

Therefore, with today’s guide, therefore, I want to explain how to use Instagram for PC using the official solutions provided by the developers of the application (which, as you surely know, now belongs to Facebook), but also through the use of some third-party solutions that can be considered.

What else to say? Whether you want to browse your friends’ photos, discover new interesting profiles to follow or post new photos on your Instagram profile, all you have to do is take five minutes of free time and take a look at the tips I’m about to give you. I assure you that, regardless of the type of computer and operating system you use, you will find the solution that suits your needs. That said, all I have to do is wish you a good read.

Index

• Preliminary information
• Instagram for Windows 10 PC
  • Instagram for PC: download
  • Instagram for PC: view and interact with content
  • Instagram for PC: Upload photos
• Instagram for PC Online
• Instagram for PC: Mac
• Other solutions to use Instagram on PC

Preliminary information

Before explaining in detail how to take advantage of all the solutions at your disposal relating to Instagram for PC, I would like to provide you with some preliminary information in this regard.

First of all, you must know that Instagram is designed to be used on smartphones, therefore there are limitations relating to its use from a computer: I am referring mainly to the impossibility of uploading photos to Instagram from PC via the Instagram application for Windows 10 or via official website of the well-known photographic social network.

However, there are alternative solutions that can be considered in order to succeed in this specific intent, such as the use of the Facebook Creator Studio tool or the use of extensions that are used to modify the user agent of the browser. To find out more, read on.

Instagram for Windows 10 PC

If you have a PC or tablet equipped with Windows 10, you can, first of all, take advantage of the Instagram application for Windows 10, through which you can interact with all the multimedia content on the social network.

However, as already mentioned, the Instagram application for Windows 10 does not allow you to upload photos and/or videos to Instagram in the Feed and not even to publish multimedia content in the stories of the social network.

Having clarified this, follow the instructions I will give you in the next chapters to find out how to use this official Instagram application.

Instagram for PC: download

To be able to download the Instagram application for Windows 10, first start the Microsoft Store, in order to locate the Instagram application via the search field (located in the upper right corner) .

Once this is done, proceed with the installation of the same, first pressing on its icon and then on the Install button. Finally, at the end of the download and automatic installation, press the Start button to start it.

Instagram for PC: view and interact with content

After downloading and launching the Instagram application for Windows 10, log in with your account data and start using it to view and interact with user content.

In this regard, you must know that the operation of the Instagram application for Windows 10 is quite immediate, as well as very similar to that of the social network application for smartphones.

The main screen is, in fact, the house icon, through which you can view all the content posted by users in posts as well as in stories. You can also interact with them, for example by putting “like” (the heart icon ) or by commenting (the cartoon icon ).

To send private messages to users, instead, refer to the section with the airplane icon, through which you can view active conversations and send new messages ( Send message ).

The compass icon, then, is the “Explore” section, through which you can view, in a single screen, all the popular content published by users.

Instead, if you want to access your profile screen, in order, for example, to make some changes to it, click on your profile picture located in the upper right corner and then click on the items Profile> Edit profile, to access all the options for its modification ( name and biography, for example).

That said, in case of doubts or problems, or for more information about it, I suggest you consult my tutorial dedicated in depth to the functioning of Instagram.

Instagram for PC: Upload photos

Since the Instagram application for Windows 10 does not allow you to upload photos and/or videos in posts, to do this from a computer, the solution I propose to use is the official one given by the Facebook Creator Studio, accessible for corporate Instagram accounts. connected to a Facebook page.

After connecting to the tool in question, then click on the Create post button, in order to publish a content in the Instagram Feed or on IGTV, choosing a content from the memory of your computer ( Add content> From uploaded files ) or from your Facebook page connected ( Add content> From Facebook page ) in order to publish it, by pressing the Publish button.

In case of doubts or problems, or for more information regarding the operation of this tool, I suggest you read my tutorial dedicated more specifically to the topic.

Instagram for PC Online

Now let’s talk about the Web version of Instagram, which is accessible from any browser to browse the Internet, such as Chrome, Firefox or Safari.

By logging into Instagram from the Web, in fact, in addition to viewing the photos and videos you have uploaded to your profile, you can view those of your friends and comment on them. You can also view stories, reply to private messages, search for content posted by other users, become their followers and edit your profile. The functioning of Instagram from the Web is, in short, completely identical to the Instagram application for Windows 10.

You can also “like” and comment on your friends’ photos, respectively, by pressing the heart icon and typing the comment in the Add a comment text field. If, on the other hand, you want to search for the photos of all Instagram users (even those you don’t follow yet), use the search bar located at the top.

After typing a term and identifying its content, you can become a follower of the user who posted the content: to do so, first click on the thumbnail of the image and then on the Follow button at the top right of the page that comes to you. shown.

Do you want to view your photos and/or change your profile information, such as, for example, your name and email address? Nothing easier. Click on your profile thumbnail and then click on Profile> Edit Profile.

And to upload photos? Officially, as mentioned, you cannot upload photos to Instagram from PC via the official website of the social network, as this feature is not supported.

However, if you wish, you can circumvent this limitation through the use of an extension that modifies the user agent (ie the identifier with which the visited site recognizes the browser). In this way, in fact, you will disguise your browser and make it look like that of a smartphone or tablet. If you want to take advantage of this solution, so that you can upload photos to Instagram even from your PC, you have to resort to installing some extensions for the main web browsers.

Before proceeding, however, I remind you that installing this type of extension can involve privacy risks, as these tools, in order to work, require access to data relating to the websites you visit. Consequently, use them only for the time strictly necessary.

That said, if you use Google Chrome or a browser-based on its own engine (eg Edge or Opera ), you can install the extension to change user agent called User Agent Switcher, by visiting the relevant page of the Chrome Web Store and first clicking on the button Add and then Add Extension.

After installing the addon in question, click on its icon located at the top right and select the user agent of any portable device in the menu that is shown at the top (eg Android> Android KitKat ).

When you’re done using the extension, remember to reset Chrome’s default user agent by clicking on its icon and selecting the Chrome> Default option in the menu that is shown to you.

Using the Firefox browser, on the other hand, you can install the User-Agent Switcher extension by first pressing the Add to Firefox button and then Install.

Once this is done, to use it, click on its icon that is shown to you at the top right (the globe ) and select any of the icons in the Select a mobile device section in the box that is shown to you. Finally, reload the page, to see the changes made.

After using the extension, remember to restore the default Firefox user agent by clicking on the User-Agent Switcher icon and pressing the checkmark at the bottom left of the box that is shown to you.

Do you use macOS and the Safari browser? In this case, you will be happy to know that Apple’s browser has a fully integrated user-agent switching tool. So go to the Safari> Preferences menu at the top, select the Advanced tab in the window that is shown to you and put the checkmark next to the item Show Development menu in the menu bar .

Then, visit the official Instagram site, go to the Development> Safari User Agent menu to select one of the iOS-related user agents.

At this point, regardless of the browser and extension, you are using, after changing the user agent, in order to post a photo on Instagram from the Web, log in to the photo social network and click on the (+) button located bottom center, so as to select the image to load from your computer memory.

Once this is done, click on the Next button, type a description and the hashtags to associate with the photo. Finally, press the Share button located at the top right, to publish the image on Instagram.

Instagram for PC: Mac

Unlike Windows 10, there is no Instagram application dedicated to Apple computers on the macOS store. Therefore, to use Instagram on Mac you simply have to use Instagram from the Web, by connecting to its official website of the social network, as explained in the previous chapter.

Other solutions to use Instagram on PC

As for the alternative solutions to use Instagram from PC, I suggest you first consider using BlueStacks. If you have never heard of it, in fact, know that it is one of the most famous emulation software of the Android operating system which, available on Windows and macOS, allows you to run any application for the operating system of the green robot on your computer.

In this case, then, using it you can view and, above all, upload photos to Instagram from PC, using the social network application for Android, downloadable from the Play Store or by manual installation with APK file.

If, on the other hand, you are looking for a program that allows you to download photos from Instagram, turn to 4K Stogram. It is, in fact, a software that can be downloaded for free for Windows and macOS, through which it is possible to download the photos published by the users of the photographic social network.

However, its free version has limitations in the number of photos that can be downloaded and therefore, for unlimited use, it is necessary to purchase the paid version, whose price starts at € 12.14. For more information about it, read my guide in which I talk about it in more detail.