4 Methods to Easily Post Instagram Stories From Your PC

More and more people and brands are using Instagram Stories every day. In fact, there are now over 500M active daily users for Instagram Stories.

But, just as with normal Instagram posts initially, Stories were designed to be shared only from your mobile device … and only at the moment you wanted to share. Essentially, that means no scheduling. (I know, what a bummer, right?)

However, the good news is that there’s 4 ways for people and brands can schedule Instagram Stories from their desktop… a clever little workaround that’s quite easy to use and that will accomplish exactly what you’re looking for.

Whether you manage a personal Instagram account or a brand account, these desktop workarounds will help you post Stories more efficiently.

Why Use Instagram Stories?

So if you aren’t already using Instagram Stories, turns out, there are some pretty compelling business reasons to post on Instagram stories…

• Instagram has 2 billion monthly active users. That’s 2 billion – with a’B’. 
• Instagram is the preferred platform for social media users between the age of 16-34.
• 70% of shoppers look to Instagram for their next purchase

While Instagram feed posts appear permanently on your profile, Stories are temporary but highly engaging content that appears at the top of your followers’ feeds, making them a great way to catch immediate attention.

Convinced yet?

Okay, good.

Now, let’s talk about how you can schedule all those Instagram Stories from your desktop.

Publish And Schedule Instagram Story Content

Because the Instagram platform is designed to be used via a mobile device, there’s no option within Instagram to post a Story directly from the desktop app.

Below are four proven work-arounds that let you create or schedule Stories on a laptop. If you’re looking to post Instagram from a PC without constantly switching to your phone, the following methods will help you schedule and publish Stories seamlessly.

(BTW, Agorapulse can actually do a lot for you, particularly for Instagram. You can schedule Instagram posts and stories directly, as well as track key metrics, and even respond to your Instagram DM’s and comments.)

Try Agorapulse for FREE and take control of your Instagram marketing!

1) Use a social-media scheduler

Let’s go through a quick example to show you how it works with Agorapulse.

1. Create a graphic
   Use a design tool like Canva on your computer to create a 1080px by 1920px graphic. (Or you can also do this within the Agorapulse publishing window in the next step).
2. Open Agorapulse
   Log in to Agorapulse and go to the publishing window to create a new Instagram post. Upload photos, and then select the type of Instagram post you want to make So, in this case, we are going to choose Story.
   
3. Choose the time/date
   Decide when you want the Story to go live. You can choose to post it now or set a specific date and time in the future.
4. Auto publish or mobile notification?
   You also need to decide if you want the Story to be published automatically, or if you’d prefer, you can receive a notification on your phone at the chosen date and time. (And you can even choose which team member’s phone you want the push notification to be sent to!)The default setting is for your Stories to publish automatically, but if you want to use other native Instagram features, you may want to publish a via mobile notification. For example, if you wanted to add link stickers, you may want to choose to publish via mobile notification as this allows you to directly add your link stickers to your Story in the Agorapulse publishing screen.
5. Publish to Instagram
   If you have the Story set to publish automatically, then guess what – you are already done! If you chose to receive the mobile notification instead, just tap the notification, and Agorapulse will send your image to the Instagram app. Choose to add it to your Story. You can then edit it further in Instagram if you want before publishing. Don’t forget: If you have more than one Instagram profile, make sure that you’re logged into the correct one before tapping on “Copy to Instagram.”

With tools like Agorapulse, you can not only schedule your Instagram Stories but also schedule feed posts from the same dashboard, streamlining your social media workflow.

2) Inspect-Element (Browser “Mobile View”) Method

One of the easiest ways to post a Story from a computer is to trick Instagram’s website into thinking your desktop browser is a phone. Every major browser has a hidden “device toolbar” inside its developer tools that changes the page layout to a mobile size.

Once that view is active, Instagram shows the same Story button you see inside the iOS or Android app.

Because the page is still the web version, only core features load: you can add a single photo or post videos up to fifteen seconds long, type simple text, and press publish. Interactive extras like music, polls, GIFs and link stickers stay locked, and you cannot save drafts or schedule ahead. Still, for one-off content that is already sitting on your hard drive, this approach saves time and costs nothing.

How to do it:

1. Open Instagram.com and sign in.

2. Press Ctrl + Shift + I on Windows or ⌥ ⌘ I on a Mac to open Developer Tools.

3. Click the small phone-tablet icon in the top-left of the panel.

4. Refresh the page.

5. Click the “+” beside your avatar, choose Story, select your file, and post.

After posting, double-check playback in the mobile app to make sure the clip did not lose quality. If the “+” icon fails to appear, clear your browser cache, toggle the device toolbar again, and reload.

3) Publishing Through Meta Business Suite

Meta Business Suite gives social media managers a free, browser-based dashboard that covers both Facebook and Instagram. Once your Instagram is converted to a Business or Creator profile and linked to a Facebook Page, Business Suite unlocks a Planner calendar where Stories can be created, previewed, and even scheduled days in advance.

The composer supports photo and video uploads, simple cropping, font overlays, mentions, and location stickers.

At the scheduled time the Story publishes automatically, so no phone confirmation is needed. What you do not get yet are music tracks, interactive polls, or swipe-up link stickers, those still require the mobile app. Even so, many teams choose Business Suite because everything, from drafts to performance data, lives in one place and can be shared with colleagues for approval.

How to do it:

1. Visit business.facebook.com and pick your Page.

2. In the left menu, open Planner and click Create Story.

3. Drag in your photo or video, crop or add basic text.

4. Select Publish now or set a date and time, then save.

After the Story is live, Business Suite tracks reach, taps forward, and exits. You can export these numbers as a CSV, making end-of-week reporting painless. If the Create Story button is missing, first confirm that your Instagram profile type is set to Business or Creator and that account permissions for the Page have not been revoked.

4) Running Instagram Inside an Emulator

Desktop power users who need every sticker, font, filter, and music cue often turn to an Android emulator such as BlueStacks or the built-in Android Subsystem in Windows 11.

An emulator creates a virtual Android phone on your PC, so you install the genuine Instagram mobile app from Google Play and run it with a mouse or touchpad. Because it is the real app, nothing is stripped away: you can layer music, drop interactive polls, add link stickers, and chain multiple Story panels together.

The trade-off is heavier resource use. The desktop version of emulators can eat several gigabytes of RAM and require hardware virtualization enabled in BIOS.

Some company security policies block them, so always confirm with IT before installing. If you have a modern processor and enough memory, though, an emulator delivers the same creative freedom you enjoy on your phone while keeping files, fonts, and brand assets within easy reach on your desktop.

How to do it:

1. Download and install BlueStacks 5, or enable Windows Subsystem for Android in Windows 11 settings, then sign in to Google Play.

2. Search for Instagram, click Install, and open the app.

3. Tap Your Story, choose a photo or video from your computer’s file picker, edit with any native tool: music, AR filters, polls and press Share.

For smoother playback inside the emulator, set the graphic mode to “compatibility” in BlueStacks settings and allocate at least four CPU cores and four gigabytes of RAM. If uploads stall at “Processing,” lower the video bitrate below 25 Mb/s or switch the export format to MP4 (H.264). Finally, remember that Instagram sessions inside an emulator count toward your account’s device limit, so log out when you are done to avoid verification prompts on your phone.

Benefits of Scheduling Instagram Stories From a Desktop

Using this method has several benefits:

• Get Ahead: You don’t need to be on your phone all the time to post. You can prepare everything in advance.
• Higher Quality: Creating content on your computer allows you to use advanced editing tools, and therefore a higher quality post.
• Consistency: Scheduling helps you keep a regular posting schedule, which can keep your audience engaged.
• Better Timing: Planning your Stories means you can also choose the best time to share your Story for the most reach and engagement.

Tracking engagement on Stories alongside Instagram carousel posts helps you understand which formats resonate best with your audience.

Although Instagram doesn’t allow direct scheduling for Stories from the Instagram website, using Agorapulse makes it possible. This simple workaround helps you manage your social media more efficiently and ensures that your Stories are high-quality and well-timed.

Try Agorapulse for free and see how easy it is to manage your Instagram Stories and other social media posts. Schedule, track, and measure all your social media efforts with ease.

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A variation of this article was originally published on The Social Media Hat.