Your photo stream is popular. So much that you've decided to start a second Instagram account. But how will you manage them? On a smartphone you have the option of installing multiple client apps, but what can you do to manage multiple Instagram accounts on your desktop computer?

The Instagram Website: Not For Desktops

Instagram on your phone: it's easy to use, isn't it? Within the app you can browse feeds, snap photos, add filters and upload, simultaneously tagging friends and adding the image to other social networks.

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Inexplicably, the same isn't true on your desktop computer. You can't even register for the service, nor upload a photo through the Instagram website, which seems optimised purely for displaying galleries of images.

We're pleased to report that there is a way that you can upload images from your desktop or laptop computer to Instagram, however. It requires a piece of software called BlueStacks, which is essentially an Android emulator. We've featured it several times previously on MakeUseOf, and BlueStacks is quite simply one of the most useful pieces of software for maintaining the Android experience on Windows XP and later, and on Mac OS X.

You can get your copy of BlueStacks, a free app, from www.BlueStacks.com. Note that it is incompatible with some antivirus/Internet security software, such as Bitdefender Internet Security 2015.

With BlueStacks, you can run Android apps on your desktop or laptop computer. As Instagram has an Android app, you can probably see where we're going with this…

Improve Access To Instagram On Your Computer With BlueStacks

We've previously covered the BlueStacks setup here on MakeUseOf, so would urge you to check the relevant article to find out more about that. Here's an overview:

With BlueStacks configured, it's time to install Instagram, which you can do by visiting Google Play, entering your preferred Google account details. Once installed, sign into Instagram and you can start sharing your photos!

How might you get your photos from your phone to your computer? At one time the best way is via a cloud storage service such as Dropbox or Google Drive, which would need to be setup on your phone and on the BlueStacks installation on your computer. However it is now possible to simply copy data from your hard drive to BlueStacks, using All apps > BlueStacks Settings >Import Windows Files, whereupon you should browse for the files you want to access within BlueStacks.

From this point, uploading a photo or video clip to Instagram (you can upload clips you edited on your desktop computer) is as simple as tapping the camera icon, browsing for photos and selecting the image you want to upload with the usual description, tags and choice of social networks. There's a good chance that your PC or tablet webcam will not be compatible with BlueStacks, however, so make sure anything you want to snap using that is done so from within your host operating system.

Any app you install via BlueStacks will create a Windows 8 Start screen tile, which can be very useful for opening the app or game in question without opening BlueStacks first!

Instagram Installed: Time To Use It!

With Instagram installed on BlueStacks, you can use the app to create a new account, or sign in and use it exactly as you would the Android app – because that's what it is!

Using your mouse (advisable even if you're using a Windows tablet) tap the Sign up button and follow the instructions to create your account. If you're signing into an existing account, it should be clear how to do this.

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One of the best things about of BlueStacks is that it provides popup messages outside the app for alerts and notifications in Android, although this is something you need to enable at the installation stage. This means that not only can you run Instagram on your computer, you can also get notification popups thanks to BlueStacks! Whenever someone follows you or likes or comments on an image you have uploaded, you're receive a notification.

Use the Instagram settings menu to customise how these notifications are displayed.

Instagram Or Instwogram?

Although running the Instagram mobile app within BlueStacks is the solution to uploading images using your desktop, you may well have multiple accounts. Perhaps you're finding that running one account on your phone and a second on your PC is good enough, but there is a good chance that it isn't.

The best solution for handling multiple Instagram accounts on Android is to install Instwogram, which acts as a second Instagram app.

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In a remarkable coincidence, this is another app that we've previously covered on MakeUseOf. To install it onto BlueStacks, download the Instwogram APK file to your computer and double click. This will cause it to automatically install in BlueStacks, from where you can launch, sign in and start uploading images!

Own A Chromebook? No BlueStacks Needed!

In the event of you owning a Chromebook, you'll be pleased to know that BlueStacks is not required to access Instagram.

While it would be great to have an Instagram app for Chromebooks, the best option at this point is to run the Instagram app within the Chrome browser. A couple of ways to run Android apps in this way have been established, both of which can be a little fiddly.

If you can handle getting your fingers dirty with ZIP files, then try one of these methods for running Android APK files in the Chrome browser.

Multiple Instagram Accounts? Try This!

Whether you have dedicated Instagram accounts for you and your dogs, or you're in charge of social network outreach for your employer, there are many reasons why you might have multiple Instagram accounts.

Unlike Facebook and Twitter it simply isn't easy to access multiple Instagram accounts, and when you factor in how restricted the desktop interface is to the social network, you'll realise that employing Stacks, possibly with the Instwogram app, is the best option.

Do you have multiple Instagram accounts? Have you found a different workaround? Tell us about it in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: PlaceIt.net