Instagram, the ever-popular app that allows you to share photos and videos with your friends, family unit and followers isn't limited to just your telephone or tablet. While there's no official app available, we tin show you how to employ Instagram on a Mac.

The biggest complaint people have with using Instagram on the Mac is that while y'all can browse images, and even like and annotate on them, you tin't upload images. So in this article, we will prove you a couple of workarounds that permit you to upload images, videos and carousel posts to Instagram from your Mac.

The Instagram web experience

While at that place's no official Instagram for Mac app available to download, users of the social network practise accept the option of heading to Instagram.com on a Mac. The basic web app gives you admission to your master Instagram feed, allowing you to browse through photos and videos that friends have posted besides as liking and commenting.

Instagram rolled out Stories support before long after launching the web app, assuasive you to view the temporary posts on the big screen, and in January 2020, the visitor started testing support for Direct Letters via the web app. It's just bachelor for a small percent of users right now, but it should hopefully be rolled out worldwide presently.

There'due south no denying that the Instagram website has been vastly improved since it offset launched, merely there'southwithal 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 you can't apply the standard Instagram website to upload photos on a Mac, there is a way to 'trick' Instagram into thinking you're accessing the site via an iPhone, which does allow for photo uploads. We'll show you how to make Instagram think yous are on an iPhone so you can upload images.

Step i: Make Instagram call back you're on an iPhone

First things commencement, earlier we tin can fool Instagram into letting us upload an epitome we need to make it recollect we are in fact using an iPhone.

  1. Open Safari and caput to Safari > Preferences > Advanced.
  2. Make certain Bear witness Develop Bill of fare in Card Bar is toggled on.
  3. Head to the Instagram website and log in to your account.
  4. Then select Develop (from the carte bar) > User Agent > Safari - iOS 12.i.3 - iPhone (or whatever version is newest).

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

Step 2: 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 image you'd like to post, select it and click Choose.
  3. You tin can expand the cropped square image by borer the arrow icon on the bottom-left of the epitome preview, and tapping the right icon allows you to rotate the photograph.
  4. You can likewise click the Filter tab to browse for, and apply, a filter to your image.
  5. Once you lot've edited your photo and are ready to postal service, click Next.
  6. Add together a caption, location and/or tags and you're set up to post to your feed.
  7. Hit Share to upload the image.

Footstep 3: Upload photos to Instagram Stories from your Mac

  1. Select the Your Story icon in the tiptop left.
  2. Browse for the paradigm you'd like to post and double click or select Choose.
  3. Yous'll and then see a preview of the image (and potentially a request for Instagram to know your location).
  4. You tin add stamps or draw on your image using the tools.
  5. If you'd like to add text to your prototype click on the Aa in the height correct. Whatsoever you type will appear in the center of the image once you select Done.
  6. Once y'all 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 top left. You tin choose to Proceed or Discard the image.
  8. When you are happy with the image click on Add to your story.

The drawbacks of using this technique to postal service to Instagram Stories? It works best with Portrait images (landscape gets cropped). Nor can y'all upload videos this fashion.

Those are big drawbacks, but there are workarounds available.

How to upload Instagram photos via Vivaldi

One of the lesser-known Mac spider web browsers is Vivaldi and information technology just so happens that you can post images to Instagram using Vivaldi without whatever of the complications described above.

You tin add Mobile every bit a spider web console in Vivaldi and ever use that setting when you visit Instagram.

Here'due south how:

  1. Download the Vivaldi browser. We had to install version ii.8.
  2. Go to Instagram.com and log in.
  3. Click on the + icon in the bar on the left.
  4. The Instagram URL volition appear in the box under Add together Web Panel.
  5. At present click on the Web Panel and a page will open up up on the left that shows the mobile version of the Instagram website.
  6. According to Vivaldi, y'all should be able to click on the camera icon and add images to your Instagram Story or click the plus icon to add photos to your Instagram feed.

Best Instagram apps for Mac

There is a handful of third-political 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 browse your Instagram feed natively, it does offer features that ability-users may be interested in. Uplet is a unproblematic app available for download that allows users to drag and drop photos & videos and majority upload them to Instagram in a few seconds - merely in that location's more.

You tin can edit each photo and video like on Instagram, and add individual captions to each photo. It besides has the crop pick featured in the app, assuasive users the power to upload either the original or foursquare-size photo.

While this isn't for casual users, it allows those die-hard Instagram fans to upload multiple posts all at in one case. Our merely complaint? Information technology is notwithstanding to support the new Instagram multi-photo mail selection, although we imagine support will exist coming in the near futurity.

While information technology was once a standalone app, Uplet is now exclusively available every bit part of the Setapp Mac app suite at $9.99 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 across is Bluestacks, a free Android emulator that can be downloaded hither.

How to use Instagram on Mac - Bluestacks

In one case downloaded, you'll need to gear up an emulated Android device. For this, you'll need a Google account and a Bluestacks account, and you'll need to link the two inside Bluestacks. One time that'south done, you can employ the Android emulator to navigate to the Play Shop (which is Android's equivalent of the App Store) and download Instagram.

You lot can and so sign in to your Instagram account, and use the app as y'all would if you lot were using a mobile device.

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

Note: We featured Flume as a great choice for Mac users at one fourth dimension, simply the app has since stopped functioning and the developer has gone night, so we'd recommend avoiding Flume until the developer fixes the problems.