1. Download and install Instagram for Android or iOS

If you’re using Android smartphone, head to Google Play Store and type the word “Instagram” in the search field located on the upper part of the app. However, if you’re using iPhone or iPad, you can head to the Apple App Store and search for the “Instagram.” After that, download and install the Instagram App.

  1. Set up your Instagram account
  • Tap on the multi-colored camera-like Instagram located on your phone’s home screen or in the app drawer for Android. If you can identify the app, you can try checking in the folders on your device’s screen or search for it by typing “Instagram” in the search field located on the home screen.
  • When the app opens, tap on the blue “Sign up” button located on the lower side towards the left side of the screen. By doing that, a new screen will open with three fields to be filled: Email address, username, phone (optional), and a password.

If you already have an account, you can tap on the “Sign In” link located on the lower part of the screen, enter your login information, and gain access to your account.

  • Fill in the required fields and ensure to upload your Profile photo. Besides that, you can go ahead and add a bit of the personal info in the “About” section.
  • Follow other Instagram accounts when prompted. You’ll have the option of finding a friend from Facebook, contacts, Twitter, or just through manual search. It’s important to understand that Instagram will prompt you to provide your Facebook, Twitter, or email password before using either of the mentioned platforms to search for friends to follow. Also, you can follow the suggested Instagram accounts provided by hitting on the blue “Follow” button.
  • When through, hit on the “Done” to get to your Instagram account.
  1. How to use various tabs on Instagram.

Home tab: It’s the first tab located on the bottom left of your Instagram app. This is the default tab where you’ll be beginning more often than not.  From the home tab, you can view all the information and news from your friends. From the home tab, you can do the following:

  • Tap on the blue plus “+” icon located on the upper left of the app to record and post an Instagram story for your friends to see. If it’s your first time using Instagram, you need to allow Instagram to access your camera and microphone for the function to work correctly.
  • Tap on the delta symbol found on the upper left corner of the screen to get to your inbox. From there, you can view your inbox.

Search icon: This is an icon resembling a magnifying lens located next to the home tab, on the right side. You can tap on this icon and type in any account that you’d wish to find. Also, you can type in the keywords you’d want to search for. Below the search icon, you can find celebrity stories.

The Plus icon +: It’s the third icon from either side. You can click on it when you want to post a photo. Using this functionality, you can take a photo and post or select your favorite picture from the camera roll. When you click on the plus icon, three options will display at the bottom of the screen.

  • Library: This option is specifically for uploading a photo already on your mobile phone.
  • Photo: This option allows you to take a photo straight away using the in-app build camera. If it’s your first time to use the function, you may need to allow Instagram to have permission to access your camera before you can take your first Instagram photo.
  • Video: This option allows you to shoot cool videos and post on Instagram.
  • Hear icon: This is the second icon from the right side of the screen. All the notifications within Instagram will appear here. Such information includes likes, friend requests, and comments. If there is any notification, you should see a red sport on it.

Profile icon: It’s a humanoid icon located on the lower right corner. By tapping on the icon, you can do some things,

  • Add your story by tapping on the + icon located on the top-right corner of the screen.
  • View and edit your profile settings by tapping on the upper right corner of the screen. Below are the steps. You can go ahead to the top-right. Doing so will open the menu.

After that, tap on this ☰ icon located on the upper left corner of the screen. And then, you’ll see a gear-like icon or three stacked dots on the lower part of the screen. You can use this option to add friends as well as adding other accounts.

  • You can edit your profile by tapping on the “Edit profile” profile button located on the right side of your profile icon. From this option, you can make changes to your username, name, add or edit a bio, and other private information such as phone number or email.

When done with your activities, you can always tap on the house-shaped home icon to return to the default starting point.

  1. Post photos and videos to Instagram mobile
  • Locate the Instagram app on the home screen for iPhone & iPad. Alternatively, you can find it in the app drawer on Android phones and tablets.
  • Tap on the Instagram app icon to get the app launched. If already logged in, you should get to your account home. If not logged in already, you should get to the “log in” page where you can use your username, phone, or email and a password to get to your account home.
  • On your account home page, navigate to the bottom center of the screen and tap on this + By doing so, a camera interface will display ready to take a photo or video. If you’re not finding the options, tap on the “home” button located on the lower-left corner of the screen.
  • Choose whether to upload a photo from the gallery or take a new one using the in-app camera. Also, you can tap on the video option to record and post a video.
  • Select or take a photo from the gallery or record a video to post on Instagram.
  • Ensure you’ve to tap on the “Next” option located on the top left corner of the screen. If you’d wish to select multiple photos instead of one, you can tap on the overlapping squares labeled “SELECT MULTIPLE” located on the right side. And then tap on up to nine multiple photos.
  • Choose to Filter or Edit the selected photo (s).

After selecting your favorite photos that you’d wish to upload to the Instagram, you should see the “Filter” option at the bottom left, and the “Edit” option at the bottom right. You can tap to use either or both options depending on the quality of the photo that you want. If you know how to use Instagram filters, then you’re a step better.

  • Tap on the blue “Next” button located at the top-right of the screen. Doing that will take you to the next step in which you can add captions to your photos.
  • With that done, tap in the text field on the upper part of the screen and add the caption you’d wish to use.
  • Add tags and location to your post.
  • When impressed with the content, navigate to the upper right corner of the screen and hit on the “Share” button. By doing that, your video or photo (s) will get posted on your page. The post will also be available on the Instagram homepage feed of your followers. Sounds easy? Well, you now know how to post on Instagram.
  1. Post comments on Instagram posts

Looking for how to comment on Instagram posts from your friends? Well, with the steps below, the process is pretty painless.

  • Locate the post that you’d wish to comment on by browsing through the posts on your feeds. Alternatively, if you know the name of the person who posted the video, you can search for the name instead of browsing down the Instagram feeds. To do that, you can tap on the search bar located on the upper part of the screen and type in the user’s name and hit enter or “Search.” From the search result, tap on the user’s name to get to his/her profile.
  • When you get to the post you’d wish to comment on, tap on the bubble-like speech icon located on the bottom left of the screen. This icon is below the post.
  • By tapping on the comment icon, you’ll be taken to the comment page where you should write your comment.
  • If you’d wish to comment on the existing comment, you can tap on the comment to open a text field in which you’ll write your comment.
  • When through composing your comment, you can tap on the “Post” button to get your comment posted.
  • Post On Instagram Using A PC Or Mac

Looking for how to use Instagram on a laptop or desktop computer? We’ve got you covered. With the following step by step guide, posting on Instagram from a computer is made more comfortable than before. Let’s go straight into the steps.

  • Ensure you have the latest version of the Google Chrome browser installed on your computer before proceeding with the steps.
  • Launch your Google Chrome browser if not yet.
  • Change your browser view into the mobile version through the following steps.
  • After that, press Ctrl + ⇧Shift + N if using Windows, or ⌘ Command + ⇧Shift + N if using Mac. Doing so opens an incognito window.
  • With that done, navigate to the upper right corner of the new window and click on the three white-dotted icons resembling this⋮. Doing so prompts a drop-down menu to appear.
  • From the drop-down menu, click on the “More tools” option. This prompts a pop-up menu to appear on the screen.
  • From the pop-up, click on the “Developers tools.” Doing so opens a new window full of elements. You’d probably not like this page if you’re not fond of using the command line on a computer. But the good news is that you only need a click to proceed.
  • After that, click on the two rectangle-like mobile icons located on the top-left corner of the window. This icon is located on the left side of the “Elements” heading. Doing so turns the image to blue, indicating that the mobile version has been activated. At times, the page might restart to effect the changes.
  • Next, click on the URL bar and then type in the “com” followed by hitting on the “Enter” button on your keyboard. By doing so, you’ll get to the Instagram login page.
  • Log in to your Instagram account with your credentials as you always do to get to your Instagram account home.
  • After that, click on the plus icon resembling this ＋ located at the bottom center of the page. Doing that will prompt the File Explorer to open if you’re doing this on Windows Pc, or Finder if using Mac.
  • After that, select the image that you’d wish to post to Instagram. If the folder containing the images doesn’t open automatically, you should first click on the image-containing folder located on the left pane.
  • After that, click on the “Open” option located at the bottom of the window. Doing so will upload the photo to Instagram.
  • Add filters to the photo. To do that, scroll down to the bottom left of the page and hit on the “Filters” tab. After that, scroll downwards again and select the filter that you want to use.

Note: This step is optional, and you can skip it by clicking on the “Next” button located at the top-right side of the new post page.

  • Click on the “Write a caption…” field and type in your caption.
  • When done, Hit on the blue “Share” button found on the upper right corner of the page. By doing so, your content will be posted on your Instagram page.
  • Comment On Instagram Post On PC And Mac Computer
  • Scroll through the Instagram feeds to find the post on which you want to leave a comment. If you know the name of the person whom you’re looking for his or her post, then things become even more straightforward. To do that, type the keywords in the search bar, then click on the name from the search result. By doing that, you’ll get to his/her Instagram profile.
  • After that, click on the bubble-like speech icon below the post. Doing that will open a comment box in which you can add your comment. However, if the person has comments blocked, you may not be able to comment on the post.
  • Type in your comment and hit on the “Enter” button to post your comment. The feedback will get posted on your Instagram homepage and also appear on the homepage of your followers.
  • How To Like An Instagram Post
  • Find the post under which you’d want to add a “like.”
  • After that, navigate to the bottom of the post and hit on the “heart” icon. Doing so will add a “like” to your post. Alternatively, you can double-tap on the image, video to like it.
  • Send a message

To send a message to other Instagram users, the following steps.

  • Tap on the arrow-like icon located on the top-right corner of the screen. Doing so opens a text field.
  • Enter the name of your recipient in the search bar and then select it from the result.
  • Type in your message in the text field provided.
  • Hit the blue “Send” button next to the name of your recipient. By doing that, your message will be sent to your selected recipient instantly.
  1. Privacy and security
  • Delete your photos on Instagram.
  • Find the photo from your post.
  • Select a three-dotted icon for “More” located on the lower left of the screen. This prompts a drop-down list to open.
  • Select the “Delete” option from the menu. By doing that, your photo will get deleted instantly.
  • Archive photos on Instagram

This option helps to hide specific images you uploaded to Instagram without having to delete them.

  • Delete your Instagram account
  • Block User
  • Report a post as “”
  • Make profile public.

How does instagram work for beginners?

But going back to basics, Instagram works off a simple premise: You follow accounts that interest you. In turn, people follow you. People can “like” and comment on your posts, and you can do the same to their posts.

How do you navigate Instagram?

Instagram: Navigating Instagram
  1. Camera. Tap this icon (or swipe right anywhere on the screen) to open your camera.
  2. Direct Messages. Tap here (or swipe left on your screen) to see your messages.
  3. Stories. Tap these to view the stories of people you follow, or create your own.

What is Instagram and its purpose?

Instagram is a free, online photo-sharing application and social network platform that was acquired by Facebook in 2012. Instagram allows users to edit and upload photos and short videos through a mobile app. Users also have the option of making their profile private so that only their followers can view their posts.

What are the disadvantages of Instagram?

Drawbacks of Instagram When Promoting Your Online Business
  • Not everybody has an iOS or Android phones.
  • It is a highly technological tool.
  • Instagram has limited features.
  • Loss of copyright ownership.

What is the difference between Instagram and Facebook?

Instagram is all about photos and videos; it’s a photo-sharing application. Facebook, on the other hand, is multifaceted which lets you do anything; you can create and join groups, shop, share photos and videos, create an event, and more with Facebook.

Why is Instagram so popular 2020?

This is mainly due to Instagram’s ability to anticipate users’ needs, prioritize their trust, keep abreast of competition, and leverage current trends. We think Instagram 2020 will still be marketers’ favorite platforms to reach out to their audiences and create amazing shopping experiences.

Do you have to use your real name on Instagram?

#2: When It Come To Branding Yourself on Instagram, Keep Your Username Simple. The first thing Darma recommends doing is looking at is your username. If you’re a personal brand, it’s a good idea to use your real name. Otherwise, she recommends using the name of your business.

Why Is Instagram So Popular?

People turn to Instagram because of the huge amount of exposure that users get by using hashtags, following others, and staying active. There have been several success stories of people finding fame and even making money or getting hired just by running an Instagram account!

What is so special in Instagram?

Instagram is like a simplified version of Facebook, with an emphasis on mobile use and visual sharing. Like other social networks, you interact with other users by following them, letting others follow you, commenting, liking, tagging, and private messaging. You can also save the photos you see on Instagram.

Why is Instagram bad?

They found that Instagram and other social networks are associated with high levels of anxiety, depression, bullying and a “fear of missing out (FOMO).” They can also foster a negative body image and poor sleep habits.

Why is Instagram so addictive?

It’s not just about capturing the moment, Instagram is also a social network,” Eyal says. “So now the internal triggers become boredom, seeking connection, FOMO [or fear of missing out].” And you’ll never want to miss out again: “FOMO is huge reason to use Instagram,” Eyal says.

Why is TikTok so addictive?

Another aspect of TikTok that makes it addictive is the creative content that is found on the app. Because the nature of TikTok is short, eye-grabbing content, this user attention is fragile–too many ads or bad recommended videos, and the user’s “entertainment high” can quickly end.

Does Instagram have a like limit?

Stay in with your limits, keep it natural, no more than 1000 likes a day, no more than 180 to 200 comments a day, not just emoji, start targeting, the better you target, the better the audience you build.

How do I stop Instagram from checking me?

How to break Instagram addiction
  1. Delay and schedule.
  2. Your self-worth doesn’t depend on numbers on your Instagram.
  3. Turn off your Instagram notifications:
  4. Find happiness outside of your social media world :
  5. Stop reaching for your phone all the time:
  6. Limit your social media apps.
  7. Turn off that for the Instagram app, only.