See who doesn't follow you back on Instagram

How to see who doesn't follow you back

1. Request your data. Open Your information and permissions in Accounts Center (some Instagram versions label this area Meta Account). Tap Export your information → Create export, pick your Instagram profile, then Export to device.
2. Pick only what's needed. Under the information to include, select only Followers and following. Set Date range to All time and Format to JSON, then Start export. Instagram may ask for your password at this point, on its own page.
3. Download the ZIP. Instagram emails you when the file is ready. A followers-only export is often done within minutes to a few hours, though Instagram's Help Center says it can take up to 30 days. Once it's ready, the file stays under Available downloads for 4 days.
4. Select the ZIP in the tool above. Don't unzip it first. The results open on their own page, starting with Don't follow you back and the number of accounts on it.

The tool reads two lists from the ZIP: following.json (everyone you follow) and followers_1.json (everyone who follows you; large accounts also get followers_2.json and so on, which are read too). Accounts in the first file that are missing from the second end up on the list. Matching is by username, and the date shown next to each name is the day you followed that account, taken from your export.

Screenshots of each step on iPhone, Android and desktop are in the Instagram JSON export guide.

What the list means, and what it doesn't

"Doesn't follow you back" describes one moment: the moment Instagram created your export. It says nothing about why. The accounts on it usually fall into these groups:

• Brands, creators, news sites and public figures. You follow them for their posts. Most don't follow their audience back, so a one-way follow is the normal case here.
• People you followed first who never followed back, or haven't seen your follow yet.
• Accounts that unfollowed you at some point. A single export can't separate them from the two groups above.
• Accounts that were switched off. When someone temporarily deactivates their profile, it isn't shown on Instagram until they log back in, so it can be missing from your followers file even though the person didn't unfollow you.

Treat the list as a to-do list, not a verdict. To find out who actually stopped following you, you need a second export later. See below and the guide how to see who unfollowed you on Instagram.

Why someone who follows you is on the list

This is the most common surprise. It usually has one of four causes:

• The date range wasn't All time. The export's date range filters both lists. With "Last year", for example, an old follower is missing from followers_1.json, while the account you followed recently is still in following.json. That person then shows up as not following back. Request a new export with All time.
• They followed you after the export was created. The file doesn't update itself. Anyone who followed you back since then is still listed.
• Their account was deactivated or temporarily unavailable when Instagram built the file. Once it's active again, the person reappears in your followers.
• The export is from another profile. If you manage several Instagram profiles, Accounts Center asks which one to export. Pick the one you want to check, or every name on the list will be off.

Before you unfollow someone you know personally, check them by hand as described in the next section. It takes a few seconds and catches all four cases.

Check if one person follows you back

For a single account, the Instagram app is faster than any export:

1. Open your own profile and tap Followers.
2. Type the person's username into the search field.
3. If they appear, they follow you. If they don't, they don't follow you right now.

You can also check from their side: open their profile, tap Following and search for your username. That works if their account is public or you follow them.

Instagram's own shared activity view adds dates. On a phone or iPad, open the person's profile, tap the options menu in the top right and choose See shared activity. It shows when you followed each other, where that applies. It's only available when at least one of you follows the other.

No search result and no profile at all usually means a block, a deactivation or a deleted account, not an unfollow.

What "follow back" means on Instagram

To follow someone back means to follow an account that already follows you, so the follow goes both ways. When someone follows you and you don't follow them yet, Instagram offers a Follow back button instead of the usual Follow, as Meta explains. When someone "doesn't follow you back", you're the one who followed, and they haven't returned it.

Followers you don't follow back, and mutuals

Your export answers the follow-back question in both directions. The tool shows each one in its own tab:

The You don't follow back tab is also where fake and bot followers tend to collect. If you'd rather not keep them, remove them as followers in the app. The person isn't notified. Signs to look for are in how to spot fake and bot followers. If your export includes follow requests you sent to private accounts, they appear in a separate Pending requests tab, with more on the pending follow requests page.

Sort, search and export the list

A few hundred names are easier to handle with a system. Each tab has these tools:

• Oldest first. The date is when you followed the account. Someone you followed years ago who still doesn't follow you back is unlikely to start now.
• Newest first shows people you followed recently. Give them a few days before you decide.
• Search finds one account in a long list.
• Download this list (CSV) gives you a spreadsheet. Add a "keep" or "unfollow" column and sort before you change anything on Instagram.
• Open takes you to the profile in a new tab. With Remember this result on this device switched on, rows you've opened stay marked Opened, even after a reload, so you can pick up where you left off on another day.

Accounts you follow for their content (news, shops, artists, friends' businesses) usually belong in the "keep" column, whether or not they follow you.

Unfollow non-followers without getting limited

The tool can't unfollow anyone. It only reads your export and never connects to Instagram. You unfollow in the Instagram app, one profile at a time: open the profile, tap Following, then Unfollow. According to Instagram's Help Center, people aren't notified when you unfollow them.

• There is no published unfollow limit. Instagram doesn't say how many accounts you may unfollow per hour or day, and numbers you read elsewhere are guesses. Many actions in a short time can lead Instagram to limit your account for a while. Work in small batches and spread a big cleanup over several days.
• Stop when Instagram pushes back. If you see "Try again later" or a notice that an action was restricted, pause and continue on another day instead of retrying.
• Keep your password to yourself. Mass-unfollow apps have to log in as you. Instagram's Terms of Use don't allow collecting information in an automated way without Instagram's permission, and any limit that follows applies to your account, not the app's.
• Mute instead of unfollowing if you only want fewer posts from someone. Muted accounts aren't told, and you keep following them.

The full routine, with a realistic pace and what to do if you hit a limit, is in how to mass unfollow on Instagram safely.

Free checker vs. apps that need your login

We make UnfollowTool, so read this with that in mind. Many "unfollowers" apps work differently: you sign in to Instagram inside the app, and it reads your lists as you. Here is how the two approaches compare:

A login app is the only way to get automatic alerts. If that matters to you, weigh it against handing over account access. Use two-factor authentication, and remove the app's session when you stop using it. Individual tools, with details taken from their own sites and store listings, are compared in Instagram unfollower apps compared.

See who unfollowed you since last time

Keep Remember this result on this device switched on (it is by default). When you open a newer export in the same browser, the results also show Unfollowed you and New followers since the last time. If anyone unfollowed you, that tab comes first. The saved result contains only account names and stays in this browser, as described in the privacy policy. A private window or another device starts from zero, and Delete saved history removes it.

What is the follow-unfollow trick?

Some accounts follow many people just to get follows back, then unfollow a few days later. Their follower count grows while the number of accounts they follow stays low. From your side, it looks like followers who show up and then quietly disappear.

One export can't show this, because it captures a single moment. Comparing exports can:

• If you didn't follow back, the account appears under Unfollowed you when you analyze a newer export. If the same name was under New followers in the comparison before, it only stayed briefly, which is the typical pattern.
• If you did follow back, the account lands on Don't follow you back with a recent follow date. Sort by Newest first to find it, and unfollow it if you like.

An account that follows and unfollows between two exports appears in neither, so exports a few days apart catch more of them than exports months apart. Other signs of automated accounts are in how to spot fake and bot followers.