Instagram, the e'er-pop app that allows you to share photos and videos with your friends, family unit and followers isn't limited to simply your phone or tablet. While at that place's no official app available, we can show you how to use Instagram on a Mac.

The biggest complaint people have with using Instagram on the Mac is that while yous can browse images, and fifty-fifty similar and comment on them, you lot tin't upload images. And then in this article, we will testify you a couple of workarounds that allow you to upload images, videos and carousel posts to Instagram from your Mac.

The Instagram spider web experience

While there's no official Instagram for Mac app available to download, users of the social network do have the option of heading to Instagram.com on a Mac. The bones web app gives you access to your chief Instagram feed, allowing yous to scan through photos and videos that friends have posted also as liking and commenting.

Instagram rolled out Stories back up shortly after launching the web app, allowing you lot to view the temporary posts on the big screen, and in January 2020, the visitor started testing back up for Straight Messages via the web app. It'due south but available for a small percentage of users right at present, only it should hopefully be rolled out worldwide soon.

At that place's no denying that the Instagram website has been vastly improved since it commencement launched, but there'snotwithstanding no native way to post images or videos either to your feed or to your Instagram Story...

How to upload photos to Instagram from a Mac

While yous can't use the standard Instagram website to upload photos on a Mac, there is a way to 'trick' Instagram into thinking you lot're accessing the site via an iPhone, which does allow for photograph uploads. We'll show you how to make Instagram think you are on an iPhone so you can upload images.

Stride one: Make Instagram think y'all're on an iPhone

Commencement things first, before nosotros tin can fool Instagram into letting united states of america upload an image we need to arrive think nosotros are in fact using an iPhone.

  1. Open Safari and head to Safari > Preferences > Advanced.
  2. Brand sure Show Develop Menu in Menu Bar is toggled on.
  3. Head to the Instagram website and log in to your business relationship.
  4. And then select Develop (from the carte bar) > User Amanuensis > Safari - iOS 12.ane.3 - iPhone (or whatever version is newest).

Now the Instagram website should automatically reload (manually refresh if not) and display the mobile version of the site, complete with upload functionality.

Step two: Upload photos to Instagram from your Mac

Now, to use your Mac to upload your photos:

  1. Tap the + icon on the toolbar at the bottom of your Instagram feed.
  2. Browse for the epitome you lot'd like to post, select it and click Choose.
  3. You tin can expand the cropped foursquare image past tapping the arrow icon on the bottom-left of the image preview, and tapping the right icon allows you to rotate the photo.
  4. You can also click the Filter tab to browse for, and use, a filter to your image.
  5. One time you've edited your photograph and are gear up to post, click Next.
  6. Add together a explanation, location and/or tags and y'all're ready to post to your feed.
  7. Hit Share to upload the prototype.

Footstep 3: Upload photos to Instagram Stories from your Mac

  1. Select the Your Story icon in the top left.
  2. Scan for the epitome you'd similar to post and double click or select Cull.
  3. Y'all'll then see a preview of the image (and potentially a request for Instagram to know your location).
  4. You lot tin add stamps or describe on your prototype using the tools.
  5. If you'd like to add text to your image click on the Aa in the top right. Whatever you type volition announced in the center of the image once you select Done.
  6. One time you have input your text and click on Add to your story.
  7. If you don't want to post the prototype click on the X in the superlative left. You can choose to Keep or Discard the epitome.
  8. When yous are happy with the image click on Add to your story.

The drawbacks of using this technique to post to Instagram Stories? It works best with Portrait images (landscape gets cropped). Nor can yous upload videos this way.

Those are large drawbacks, only in that location are workarounds available.

How to upload Instagram photos via Vivaldi

One of the lesser-known Mac web browsers is Vivaldi and it just and then happens that you tin postal service images to Instagram using Vivaldi without any of the complications described to a higher place.

Y'all can add Mobile equally a web panel in Vivaldi and always use that setting when you visit Instagram.

Hither's how:

  1. Download the Vivaldi browser. We had to install version 2.8.
  2. Go to Instagram.com and log in.
  3. Click on the + icon in the bar on the left.
  4. The Instagram URL will appear in the box under Add Web Panel.
  5. Now click on the Web Panel and a page will open up upward on the left that shows the mobile version of the Instagram website.
  6. Co-ordinate to Vivaldi, you should be able to click on the camera icon and add images to your Instagram Story or click the plus icon to add together photos to your Instagram feed.

Best Instagram apps for Mac

There is a handful of third-party Instagram apps available that offer a range of abilities, from existence able to browse your feed to checking your notifications to posting images from your Mac onto the social network.

Uplet

While Uplet doesn't offer the ability to scan your Instagram feed natively, information technology does offer features that power-users may be interested in. Uplet is a uncomplicated app available for download that allows users to elevate and driblet photos & videos and bulk upload them to Instagram in a few seconds - but there'south more.

You can edit each photograph and video like on Instagram, and add together individual captions to each photo. It too has the crop choice featured in the app, allowing users the ability to upload either the original or square-size photo.

While this isn't for coincidental users, it allows those dice-difficult Instagram fans to upload multiple posts all at once. Our only complaint? It is yet to support the new Instagram multi-photo post option, although we imagine support volition exist coming in the near future.

While it was once a standalone app, Uplet is now exclusively available as part of the Setapp Mac app suite at $nine.99 a month.

Bluestacks Android Emulator

Another way to upload photos to Instagram from a Mac is an emulator. One of the about consequent and trusted emulators we've come up across is Bluestacks, a free Android emulator that can be downloaded hither.

How to use Instagram on Mac - Bluestacks

One time downloaded, you'll need to fix an emulated Android device. For this, you'll need a Google account and a Bluestacks account, and you'll need to link the two within Bluestacks. Once that's washed, you lot can utilise the Android emulator to navigate to the Play Store (which is Android's equivalent of the App Shop) and download Instagram.

Yous tin and then sign in to your Instagram account, and use the app every bit you would if you were using a mobile device.

On a related note, here's how to upload a full-size photo on iPhone to Instagram. And if you'd rather use the social network on a tablet, have a read of How to become Instagram on iPad.

Note: Nosotros featured Flume as a groovy option for Mac users at i fourth dimension, but the app has since stopped functioning and the programmer has gone dark, so we'd recommend avoiding Flume until the developer fixes the problems.