How to watch instagram live on laptop

How to watch Instagram live on PC or laptop?

Many of us have spent a lot of time on Instagram. If you have, then you probably know about Instagram live videos. Instagram Live is a feature that allows IG users to broadcast videos, allowing followers to enjoy the video in real-time.

It’s pretty easy to watch live videos using a smartphone. However, enjoying Instagram Live on PC is a different story. It’s possible but requires some extra effort!

A little heads-up, though! Logging in to your Instagram account using a PC won’t help you.

Regardless of whether you’re using a PC or Mac, there are limited options to watch Instagram Live videos. Most of the time, though, you should watch these live videos using your smartphone due to its convenience.

To watch Instagram Live on your PC, you need an extension on your Chrome browser. Currently, there’s only one extension on Chrome that allows you to watch IG Live: “Stories for Instagram.” With this extension, you can download videos and easily view others’ stories as well.

A quick note: The feature of downloading live videos is limited to Windows only. Mac users don’t have this facility.

How to Watch – Step by Step Instructions

Follow these easy steps to enjoy Instagram Live from your PC.

Download the Extension

Go to the Chrome web store from your Google Chrome browser.
Search for “Stories for Instagram“
Click on “Add to Chrome” to add it as an extension.
A confirmation pop-up will come up on your screen.
Click on “Add Extension.”

Watching Instagram Live Video

Go to Instagram.com from your Google Chrome browser on your PC.
Make sure the extension is on and working.
If anyone you’re following is sharing a live video, it will appear on the page’s top-left side.
A simple Instagram story has a colorful circle, whereas the live video also has a play button.
Click on the one with the play button.
A new browser tab will open, allowing you to watch the live video stream.

Downloading Instagram Live Video

To download the Instagram live video, the initial steps will be the same.
Once the live video is opened in a new browser, hover over it.
On the top left side of your PC screen, you’ll find the option of Download.
Click it and save it to your PC.

Missed your friend’s live video? Don’t worry; you can still view it. Click on the “eye” icon on your friend’s profile. This way, you can view their previous live videos easily.

Note: The previous videos are available in your friend’s stories section. Visit their Instagram handle to check them out!

The bottom line

Follow these easy steps to enjoy watching Instagram Live videos from your PC as well. Don’t have your smartphone to watch it? No sweat! Just download the extension and enjoy the live video.

Remember, Stories for Instagram extension works great for watching live videos. Through it, you can enjoy seamless streaming. For normal usage on the PC, simply login to your Instagram account without using the extension.

Tags: GuideInstagramSoftware

Instagram Live Videos Can Now Be Viewed On the Web

If you’ve ever wished you could watch Instagram Live on your desktop, you’re in luck!

Announced during Mark Zuckerberg’s live addresses, Facebook is in the process of rolling out several improvements to Instagram Live, including the ability to watch live videos on the web.

Ready to learn more? Here’s everything you need to know:

One of the main themes to come out of Facebook’s live address was their commitment to improving real-time video.

They announced the launch of Messenger Rooms (Facebook’s take on video conferencing), updates to Facebook Events, and a host of other improvements to WhatsApp, Facebook Dating, and, of course, Instagram Live.

Acknowledging the impact that COVID-19 has had on people’s ability to socialize, Mark Zuckerberg explained how important live video can be for connecting with others — whether it’s a workout class, cooking lesson, or a simple call between friends!

The numbers certainly don’t lie: In the past month, Instagram Live has seen a 70% increase in use.

Given this surge in live streaming, Instagram has announced several new features for Instagram Live, including the ability to watch and comment on live videos from your desktop and a new button that allows you to upload your Instagram Lives directly to IGTV when you’re done.

ICYMI: You can now donate to or create your own fundraisers on Instagram Live!

And the coolest part? When you donate, you can use the new “I Donated” sticker in Instagram Stories. When you use the sticker, your story will be added to a combined Instagram Stories post for your followers to see and hopefully join in on the fun!

This shared Instagram Stories post will appear at the front of the line in your Instagram Stories feed on your Home page — that’s prime real estate to give a shoutout to a good cause.

Instagram also announced that 100% of the money raised through the donate function goes directly to the nonprofit — unlike a lot of fundraiser platforms, Instagram is not taking a cut from the donations.

Now you can create and donate to fundraisers on Instagram Live. ❤️ All money raised goes to the nonprofit.
Donate and you'll see a new “I Donated” sticker in stories. Use it and your photo/video will be added to a shared story where friends can see how you’re giving back 💫 pic.twitter.com/RIKRP93XSY
— Instagram (@instagram) April 28, 2020

How to Watch Instagram Live on the Web

Now that you watch Instagram Live on desktop, you can follow along with that yoga class on a bigger screen or listen to a live performance as you work.

All you have to do is open Instagram on the web, and you’ll see a list of accounts that are “live” in the Instagram Stories panel.

Clicking on one will open a window with the live broadcast.

And that’s pretty much it!

Just keep in mind that this feature only applies to viewers. For the time being, you still can’t start a broadcast from your desktop.

How to Share Instagram Live Videos on IGTV

Users have had the ability to share Instagram Live videos on Instagram Stories for a while now. But it’s never been a perfect solution.

The new ability to post live broadcasts directly to IGTV is much better — and it’s super simple to do.

Once you end your broadcast, you should see a new button to Share to IGTV.

From here, you can select a cover photo for the video (or upload one from your camera roll).

And then publish as usual!

Facebook will be rolling out these new Instagram Live features in the coming weeks, along with other exciting features like Messenger Rooms!

In the meantime, stay up-to-date with all Facebook’s new products and features with Later’s newsletter!

How to start a live broadcast on Instagram from a computer

The web version of Instagram has the standard functionality for viewing and interacting with content: surfing the feed, viewing stories, the ability to like, comment or save a post. But, no matter how strange it may be, there is no way to view and start live broadcasts.

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How to watch Instagram live on a computer

. Live broadcasts have become more useful and popular, so it is important for someone to have access to watching live broadcasts on a computer. Below we have given 2 ways how this can be done.

The official Instagram app

The full app is only available on Windows 10. The process of watching live on Instagram from a computer is no different from that on a smartphone.

Using Android emulators.

These are programs that simulate a virtual mobile device on the Android platform. One of the popular and simple emulators is BlueStacks. After installing it, you will be able to download the Instagram application through the Play Market and install it on your computer.

You will have access to a full-fledged Instagram application on your computer, with which you can not only watch live broadcasts, but also publish content, surf the feed or go live yourself. A step-by-step guide on how to install BlueStacks and start live streaming from a computer will be covered in the next chapter.

How to start live on Instagram from a computer

, is identical to the standard functionality in the application on a smartphone.

If you want to use photos, videos or presentations live, you can do it in the application on the iPhone (this function is not available on Android). To do this, start the live broadcast and click on the rightmost icon at the bottom of the screen and select the desired file from the gallery.

After that, 2 windows will appear: one small with a speaker, the other full screen with material. By simply clicking on one of the windows, you can quickly switch between them.

If the live broadcast involves a presentation, prepare it in advance and save each slide separately. The presentation helps to visualize complex information and thus is better absorbed by the listeners. This format of live broadcasts is suitable for information business or educational accounts.

If you still need to live stream Instagram from your computer, download and install the BlueStacks emulator.

You now have an Android virtual mobile device. To access applications in the Play Market, you need to log in to Google.

Next, open the Play Market on the "My Applications" tab, find the Instagram application in the search and install it.

The installed application will appear in the "My Applications" section, which is the desktop of the virtual device.

Launch and log in to the Instagram app. Now you can broadcast live on Instagram from your computer, as well as use all the features.

Conclusion

Like many restrictions on Instagram, the inability to view and start live streaming on Instagram can be bypassed using third-party programs.

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How to watch live on Instagram

The rapidly growing Instagram application used for sharing photos and videos is at its peak today. With each update, users are offered more and more opportunities, thanks to which the social network is already becoming global. The implementation of the live broadcast function further fueled the interest of the public. In fact, this is an online video recording with the possibility of commenting, which can also be saved. Thanks to this feature, celebrities, businessmen, bloggers, as well as ordinary users can broadcast live for various purposes (for example, communicating with fans, live advertising, informing subscribers about the company's work, services, and other points). Mere mortals can now reach for the stars by spying on someone else's life through Instagram. People whose accounts were created in support of their professional activities have new opportunities to increase interest in their person, product, etc.

The idea, by the way, is not new, similar functionality has already been implemented in Facebook and Periscope, however, a new feature in Instagram that appeared in early 2017 attracted everyone's attention and was warmly received by the public. So now live broadcasts on Instagram are the number one trend. Anyone can capture the attention of an audience. At the same time, the live broadcasts of Instagram profile owners do not always carry a semantic load, so do not be surprised if the host of the broadcast behaves strangely, inappropriate behavior is not uncommon. Since the function is available to everyone and everyone, in a fit of frantic desire to speak out and express themselves, users sometimes forget about decency. Basically, the broadcasts are still thematic and are created for a specific purpose, whether it is attraction to a business, contact with subscribers, training, etc., or maybe the broadcaster just wanted to share his thoughts on any occasion. Not all users know how to find and watch a live broadcast on Instagram, we will deal with this issue.

How to find a live broadcast on Instagram

Broadcasts are displayed on the top bar above the news feed, where the stories are. So, if the user you are following is now live, then the thumbnail of his account will be surrounded by a colored ring, and the corresponding inscription “Live” will appear under it. You can join the view from the profile of the person who records the video online (a standard button in the form of a triangle "Play" will be available at the bottom of the user's avatar). Only the user who organized the shooting can save content to devices for subsequent publication or other purposes, but this function is not available to viewers, so other people's saved broadcasts can be viewed when the profile owner posts them on their page. At the same time, at the top of the record, it will be indicated when this broadcast was held.

Popular Instagram live streams can be viewed from the main search page. At the same time, the video is available in the recommendations if it is viewed by more than 500 users. You can receive notifications about the start of broadcasts if you subscribe to a profile. Thus, the organization of communication with subscribers is more efficient. The profile owner also has the opportunity to hide the broadcast from certain persons by specifying them in the settings, because no matter what the purpose of the broadcast is (increase the number of subscribers, inform about something, etc.), different personalities can join it, including including unwanted ones.

How to watch from your phone

You can connect to the broadcast at any time of the broadcast, you don't have to log in at the beginning, and you can also watch a friend's recorded live broadcast if he posted it on his Instagram page. A confident user does not have questions about how to do this, but many users have just begun to join the ranks of Instagram fans and have not yet had time to navigate. Watching a broadcast from an iOS or Android phone is very simple:

First you need to open the application on your smartphone and log in.
We see thumbnails above the feed of publications, select the desired profile (in a colored circle with the inscription "Live") or find a popular broadcast in the search. If you are not subscribed to the user whose broadcast you want to watch, you can find him in the search, after which by clicking on the main photo (avatar) we connect to the live broadcast (the owner will see the users who have joined).

While watching, you can leave comments in the comment box below, click likes, and if you do not keep up with the unfolding events on the air, you can rewind the chat.

How to watch from a computer

The web version of Instagram has limited functionality, so to watch live on a computer, you will need to install additional tools. There will be no problems with this, the necessary software is available on official resources (in the application store, on the developer's website). You can provide conditions for the ability to watch live broadcasts on the social network Instagram from a computer using the following tools:

Android emulator.
Instagram application.
Browser extension.

Android emulator

We will emulate the Android environment on a computer in order to run a mobile application using the popular BlueStacks application. If you have an emulator, by launching it, you get the opportunity to work in exactly the same way as if you were using a smartphone, including downloading and using mobile software. First, the Android simulator needs to be installed into the system by downloading the distribution kit from the official website of the developer. The procedure is standard - download, select the installation path, accept the terms of the agreement, after which the installation is performed automatically. Next, do the following:

Launching BlueStacks. At the first start, you will have to wait a little while the program scans the system and applies the appropriate settings.
Upon completion of the setup process, you need to log in to your Google account.
After logging in, go to the "Application Center" tab, from where any Android applications will be available to us. In the search field on the right, we drive in the query Instagram.
Among the results, select the first official Instagram client in the list and install it by pressing the appropriate button, after installation the software will appear in the "My Applications" tab.
Click on the Instagram icon, after launching, enter your profile authorization data.
Now, you can watch users' live broadcasts on Instagram through a computer in the same way as on a smartphone. At the top of the interface, thumbnails of friends' profiles are available, and those who are broadcasting will be marked. Select the broadcast by clicking on the avatar.

Instagram application under Windows 10

For earlier versions of the Windows operating system, for example, if you have "Seven", this method will not work. We use it in the case when the computer is "Ten". To watch live on Instagram from a computer, do the following:

Installing an application from the Microsoft store.
Run the software, enter the profile authorization data (if missing, create it).
Stories will now be available at the top of the interface. If a user starts a broadcast, their profile thumbnail will be marked with a "Live" icon and you can join to watch the broadcast.

Browser extension

Another way to watch Instagram live is to install the special Chrome IG Story add-on for Google Chrome browser, for which we follow these steps:

In the Chrome browser, go to the extension store.
In the left block in the store search bar, enter the query Chrome IG Story.
Select the desired add-on from the list of results and install it by pressing the corresponding button, confirming the action.
After installation, the extension will be available in the browser section (three dots in the upper right corner of the interface, select "Additional tools" - "Extensions"), where you can manage all installed add-ons (enable, disable, remove).
Click on the extension icon, as a result of which a window with user stories will open, to go to the broadcasts, click "Explore", live broadcasts will be available here. To join the viewing, simply click on the desired broadcast.

Broadcasts can be searched by name, tag or geolocation. In addition to accessing live broadcasts, you will also have the opportunity to download user stories to your computer.

How to watch live on Instagram anonymously

The user who created the broadcast can only see the number of viewers. You can see who exactly is present only by comments and likes, as well as when a person has just joined. If you do not want to show your presence, act as an observer, just watch the broadcast without commenting or pressing hearts. At the same time, many do not want to show even their appearance for a short time. To watch stories or live on Instagram anonymously, you can use one effective spy method that does not even require an Instagram profile registration. We only need the Telegram messenger installed on the device. It is interesting, including the fact that it makes it possible to use functional bots for various purposes. So, to view stories and live broadcasts incognito, we will use the IgSpyBot bot built into Telegram:

Open the messenger, go through the account authorization (create a profile if you don't have one) and go to "Contacts".
Learn more