How to Keep Several Instagram Accounts Apart on One PC With Separate Browser Profiles

How do you keep several Instagram accounts apart on one PC? #

Give each account its own browser profile, and sign in to only one Instagram account in it. A Chrome profile keeps bookmarks, history, passwords and other settings separate, and Chromium stores cookies in the same per-profile folder, so a login in one profile does not appear in another. Edge profiles likewise keep browsing history, bookmarks and other data apart, and Firefox containers separate cookies and site storage inside one window. A profile separates data, not the computer or the connection it runs on.

What a profile keeps apart and what it does not #

Sources for this table are the Chrome, Chromium, Edge and Mozilla pages listed below. Private windows and VPNs are a different topic, covered in the comparison guide.

Set it up in Chrome or Edge #

1. Create the profile. In Chrome, select Profile at the top right, then Add Chrome profile, and choose a name, photo and colour scheme. In Edge, open the profile menu at the top right, go to Manage profile settings, choose Add profile, then decide whether to sign in to sync or start without your data.
2. Decide on syncing. Chrome says that signing in with a Google Account in a profile lets you save bookmarks, passwords and settings to that account and use them on other devices. For client work, think about whose account that should be.
3. Name and colour it so you cannot open the wrong one. The naming pattern is below.
4. Open instagram.com in that profile and log in to that one account. If Instagram offers to save your login info, save it only on a computer that only you use. Instagram's security tips say to log out on computers you share and not to tick Remember me on a public computer.
5. Check the login list. In the profile, open More, Settings, then Login activity. Your own computer should be there. Click This wasn't me only for entries you do not recognise.
6. Repeat for each account. Do not add a second account with Switch accounts inside the same profile. One profile, one account.

Firefox's equivalent is containers. Mozilla describes them as long-lived contexts that keep sites isolated from each other, with cookies, local storage, IndexedDB and caches kept apart, so you can log in to several accounts on the same site. History and bookmarks stay shared.

Naming, hand-over and backups #

Naming. Put the client or brand first, then the account handle, then the owner, for example ACME / @acme_official / Linh. Give each client a colour; Chrome lets you pick a colour scheme when you create the profile.

Hand-over. Hand over access, not credentials. For an account that belongs to a brand or client, use shared access or roles, as the business access guide explains. If a profile moves to a colleague for an account of your own, change that account's password afterwards, because Instagram logs out all other devices when a password is updated. When someone leaves, delete their profile: in Chrome, select the profile, then More, then Delete.

Backups. There are two different things to back up.

• The account's data. The owner can export a copy of the account's information: More, Settings, Accounts Center, Your information and permissions, then Export your information. Instagram says an export can take up to 30 days to arrive by email and is password-protected.
• The profile folder. Chromium's documentation says each profile is a subfolder, often called Default, of the user data directory, which holds profile data such as history, bookmarks and cookies. On Windows the default is %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data. Because the folder holds cookies, treat any copy like a password: do not email it or leave it on a shared drive.

Losing a profile costs you local sign-ins, bookmarks and saved passwords. The account itself lives with Instagram, and you log in again.

When ordinary profiles are not enough #

No setup can promise how Instagram will treat an account. These are conveniences, not protections.

If a profile misbehaves #

• You are signed out whenever the browser closes. Instagram's security tips describe the Remember me box as what keeps you logged in after the window closes, and its Cookies Policy says session cookies are deleted when you close the browser. Check that box, and check whether your browser clears cookies on exit or whether a private window was used.
• The wrong account is in the wrong profile. Log out, check the profile name, log in to the right account and rename the profile. Do not fix it with Switch accounts.
• Login activity shows entries you do not recognise. Click This wasn't me and follow the steps to reset the password. Updating the password logs out all other devices.
• A confirm-your-login prompt appears. Read the sign-in checks guide.
• You still see the account in a login list on a phone. Instagram's steps are Options at the top right of the login screen, then Remove profiles from this device, then Remove beside the account. The Help Center says this only removes saved login info from the device and does not deactivate or delete the account. Another Help page words these labels a little differently, so follow what your screen shows.

Where ADSSPEED fits #

ADSSPEED is a desktop app for Windows and macOS that manages many browser profiles. Each profile keeps its own cookies, local data and browser settings, so accounts you manage can stay signed in side by side without signing each other out. A proxy can be set per profile and assigned to many profiles in bulk, profiles can be opened, stopped and organised in bulk, and profile data stays on your own computer. Android phone profiles, each with its own device configuration, run mobile apps on a PC. Setup is in installing ADSSPEED on Windows. ADSSPEED is not affiliated with Instagram.