(Had been sitting on this one since May. Oops)

With Instagram’s latest efforts to expand into emerging markets, the mobile browser experience has been updated. Previously, accessing Instagram.com on a mobile device provided only for the most basic Instagram actions; viewing and engaging with photos. The most recent updates bring a slew of features including comprehensive profile/setting management, photo and profile discovery options and of course, the ability to upload photos stored on your mobile device.

While this feature is ultimately intended to enable those without expensive smartphones or decent data plans the ability to add photos to Instagram, it inadvertently also provides everyone the ability to upload photos from their desktops.

While I myself prefer to keep my Instagram photos #shotOniPhone, talented photographers and marketers creating beautiful art and advertising campaigns on their DSLRs and computers are being forced to email themselves photos in order to share their photos with the Instagram community.

Now, using your browser’s inbuilt Developer Tools, you can trick Instagram into thinking you are on a mobile device, ultimately unlocking the ability to share those Photoshop enhanced photos easily.

The steps below are focussed on my browser of choice, Google Chrome, but similar functionality should be expected of Firefox and Safari.

Visit Instagram.com on your desktop and login to your profile.

Right-click within the browser window and select “Inspect”. This will open up Chrome’s developer tools.

From the toolbar, select the mobile icon to the left of “Elements”. This allows you to switch your browser’s User Agent, making it seem like you are accessing Instagram.com on a mobile device.

Choose your preferred phone emulator and then simply refresh the page. You are now experiencing the mobile version of Instagram.com, complete with the all important camera icon, allowing you to upload photos from your computer.

Should you be inclined, there’s even the ability to layer on some Instagram filters.

Hit “Share” and you’ve successfully uploaded Desktop photos to Instagram.

Easy.