How to Use Instagram on the Web From Your Computer | Use Instagram on PC

The desktop website for Instagram is beginning to mimic the mobile version more closely. You can’t officially upload photos to your feed or add pictures from your device to an Instagram story. For all of these, there is a workaround, but more on that later.

How to Browse Instagram on Your Desktop

On your screen, if you log in via your favorite browser to your Instagram account, you will find the same familiar feed, albeit a wider one. There is a two-column style for the Instagram desktop website, with a toolbar at the end.

In the main column on the left, you can scroll through the feed. You can also press, watch videos, like blogs, or add comments via carousel posts.

You can also search the website for anything you can browse on a smartphone app. To view all your updates, press the Explore button to see what is trending on Instagram or the Heart icon.

On the right, you can find the Stories section. Click the profile to see the story of that person.

Instagram automatically plays the next story, or you can select the story on the right side to skip to the next one. You can also watch Instagram Live videos by clicking the Live tag to watch a story next to a story.

Instagram Live is also easier on a desktop because, as they do on the mobile app, the comments appear on the video’s side instead of on the bottom half of it. If you want to watch Instagram Live videos on a bigger screen, you can mirror your screen on your TV as well.

How to Send Messages via Instagram Direct

Instagram recently unveiled Instagram Direct on the web as well. Like WhatsApp Web, you can now get the full messaging experience right in your browser, including updates. You can also make new groups, send stickers, and post images from your device in addition to sending messages. Sending disappearing notes, stickers, or GIFs is the one thing you can’t do.

Click the Direct Message button after opening the Instagram website in the browser.

You’ll see an app with two-pane messaging. You can click on a conversation, start sending messages, or create a new thread or community and select the New Message button.

Type the name of the account or person you want to send a message to in the pop-up. Select multiple profiles if you’re going to create a group, and then select ‘Next’ to start the conversation.

To submit a chat, you can also press the Direct Message icon on any post, just as you would on a mobile app.

Post Photos and Stories on Instagram from Your Computer

Although you can search your friends’ feeds and messages using the Instagram website on your lap or laptop, you also can’t use it to post stories to your profile or Instagram. We expect Instagram to soon add this functionality to the desktop website, as it will benefit many developers and managers of social media.

You can use a workaround before then, though. You have to make the app think you’re using a mobile browser instead of a machine since this functionality is available on Instagram’s mobile website.

This is pretty quick to do. The trick is to shift your browser’s User Agent to that of an iPhone or Android phone. This can be achieved with one click on all major browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari. Just make sure that you pick the alternative that mimics the Android device or iPhone browser.

The Instagram tab (only) can turn to a smartphone layout once you’ve updated the User-Agent. Refresh the tab if it doesn’t force the change. There will also be the opportunity to post images and stories.

We suggest Vivaldi if you get stuck trying to switch the User Agent or want a more permanent solution. It is a powerful, customizable browser from Opera’s developers.

It has a feature called Web Panels that allows you to dock a website’s mobile versions to the left. At any moment, you can then open or close a screen.

Use it, click the plus sign (+) at the bottom of the sidebar after you download and open Vivaldi, and then type in the Instagram URL. From there, click the plus sign (+) next to the URL bar.

The Instagram panel will be immediately added, and the Web Panel will open up its mobile page. You’ll see the familiar Instagram mobile app interface after you log in to your account.

To post images to the feed, press the plus sign (+) in the bottom’s toolbar.

This opens the file picker for your machine. Choose the pictures or videos that you would like to post. You will then follow the same editing and posting method in the mobile app as you usually would. You will be able to type captions, add locations, and tag individuals.

The method of sharing a story on Instagram is close to the smartphone experience as well. In the top-left corner, press the Camera button on the Instagram homepage.

It opens in a toned-down version of the Instagram Stories editor after you pick a photo. You can type text and annotations from here (you can’t, however, use Instagram Effects). Click on ‘Add to Your Story’ when you’re finished.

 

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