Instagram is one of those mobile-first platforms that just don’t seem to be to proper care about the desktop. The particular application has a barebones Web view that just lately started letting people sign up for the service. Until then, people without smartphones had no way to sign up for Instagram.
Things aren’t that bad any longer and you definitely can sign up on the Web, but it’s still not possible to publish images from there. Even the official Instagram iPhone app for Windows won’t let you post images from all devices. That didn’t work for us all on the Windows 10 laptop, though if you have a Windows 10 transformable with a camera, your experience might be different.
If you want to avoid using third-party apps, then you could try an Android emulator such as Bluestacks. You may install Instagram for Android via the emulator and start publishing pictures and videos just as you would on a smartphone. But that’s very complicated way of doing something that should be easy.
Thankfully, there are third-party programs that will help you use Instagram on the desktop. This may mean that you allow a third-party application access to your Instagram bank account and some data and if that makes you uncomfortable, you probably will just have to wait until Instagram releases an recognized tool for this. In case it’s not an issue, which you need to do.
- Download and install Gramblr on your personal computer or Mac.
- Open the software and create a Gramblr account. You will need to provide your Instagram username and password during sign up.
- The application will available a new tab or window in your browser and prompt you to select an image.
- Now, either click on the home supply and choose a file to upload or drag and drop an image or video.
- Simply click and drag on the image to crop it.
- Hit the green Save button.
- You can now apply filters or other effects and when done, hit the green Continue button.
- Now write a caption and add your hashtags.
- Below the image, you can type Instagram usernames to tag people as well.
- Click Send.
- Now the picture or video will be posted to your account. For videos you can also select a cover image while uploading.
That’s how you can post to Instagram via your personal computer or Mac. The process is pretty simple and worked reliably for all of us on both programs. Gramblr even lets you schedule posts, but be aware that your computer must be on at the time of upload.
While Gramblr will serve most users, if you want, you can use a Chrome extension extension to do a great job. Of course you will need Google Chrome web browser if you don’t already have it. Follow these steps to use Instagram on the desktop via Instagram From Computer extension:
- Install Instagram From Pc extension.
- Click the computer icon at the top right, next to the three straight dots icon.
- This opens a new webpage in a fresh tab.
- Enter your Instagram username and security password here, along with a caption for the picture.
- Click Choose file and upload the style.
- Now click on the green Send button to upload the picture.
- Once the progress bar on the right hits 100 %, your picture will appear on your Instagram feed.
These two tools get the job done if you are looking to use Instagram on the desktop. If you have a Macintosh, you could use paid tools such as Uplet (Rs. 620) that provide a decent, if not fancy, interface without editing one of the filters or ability to regulate things like cover images for videos.
While the official mobile phone software still offer the best Instagram experience, if you must upload images from the computer, these are the best ways we could find. Do you know any other good options for Instagram on the desktop? Let us know from your comments.
