Want to switch Instagram accounts on your computer?
Perhaps you’ve linked several accounts on your app, and you’re wondering where they are when you login on desktop.
No worries! It’s easy to manage multiple IG accounts on PC or Mac.
- You don’t have to set up separate Chrome profiles – though we’ll cover that too.
- You don’t need separate logins on different browsers.
- You don’t need a third-party tool.
You can manage up to 5 IG accounts in one browser!
And I’ll also show you how to manage more than 5 without logging in and out.
Read on.
How to Add Multiple Instagram Accounts on Computer
First things first – whether you’ve already linked multiple Instagram accounts on mobile or not, you’ve got to add them on desktop.
Note: When adding accounts, you may be logged out of the first account. Be sure you have access to your login info and the device where you can receive a security code, or have backup codes handy.
1 | Go to Instagram.com on a browser and log into an account.
2 | Click on Switch at top right. You have to be on the Home (newsfeed) tab to see it.
I added the black overlay here for emphasis.
3 | If you’ve already added accounts via computer browser, simply choose the one you want. If you don’t see the account you want to switch to, choose Log Into Existing Account.
This older screenshot shows that the accounts I linked in the Instagram app on my iPhone didn’t show here – yet.
4 | Enter the login info for the account you want to add.
Check the box next to Save login info if you wish. Then click the blue Log In button.
If you don’t know your password, click Forgot Password? Remember that if you create a new password, you’ll need it to get back into this account on any other devices, so make a note of it.
5 | You’ll be instantly logged into the account you added, unless you’ve added two-factor authorization. So either find your backup codes, or have your device handy to receive the code. And be aware you’ll need this to switch back to the original account too – if it has two-factor enabled.
Once you’ve entered a security code (if needed), you’ll see the second account’s Instagram profile picture in the upper right, meaning you’re now logged in as this one.
How to Switch Instagram Accounts on Computer
Once you’ve added at least one additional account via your browser, when you’re on the home feed you’ll see the account you’re logged into on the right side, with a blue link to Switch.
Click it to access the Switch Accounts popup.
Then click the account you want to switch to, or choose to add another account via the link at the bottom of the popup.
As I tried to switch back to my first account, I had to receive and enter a security code. Just a heads up that this may happen to you after adding another account!
How Can I Manage More Than 5 Instagram Accounts?
There’s limit of 5 linked Instagram accounts, whether on a mobile device or computer.
But the computer has a big advantage!
If you manage more than 5 accounts, you can create a group of linked accounts on each of several different browsers. Then just switch browsers to access another group.
Or, you can set up as many profiles as you need in Chrome, and add up to 5 linked accounts to each. Again, switching is as easy as a couple clicks.
Details below.
Adding Multiple Instagram Accounts in Chrome
If you’re a Google Chrome user, there’s an easy way to have multiple groups of multiple accounts: People. And it’s free!
Or, you can use this to manage several IG accounts that you don’t want to link, in one browser (as long as the browser is Chrome 😉 ).
1 | Before you start, you might want to think about how many separate accounts, or groups of up to 5 accounts, you’ll need, and how to name them, so you know which group is which.
Let’s say you have an Insta account for each of your pets: 4 dogs, 3 horses, and 5 chickens. So you might decide to create 3 groups named: My Dogs. My Horses. My Chickens.
Or group your businesses or clients in a similar fashion 😉
2 | In the top corner of your Chrome browser, there’s a picture or icon of you. This represents your account.
Tap on this and some options appear for your account settings.
3 | At the bottom is Other People. If anyone else has a login saved on your Chrome, their picture will appear here.
At the bottom, there are two options: Guest and Add.
4 | Click the Add button and a screen opens.
Give the “person” a name. If you have more than one business that you don’t want linked, you can create a separate “person” named for each business. Or add a “person” named Clients to group several accounts you manage for others. Or however you decided to group the accounts you manage.
You can give the “person” an icon to help you spot which one is which.
5 | A new window will open as if you had never used Chrome before.
Now log into the Instagram account you want to be the basis for this separate “person.”
Chrome will ask you if you want to save the password – click Yes but don’t sync with other profiles.
Now to get into this other IG account without logging in and out, click your picture on Chrome and select the “person” you just made.
6 | In the one IG account you added to this “person,” you can add up to 4 more accounts so you can easily switch back and forth between multiple groups. Perfect for managing client accounts!
How to Unlink an Instagram Account
Accounts linked on the computer must be removed on the computer. If they were also linked on your mobile device, then you’ll need to remove them in the mobile app as well.
You can find all the details, with screenshots, here:
How to Remove an Instagram Account.
Conclusion
Now you know how to manage multiple Instagram accounts on desktop or laptop, PC or Mac!
Free, easy, fast solutions, even if you have more than 5 to deal with.
Ready to get even more efficient?
Check into IG-approved schedulers that automatically post to Instagram from computer.
Or learn how to grow your Instagram followers 11 ways!
Rachel says
I created my 4 instagram accounts on my phone – all use the same email and password to login (as you can have up to 5 accounts under one login). Any ideas on how I can access them on a desktop? Given they have the same email and PW your advice doesn’t work. I’ve logged out and logged back in multiple times to no avail. Thank you.
Louise Myers says
I just tried adding 2 more accounts on desktop and it worked fine. But they have different emails and PWs. So if you’re sure you’ve followed the steps, you could either set them up with different PWs, as another reader found this worked. Or go the Chrome profiles route.
Miriam says
Awesome explanation about how to add/switch IG accounts on the desktop – as they did not show up like they do on the mobile. Thank you so much!
Louise Myers says
My pleasure, so glad it helped!
CR says
Thanks! Can you help as to how to view my facebook business account on instagram, so that I can switch between my personal and business instagram account? I can do it on my iphone, but not on my imac. The “switch account” isn’t applicable because I can’t log into facebook on instagram.
Louise Myers says
You should still be able to switch IG accounts. If you need to log into Facebook, you can go to facebook . com. Or maybe you can find what you need in the “More” menu at the bottom of the left sidebar on instagram . com. I’m not sure what’s the option you’re using on your phone as I don’t see it there.
Zane Vali says
I am trying to open an account for my freelancing on a PC. I have followed your instructions but it did not work for me. I entered a different email address and password. This is the message I received, “Sorry, your password was incorrect. Please double-check your password” .I have done some research on the net and it seems there is no way more than one Instagram account can be created on a PC.
Louise Myers says
I’m not sure what you mean. This article doesn’t mention opening a second account on a computer – only how to add them for switching. Did you read it somewhere else? I do have other articles about IG accounts.
Peter says
I was not able to switch from one account to another from destop
Until I changed the password in the second account On my phone
this logged me out of the destop
I than Logged in using Username not email with the new pasword and now both account are there
it was annoying
Louise Myers says
Thanks for sharing what you figured out!
Alexander Sloan says
Dear Ms. Louise Myers, I am a professional photographer, so I prefer to use Instagram on my Mac Pro (Mac OS Big Sur, 11.6.8), so I can upload my edited photos directly from my computer to Instagram. When I created my first Instagram account a few years ago, I used it to display my travel photos, so I decided that I should create an Instagram account specifically for displaying my glamour photos.
I may have missed something, but I found it impossible to create a second Instagram account, in my browser (Chrome), on my Mac. So I created an Instagram account on my Android phone, just for my glamour photos, and following Instagram’s suggested process, I used the same password from my first Instagram account, for one time login and easy switching between accounts. When I login to my Instagram account on my phone, I can very easily switch between accounts by tapping on the account name at the top left of the phone screen, and then tapping on the name of the second account, in the pop up menu on the bottom half of the phone screen.
So after successfully creating the second Instagram account on my phone, I followed your excellent instructions on this page to add multiple accounts on my computer. I clicked my profile picture at the top right of the screen, and then in the drop down menu I clicked on “Switch Accounts.” Just as your instructions indicate, this opened the “Switch Accounts” window. I clicked on “Log into an Existing Account.” This opened the window to enter the account username and password. I entered my second Instagram account username and password, and clicked on the Log in button.
However, this resulted in an error message displaying at the bottom of the Log in window. In red text, the error message reads, “The user name you entered doesn’t belong to an account. Please check your username and try again.”
I have double and triple checked my spelling and password. They are entered correctly. I thought perhaps there might be some sort of lag between creating the second account on the phone, and being able to add it on the computer, but several hours, and then a couple of days later, I still get the same error message.
What am I doing wrong? Please help!
Louise Myers says
Hi Alexander, it seemed a bit fussy for me on Chrome for Mac as well. But I was able to add another account that I had created years ago. Hopefully it’s just a caching issue on your new account. Or maybe there’s a prescribed waiting period. Please let us know if you resolve it!
Ryan Rodgers says
This doesn’t work on MacOS because you cannot change the log in details when “logging in to existing account”
Louise Myers says
I’m on MacOS. I still see all my accounts linked for switching. Keep trying as it may be a glitch. Also could have problems if you used the deprecated “one login” feature.
Jennifer New says
Thank you Louise! I was almost ready to give up! Thank you so much! I can now easily switch from our instagram account to our english bulldog account! Yay 🙂
Louise Myers says
Glad to hear it helped!
Demetria says
Thanks so much for these tips and tricks on Instagram, Louise! I love it. I am just starting to build out my IG business profile and your content is really helping me navigate.
Louise Myers says
That’s great to hear! Best of luck with your new Instagram account.