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Flume is a Mac-only Instagram app that allows you to upload photos, post to Instagram from a Mac, edit photos, and more. It also includes some power user functions the mobile Instagram app doesn't offer, such as hover shortcuts and ways to promote your brand. Sharing Instagram stories from you Mac is pretty much the same process it is on the app. If you’ve come this far, then you shouldn’t have any issues uploading stories to your Instagram account.
Since launching in 2010, Instagram has quickly become the most influential social media platform. Its visual nature, mainly photos and videos, are attractive and easy to consume. The addition of Stories, a feature first introduced by Snapchat, in 2016 further accelerated the collective Instagram addiction by playing on time sensitivity (Stories disappear after 24 hours).
So, overall, Instagram is taking over. Right now it’s the best place to keep up with friends, follow celebrities, express your creativity, and get inspired by what others are doing. However, if you stumble upon some visuals you like and want to bookmark or download Instagram pictures for later reference, you’ll find that it’s not easy to do, since all Instagram files are DRM-protected.
But there are some workarounds that can show you how to download instagram photos on your iPhone and Mac. On iPhone, for example, you could take screenshots and then crop them to only show the actual photo. Then, you might wonder, how to download pictures from Instagram for Mac?
How to download Instagram photos to Mac
Because Instagram is so dominant today and we post so much (more than 100 million photos every day), for a lot of us, it’s the most complete photo collection of our lives that we have. So let’s first explore how the built-it Instagram photo downloader works to be able to retrieve our own images.
To activate Instagram downloader:
Go to the Instagram website on your Mac
Click on your profile ➙ Settings
Navigate to the Privacy and Security tab
Select Request Download in the Data Download section
Type in your email to receive a link to the archive ➙ Next
Enter your password ➙ Request Download
While it might take up to two days to process your request (although unlikely), Instagram will then email you a package with all your photos, comments, profile information, and more. That’s one way of getting your photos back in full resolution. But what if you only need to get that one photo real quick or something from a profile you’re following?
How to save Instagram photos via source code
The beauty of the open web is that with little technical assistance you can read the source code of any website and get any files you want when you know where to look.
To manually work around the Instagram picture downloader:
Right-click on the photo you like and select to View Page Source or Inspect Element, depending on the browser you’re using
Navigate to the Sources tab
Find the Images folder
Scroll through all the elements and, when you find the photo you’re looking for, literally drag it to your Desktop to save it
This way, not only can you download Instagram photos, you can also save photos from nearly any website on the web.
How to bookmark images on Instagram
If all you want is save Instagram photos so you can simply reference them later, the easiest way to do that is using Instagram’s native bookmarking functionality, which lets you save any video or image, and even organize them into custom collections (on mobile only).
To save Instagram photos and videos to collections:
Open the photo or video you like
Click the bookmarking icon to save it
See all the saved items when you click on your profile ➙ Saved
When you bookmark an image on iOS or Android, you get to also tap Save to Collection and create a new folder or choose an existing one.
How to edit and upload Instagram photos in bulk
After you use the Instagram image downloader to get all your photos from the platform, you might want to rename or resize the files for your local library. Doing it one file at a time would be a complete waste of time. Is there a more automated solution available?
PhotoBulk is a workflow-based image editor that lets you modify dozens or even hundreds of images at once. Apply watermarks, get rid of any metadata, resize, rename, optimize, and even change formats — all with a single click of a button. To edit, simply drag and drop your images into PhotoBulk, add the appropriate functions, and click Start.
You can even use PhotoBulk to create a uniform Instagram profile, where all the pictures are of the same size, don’t have metadata, and feature watermarks to protect your intellectual property. But how do you upload all these pictures back to Instagram?
Uplet is a minimalist Instagram for Mac client that will solve the task of bulk uploading with ease. You can switch between a few accounts, post multiple photos/videos at the same time, and add captions — all from a single intuitive interface.
Efficient as it is, Uplet doesn’t have the traditional Instagram flow you’re used to — with comments, tags, search, and DM messages. If you want a full-featured Instagram app for Mac, get Grids. It has everything you need and is the only desktop app that allows you to post Instagram Stories.
How to save Instagram Stories offline
While we know how to use the Instagram post downloader to get the images and videos you like from your feed, what do you do when you want to save a few Instagram Stories?
It’s easy to download Instagram pictures from your own Stories: just click the three dots to call up a menu and then choose “Save photo.” Downloading someone else’s Stories is trickier. On your iPhone, you could take a screenshot and then crop it to only show the photo. On your Mac, your best bet is to use a high-quality screen-recording app.
CleanShot X is an almost invisible but powerful screenshot taker. Most of the time, the app stays out of the way in your menu bar, always easily accessible. Just click its icon (or set a specific shortcut in Preferences) and choose which way you want to record your screen, from a simple screenshot to a scrolling capture to a timed shot. You can even hide Desktop icons, annotate, and blur sensitive information in seconds.
Capto is the best choice when you need to record video Instagram Stories and edit them using the same tools. The app lets you choose a portion of the screen or a particular app window to record (using a handy menu bar utility), and crop the result right away using built-in features. After that, you can seamlessly share the video online or save it to your local library.
As you can see, there are quite a few techniques to approach the how to download pictures from Instagram problem. You can use CleanShot X for photos, Capto for videos, edit a few at a time with PhotoBulk, and upload using Uplet. These tools really offer you the best Instagram workflow on Mac.
Best of all, PhotoBulk, Uplet, Grids, CleanShot X, and Capto are available to you absolutely free for seven days via Setapp, a platform with more than 190 outstanding Mac apps for practically anything you want help with during your day. Try them all today at no cost and see how software can really power up your life!
Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.
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Download Instagram On Mac
Do you love Instagram, but hate posting photos and videos from the tiny screen on your phone? Do you keep Instagram captions short and sweet to avoid typing with your thumbs? As awesome as Instagram is, there is one huge downside to the platform. Instagram is steadfast in its dedication to remaining a mobile app, which means it lets you post only from a phone or a tablet.
Does that mean that you can’t ever post to Instagram from a Mac? Not necessarily. Here’s our complete guide to help you upload to Instagram from your Mac.
Can I post on Instagram from my Mac?
While it’s totally possible to post to Instagram from your Mac using various methods, they are not without limitations. As we go over your options, we will mention any drawbacks or limitations that you should be aware of so you can choose the best Instagram posting method available.
After years of posting to Instagram from your iPhone, you probably have tons of similar photos and multiple copies with and without edits. Try Gemini Photos: it lets you find and delete similar pics with a few taps.
Download on the App StoreHow to upload to Instagram from your Mac
Instagram makes it easy to browse through your feed on your Mac, as well as like posts and comment on them, but to actually upload photos, you have to be a bit savvier. You can upload to Instagram directly from your browser using a few extra steps, a third-party app, or an Instagram scheduler. Here’s how you can post to Instagram from your Mac using these methods.
Post to Instagram from a Mac using Safari
If you already use Apple’s native Safari as your browser, you’ll be happy to know that you can upload to Instagram from your Mac without a whole lot of extra work. The secret is to use developer tools, so that you can view Instagram exactly as if you were using an iPhone or iPad.
- First, open Safari on your Mac.
- Go to Safari > Preferences > Advanced.
- In the Advanced menu box, tick the checkbox that says Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- Open Instagram in Safari.
- From the top menu, go to Develop > User Agent > Safari > iOS 11.3 iPhone (or current version of iOS).
- Your Instagram will now show up exactly as it looks on your iPhone, and you can click the upload icon to post photos as usual.
There are some limitations to using Safari in Develop mode:
- You can only upload single photos to your Instagram profile, not videos or galleries.
- Instagram’s custom filters are available, but editing features are not.
- You can geotag your location, but you can’t tag other accounts.
- You can also post to Instagram Stories using this same method, but again you can only post photos, not videos.
Upload photos to Instagram from a Mac using Google Chrome
If you use Google Chrome as your browser of choice, you’ll find that there is a similar method for uploading photos to Instagram. Here’s how it’s done:
- Open Instagram using Google Chrome.
- From the top menu, go to View > Developer > Developer Tools.
- This will open Developer Tools. At the top of the sidebar, click on the icon that looks like a tablet and a phone next to each other.
- Now your Instagram will show up exactly as it would on your phone. You can even choose your exact phone model from the menu above the Instagram screen.
- You should also see the upload icon at the bottom of the Instagram screen, but if you don’t, simply refresh the page and it will show up.
- Click on the upload icon to upload your photo to Instagram. You will have access to Instagram filters, but not the editing tools. You’ll also be able to tag your location as well as other accounts.
- When you’re ready to publish, click Share, and your post will appear on Instagram.
The downside to uploading to Instagram using Chrome is that it currently only works with photos, not videos or galleries of images.
Upload to Instagram from a Mac using a third-party app
How To Download Instagram On A Macbook
If using developer tools within your browser doesn’t appeal to you, you’ve still got several options.
One of them is Uplet, a bulk Instagram uploader Mac. No need to transfer content to your phone first. Uplet will take photos or videos from your Mac and post them directly to your Instagram profile, one by one. You can customize the appearance of your posts and add captions — just as you do on mobile. Uplet and 180+ other Mac apps are available with Setapp membership, which is a very good deal.
Download Instagram On Macbook Air
Here’s how to use Uplet to post to Instagram from your Mac:
- Install Uplet from Setapp
- Log in using your Instagram credentials
- Click the plus button to upload your photos/videos
- Change image/video appearance by clicking on the resize button in the top left corner
- Add a caption with or without hashtags to the text box below your photo
- Click Share to publish your photos/videos to Instagram.
Another huge perk of Uplet is it allows you to manage several Instagram accounts very flexibly. Just click on the account picture to switch to your business/personal account. The app won’t ask you to sign in and out again, so it’s really a one-click deal.
Post to Instagram from a Mac using a scheduler
If you don’t want to be chained to your Instagram account, but still want to post awesome photos on a regular basis, you should definitely look into an Instagram scheduler to post from your Mac.
These allow you to schedule your Instagram posts weeks, or even months, in advance. The most expensive schedulers come with lots of bells and whistles, but Later allows you to take advantage of some pretty advanced scheduling tools for free.
With a free Later account, you can schedule up to 30 Instagram posts a month using a simple drag-and-drop platform. You can add a caption and geotag your location, but you can’t schedule videos, carousel-type posts, or Stories. Also, if you want your posts to publish to Later automatically, you will need an Instagram business account. Otherwise, you will receive a notification when it’s time to publish, but you will have to do it manually.
Here’s how to post to Instagram from your Mac using Later:
- Go to www.later.com and create a free account. If you like the platform, you can always upgrade to a paid plan.
- Log in with your Instagram credentials to connect Later with Instagram.
- Upload your photos to the Later media library by clicking Upload Media and choosing one or more photos from your files. You can also upload directly from Google Drive or Dropbox by clicking the appropriate icon.
- Your photos will show up in the Later library. From there you can drag and drop the photos to the calendar at whichever day and time you choose.
- You can view your calendar by week or by month, or you can switch to your grid by clicking Preview. When viewing your grid on the Preview screen, you can easily move things around just by dragging and dropping.
- When you drag a photo to a slot in Calendar view, a pop-up will appear where you can enter a caption, geotag a location, and change the date or time.
- Once you’re happy with everything, click Auto to post automatically, and then click Save.
Hopefully, these tips will help you up your Instagram game by allowing you to post photos directly from your Mac. And maybe someday Instagram itself will jump on the bandwagon to make life easier for all of us.