How to Check Who Doesn't Follow You Back on Instagram

A complete step-by-step guide to find your unfollowers

Co-authored by Nicole Levine, MFA Reviewed by Candace Gasper

Last Updated: January 21, 2026 Fact Checked

• Checking Manually
|
• Using Your Raw Data
|
• Using FollowMeter
|
• Video

|Show more |Show less

Do you want to find out who doesn’t follow you back on Instagram? If you have a fair amount of followers, this can sometimes be a tedious and time-consuming process, but it's still possible. In this article, we will teach you the easiest ways to see who doesn’t follow you back on Instagram, both without an app and with an app, on your Android, iPhone, or iPad.

Check Who Isn't Following You Back on Instagram

One easy option is to go to a user's profile and see if you appear in their Following list. If you follow a lot of accounts, the best option is to download your data and use a free list comparison tool to compare your Following and Followers lists.

Steps

Section 1 of 3:

Go Through Your Followers Manually

1. 
   View the following lists of the people you follow. If you are looking for someone specific, you can go to that person's profile, tap Following, then look for your username in their "Following" list. If they follow you back, you'll see your name near the top of their following list.

   • This can be tedious if you have a lot of followers, but it's pretty straightforward and doesn't require you to install an app.
   

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Section 2 of 3:

Downloading Your Instagram Data

1. 
   1
   Tap the menu on your Instagram profile ☰ and select Accounts Center. Another way to find out who doesn't follow you back on Instagram is to download your data from Instagram and use a list comparison tool like ListDiff to compare your Followers list to your Following list.

   • Keep in mind it can take a while for Instagram to prepare your data for download.
2. 
   2
   Tap Your information and permissions. It's under the "Account settings" heading.
3. 
   3
   Tap Export your information. This opens a new login page in the built-in Instagram web browser.

   • If prompted, sign in to your Instagram account in the new window.
4. 
   4
   Tap Create export and select your profile. If you have multiple profiles, you can export them separately.

   • Tap Next to continue.
5. 
   5
   Tap Export to device. A list of preferences will appear.
6. 
   6
   Choose which information to export. Click Customize information to select which information to include in your data download. By default, all your data is selected, which will produce a very large file and take more time to create. We recommend unchecking everything except "Contacts" and "Followers and Following." If you do this, you should receive your data download within an hour or so.
7. 
   7
   Choose a date range, format, and notification option.

   • Date range: The default is "Last year." If you want to change the default, tap Date range and choose a different time period, such as All time. Tap Save to save your changes.
   • Format: Select HTML as the format (if not already selected) to ensure the files you're downloading are easy to read.
   • Notify: When your download is ready, you'll receive an email notification at the email listed under "Notify." You can tap the email address and change it if needed.
8. 
   8
   Tap Start export. If prompted, reenter your password to continue. Instagram will notify you via email when your download is ready.
9. 
   9
   Download and unzip your Instagram data. We recommend using a computer to do this part, as the files will be easier to work with.

   • When you receive the email from Instagram letting you know your data is ready, click the export your information link in the message, then click Download to save the ZIP file to your device.
   • Unzip the file using your computer's built-in ZIP utility.
10. 
    10
    In the unzipped folder, double-click the "start_here" file. It should be called start_here.html. Double-clicking the file will open it in your default web browser.
11. 
    11
    In a new browser tab, open a list comparison website like ListDiff. You can open a new browser tab in most browsers by clicking the + in the tab bar, or by pressing Ctrl + T or Cmd + T. In that tab, point your browser to www.listdiff.com. This free website can compare your follower list to the following list.
12. 
    12
    Copy your follower and following lists to ListDiff. Here's the best way to do it:

    • Back on the Start Here page, click Followers.
    • Highlight the entire list and press Ctrl + C (PC) or Cmd + C (Mac) to copy it.
    • In ListDiff, right-click the box under "List A" and select Paste.
    • Beneath the box, click the Sort button–it looks like three descending horizontal lines. This will separate most of the dates from the usernames.
    • Delete all the dates from the list by highlighting them and pressing Del.
    • Go back to the Start Here page and click Following.
    • Copy the entire list, just as you did earlier, and paste it into the "List B" box in ListDiff.
    • Click the Sort button under List B, then delete all the dates and URLs from the list.
13. 
    13
    Find out who isn't following you back. Here's what you'll need to do:

    • Click the Compare Lists button below the two boxes. This creates several new boxes below.
    • Click the menu that says No sort and select Sort A > Z.
    • Click Compare Lists again.
    • The "B only" list contains a list of all the people you follow who don't follow you back.
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Section 3 of 3:

Use FollowMeter for Instagram

1. 
   1
   Download FollowMeter for Instagram. If you feel comfortable sharing your Instagram account information with a third-party app, you can use an app like FollowMeter to find out who doesn't follow you back. To get the app, open the App Store (iPhone & iPad) or Play Store (Android) and search for an app called "FollowMeter for Instagram." Tap GET or Install to get the app.

   • Warning: Linking your Instagram account to a third-party app could result in your account being flagged for "automated behavior." Use FollowMeter and similar apps at your own risk.
2. 
   2
   Open FollowMeter and log in. When the app is finished downloading, tap OPEN in the App Store or Play Store, or tap the app's icon in your app list. On the intro screen, tap Log In, and follow the on-screen instructions to log in with your Instagram account.

   • The first time you log in to FollowMeter, you'll have to review and agree to its terms and conditions.
   • Once your account is linked, you'll be taken to a list of options.
3. 
   3
   Tap Not Following You Back. Once you're signed in, you'll see a list of options. When you tap Not Following You Back, you'll see the full list of people you follow on Instagram who don't follow you back.
4. 
   4
   Unfollow an account that doesn’t follow you back (optional). If you want to unfollow any of the accounts in this list, simply tap the white Following button next to their username in the FollowMeter app.
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