Today we are going to talk about the best known and most used photography social network of the moment as it is Instagram. This time we are going to see how we can make use of it on our personal computer, without using the mobile.
Although we lose the main function and the possibility of uploading photographs from our computer, let's try to show you alternative paths to make this possible and to be able to enjoy this application to the fullest on our computer.
Instagram was born with the purpose of uploading photos by users and sharing unique moments, directly uploaded from each one's smartphone. Due to this, its web development is quite poor and there are companies and users who have requested an urgent update to be able to enjoy it to the same extent as other social networks such as Facebook.
Therefore, let's see if it is viable and the user experience is pleasant enough as to be able to use it on our computer and enjoy Instagram on the monitor or big screen of your PC.
How to install Instagram for PC?
The application as such cannot be installed on our personal computer, but we will be able to enjoy it through the web browser that we use. We just have to write in the navigation bar the address of Instagram and access our account.
To do this, as we see in the image, we can do it directly by linking our Facebook account, and granting the necessary permissions and those that you deem appropriate, or you can log in by simply entering your email account and password.
If you do not have an account, you can create one in a few quick and easy steps, through which you will be indicated the data you must enter.
To enter your account you just have to fill in the section in which you are asked for the email, phone number or username and your passwordYou must put the one you have open and click on "Start session".
Once inside and started the session, remember that it remains open, even if you close the browser. Therefore remember to log out if someone else uses your computer or it is simply publicly accessible. You can do it by clicking on the icon of the doll that is located in the upper left part, there you will access your user, and in the icon of the gear wheel you can close the session.
Automatically, and once the session is started, you will access the latest publications of the users you follow. In the upper right you will have three icons to interact which are:
- The compass: If you click on it, user recommendations will appear to follow, according to your tastes and trends. And a catalog of photos to interact with them.
- The heart: By clicking on it, you will be able to see who the last ones started to follow you and the likes they have given you in your publications.
- Little man: There you can access your username and modify the data you want, along with the photos of your publications.
In the center we have the search button to be able to find from specific user accounts to photos of a specific theme. And if we click on the icon or on the word Instagram, the publications will appear in a vertical format, in which we can only "Like", add a comment or share it on other social networks.
The problem arises when we want to upload a photo from the computer, since we will not see any option available for it. Also, don't look for the IGTV button that was found at the top of the Instagram home screen, with an orange TV-shaped icon, because it was even removed from the smartphone app.
How to upload photos on Instagram from your computer?
In order to do this, we are going to explain clearly and concisely the steps to follow depending on the browser you use regularly.
Upload photos to Instagram from Chrome
If our default browser is Google Chrome, the steps to follow are as follows:
Obviously we must have our session open with our Instagram user and profile.
We have to do click with the right button of our mouse anywhere on the page y select "Inspect Element" or press the F12 key on our keyboard.
Then the developer console will open at the bottom of the screen, at this point we have to look for a mobile icon (It is at the beginning of the gray bar that will appear under the web) and click on it.
With this action the appearance of the web will change and it will go to a mobile type view, in which a horizontal menu will be displayed and there we have to select the mobile model you want. This is indifferent, look for the one that gives you the best result when viewing the screen and your Instagram.
Once this is done, you should be able to see the Instagram menu bar, just as if you were using your smartphone.
Now we only have click on the central button with the plus sign and then select the photo you want to upload to Instagram so that they give us all the "likes" or "likes" possible. Once this is done you can put the caption, title and publish the image.
If you want to edit it, you will have to do it before uploading it, using third-party programs available on the Internet.
Upload photos to Instagram from PC using Firefox
In the case of using Firefox as your default browser, the steps to follow are:
- Go to the Instagram website and log in with your account.
- Right-click anywhere on the page, and select "inspect element" (or press F12). Same as in the case of the Chrome browser.
- The developer console will open, at the top left click on the mobile icon.
- Once the view of the browser changes to mobile, click on "no device selected" and choose the one you want, this varies according to the system
- When selecting the mobile, the Instagram menu bar should appear where you can select the center button and publish the image of your choice.
Upload images to Instagram from Mac
In the event that you use Safari as your browser, the process changes a bit compared to the previous ones, however it is quite simple to carry out.
- The first thing we will do is open the Safari browser and go to File> edition> display, if you see the "development" tab, you do not need to do what appears in the next point, just click there and go to the third point.
- If «Development» does not appear active, go to Safari Menu> preferences and then click on Advanced and the option "Show the Development menu in the menu bar ”should be activated.
- Once that "development" tab is active, click on "User agent".
- From this menu you can choose any of the options either iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.
- The version of the browser will change to mobile mode, and you will be able to see the Instagram menu with the option to publish, you just have to click on the icon in the center and that's it.
Other options available on Instagram from your computer
In social networks and on Instagram we can also follow users we like, celebrities, friends or family, but there are always times when we decide to stop following someone, either because the subject of their photos already interests us or simply because we don't like their work.
Therefore we can unfollow (stop following an account) from the PC, This is much easier and faster than doing it from your smartphone or mobile.
All you have to do is go to your profile, where you can see your followers and the profiles of those you follow.
You just have to go to "Following" and a window will appear with the accounts and users of those you follow, with a button to the right of their photos with the word "Following". If you click on it, you will stop following that user and that's it.
The blue "Follow" button will now appear in case you want to retrieve it in the future and follow it again, as shown in the photo.
Other option available we have is to be able to modify profile information At any time, add a website or change the biography that we show on Instagram. This is something that is also possible from the computer version of the social network.
You just have to enter the profile in the account and click on the edit profile button, where it will then be possible to modify the information that we consider necessary to change. When changes have been made, just hit the "Submit" button.
Delete Instagram account
One of the most characteristic and hidden options of Instagram is to delete your account, in fact in the smartphone application you will not find that option, you can only do it from your computer.
In the section Profile> Edit Profile you can find the option to deactivate your account temporarily in the lower right, in case at any time you want to activate it again without losing any photos or stories.
But if you want to delete the account you must access this link: www.instagram.com/accounts/remove/request/permanent/
Where you will be asked to enter a reason why you delete the account in question. Once you have selected this reason, you just have to click on the delete account button at the bottom of that page. This means that the account ceases to exist and all its contents are lost.
If you press that button all your photos, comments, likes, friends and all your data they will be permanently erased and you will no longer be able to retrieve them.
In addition, Instagram warns that if in the future you want to create another account you will not be able to use the same username of the deleted account, this is done for security, so that no one can impersonate you and pretend to be whoever had deleted an account.