Yes, there is an official Instagram app out there for Windows 10, but it is of no use, except that you can view your followers’ posts and all. You still can’t upload photos from your PC through the app.

The same goes for the Instagram website. Moreover, there isn’t any app in the first place for Mac OS users. There can be numerous reasons for you wanting to upload images directly from the desktop.

First of all, it can be really tedious to first copy photos/videos taken from a Digital Camera to a smartphone with the Instagram app and then upload those from there. You have to either copy them to your device by using a cable, or you would have to sync your pictures through iTunes if you happen to have an iOS device. And, if you don’t have iTunes then you will have to use a file-sharing website, and then upload on it first and then download on the phone.

Believe it or not, it takes up too much time. It can also be that you wanted to edit your photos using a highly professional PC-based application. Therefore, one would definitely want to upload from a PC directly.

Good news is that luckily there are a couple of workarounds through which you can do this.

Bluestacks

Perhaps the best Android emulator out there is BlueStacks. BlueStacks can be download and installed on your PC. You can then install Instagram app inside BlueStacks environment and from there you can upload directly from the PC. Your computer would basically be functioning as a smartphone.

To download and install Bluestacks visit this link: http://www.bluestacks.com/

Keep in mind, that for the first initiation BlueStacks will take some time to load. After it is loaded, there will be a tutorial to help you out. You can either follow that or just dismiss it, by clicking on a cross at the top right. Do select the correct language first to avoid any problems. After this just click on the Arrow button.

Once you are on the ‘Got Google’ screen, just select ‘Continue’. You will be asked to log in to your Google account. This is necessary to install Instagram directly using the Play store. There will be the usual long terms of service, and you will agreeing with them once you press ‘OK’.

After this, there will a couple of checkboxes. You can either select them according to your wish or rather ignore them all; Doesn’t matter (if you are just planning on using it for Instagram). Now again, choose the next arrow. You will be prompted to enter your name. Don’t worry it would just be App Personalization. You can even enter a fake name if you care so much about privacy.

The next step is to simply Install Instagram now. For this, there will be a version of Google Play store inside Bluestacks. Just open Playstore and search for Instagram. Install the official app, by clicking on Accept, when you select it to download.

The Instagram app like many other apps would request permissions which include Contacts and Location. Accept that. When the Application is downloaded depending on your network speed, there will now be a new icon, labeled Instagram under the My Apps tab. Just single click on the icon, and you shall be taken to the much accustomed Instagram app.

The best thing is that the Bluestacks window would then resize automatically and you will get a sort of app experience like you do on an Android device.

You will have to sign in to Instagram, with your username and password. There will be the usual plus icon at the bottom, just click on that, and choose Gallery. Choose the Gallery drop-down menu at the top left and click on Other, then choose Pick from Windows. Search for the photo you want to upload and choose Open. The rest is pretty usual since you can do the usual cropping, editing, filters and caption and all pretty smooth.

DropBox

Yeah, it can be a bit tedious as we said earlier, but its easier than connecting your phone through a cable or using a web-based cloud storage service. For this, you will need to have a Dropbox account first. You can create one over here. Then just download and install the DropBox client software for Windows or macOS. You would also need to install the Dropbox App on your Android or iOS device. After that just log in on both of the apps.

Drag photo or photos simply from your PC or Mac to the Dropbox folder. When we said it was easiest, it indeed is. This is because the media would be automatically synced with your phone courtesy the mobile app. Though, you would need internet connectivity on both your phone and PC for this.

Now just find the newly installed Dropbox app, and click on your photo which you just synced. There will be a downward pointing arrow just click on that. The arrow will be there on the top right. After clicking, there would be an option by the name of “Export”. Select that. From there select to export to “Instagram”.

This will simply open up the Instagram app on your mobile phone. From there you can easily apply filters or edit your photo the way you want.

For those who don’t happen to have a smartphone, perhaps Bluestacks is their best bet. Though, of course, if you do happen to have a smartphone, then it is simply easier to use the Dropbox method, then going through the ordeal of installing Bluestacks, since it can take some time.

Hopefully, Instagram will roll out an update in the future, which allows us to upload directly from our PCs instead of relying on workarounds.