Instagram Edits for Mac Released – Multi-Track Timeline, LUT Import and Watermark-Free 4K Export

Software News

by Nino LeitnerToday

Instagram has released Edits for Mac, a free desktop version of its video editing app. The first desktop build adds a multi-track timeline with keyframes and audio waveforms, color wheels, curves, Log conversions and LUT import, plus custom keyboard shortcuts and an MCP connection for AI agents. Projects publish directly to Instagram or export in up to 4K without a watermark. Edits on desktop requires a Mac with Apple silicon and an Instagram account; there is no Windows version.

We first reported on Edits when Instagram launched the app as a mobile-only editor in April 2025. At that time, it offered a frame-accurate timeline, in-app recording up to 4K and watermark-free export, and a keyframe tool was still in development. According to Instagram, more than 50 million people now use Edits. The desktop version is the company’s answer to a request it says it hears often from creators. “A project gets too big for your phone,” Brett Westervelt, who leads the Edits app, writes in the launch blog post. “You’ve got a dozen clips going, you’re trying to land a cut on the exact beat, and your thumb covers the part of the timeline you need to see.”

The move puts Edits in more direct competition with ByteDance’s CapCut, which has offered desktop versions for Windows and Mac since 2021. It also follows Adobe’s step in the opposite direction, when the company brought Premiere to the iPhone for free in 2025.

Multi-track timeline and keyframes

The core of Edits on desktop is a full multi-track timeline. Media goes into it by drag and drop, and clips can be cut and trimmed frame by frame. Keyframes, which the mobile app did not have at launch, are now available for transitions and other animated changes. Audio waveforms are visible on the timeline for cuts on the beat, and Instagram’s screenshots also show a Beats panel that places markers on the music track.

Instagram describes the interface as the same one creators know from the mobile app, with more room on screen. Keyboard shortcuts are customizable: users can build their own set, keep the Edits defaults, or select a preset that copies the shortcuts of other editors. Instagram does not say which editors these presets cover.

Color wheels, curves and your own LUTs

Color grading gets a larger set of tools than on mobile. The Adjust panel in Instagram’s screenshots has tabs for basic adjustments, white balance, HSL, style, color wheels and curves. The wheels section has separate Global, Shadows, Midtones and Highlights controls with hue and amount values, and the curves editor works on the combined RGB curve or on the red, green and blue channels.

For footage from cameras that record in Log, Edits includes Log conversions, and users can import their own LUTs. Instagram has not published a list of supported Log profiles or LUT formats. Font files can also be imported, which lets creators keep their own typography across projects.

Audio library, voiceover and captions

Instagram’s licensed music library and its royalty-free tracks are built into the desktop app, together with what Instagram calls hundreds of sound and video effects. Audio that a user saves in Instagram appears in the saved audio list on desktop, and audio and text styles saved in the mobile Edits app are also available. A microphone connected to the Mac can record voiceovers directly into the project, and an audio enhancement function is available for cleanup. The Sound panel in the screenshots shows clip volume, voice enhance, fade and audio effects.

Automatic captions are free and unlimited, and they support multiple languages. An editable transcript lets users review and correct the text, and then select a caption style.

AI agents through MCP

One addition has no equivalent on mobile: Edits on desktop can connect to AI agents through MCP (Model Context Protocol). According to the blog post, users who work with AI agents can connect them to the desktop editor “so they can help with your projects.” Instagram does not list which agents it supports, and it does not describe what an agent can do inside a project.

Publishing and export settings

Finished videos go directly from the Mac to Instagram, without the export, transfer and re-upload steps through a phone that many creators use today. The Share to Instagram window includes a caption field, a custom cover image, location, people tagging, audience settings and trial reels, which first show a video to non-followers so that creators can test how it performs.

For use outside Instagram, Edits on desktop supports multiple aspect ratios, horizontal and vertical, and exports without a watermark. The export panel in Instagram’s screenshots offers HD, 2K and 4K resolution, frame rates of 24, 30 and 60 fps, SDR or HDR, and low, medium or high quality. Frame rates of 25 and 50 fps do not appear in that panel, and Instagram has not published codec or bit rate details for the export files.

Current limitations

Edits on desktop runs only on macOS, and it requires a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later). There is no Windows version, and Intel-based Macs are not supported. Users must sign in with an Instagram account. A project also cannot yet move between the Mac and the phone: during testing, creators asked for one project that they can edit on both devices, and Instagram says it is working on this function now. Instagram calls the current release “the first version” of the desktop editor and plans weekly updates based on user feedback.

Price and availability

Edits for Mac is available now as a free download from edits.com/desktop. The mobile app remains free for iOS and Android.

Will you move parts of your social media edits from Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or CapCut to Edits on the Mac, or is direct publishing to Instagram not enough of a reason to change? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!