How to Find Who Doesn’t Follow You Back on Instagram
Updated: · 4 min read
Short answer
Instagram doesn’t show the people who don’t follow you back in one list. You can check the “Follows you” label on each profile you follow, download your follower and following lists from Instagram and compare them, or use an app that matches the two lists for you. Unlike unfollowers, this list needs no waiting: it comes from two lists read at the same moment.
Two lists, one comparison
Your following list and your follower list are separate, and Instagram doesn’t match them up for you. What you’re after is the difference between them:
- Not following you back: accounts on your following list that aren’t on your follower list.
- You don’t follow back: accounts that follow you that you don’t follow.
- Mutuals: accounts on both lists.
Method 1: Check the “Follows you” label
- Open your Following list.
- Open an account’s profile. If they follow you, “Follows you” appears near their username.
- No label means they don’t follow you.
Practical for a handful of accounts; hours of work for hundreds.
Tip: the categories at the top of your Following list include the accounts you least interact with — people you haven’t seen in a while. It doesn’t show who follows you back, but it’s a good place to start tidying up.
Method 2: Download both lists and compare them
- Go to Accounts Center → Your information and permissions → Export your information.
- Select Followers and following and export as JSON or HTML.
- The archive contains two files: your followers (something like
followers_1.json) and the accounts you follow (something likefollowing.json). - Put both lists in a spreadsheet. Usernames in “following” that aren’t in “followers” are the people who don’t follow you back.
It gives you an accurate table once, and you start from scratch every time you want to refresh it.
Method 3: An app that matches the lists for you
KimGitti reads your follower and following lists on your own phone, in your own Instagram session, and builds three lists:
- Not Following Me Back — accounts you follow that don’t follow you
- I Don’t Follow Back — accounts that follow you that you don’t follow
- Mutuals — accounts you follow each other with
Unlike unfollowers, these don’t wait for a second update; they’re ready after the first one, because the comparison is between two lists read at the same time, not between two points in time.
You log in on Instagram’s own page, and your password never reaches KimGitti. KimGitti doesn’t unfollow anyone for you — it reads the lists, and the rest is up to you.
| Label check | Data export | KimGitti | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Effort | One profile per account | Matching two files | One update |
| Stays current? | For the moment you looked | For the moment you exported | Refreshed on every update |
| Mutuals list | No | If you work it out yourself | Ready-made |
Before you unfollow
- Celebrities, brands and news accounts don’t follow back, and aren’t expected to.
- Unfollowing a lot of accounts in a short time can run into Instagram’s action limits. Spreading it over a few days is safer.
- Instead of unfollowing, muting someone removes their posts from your feed without touching the follow, and they aren’t told. What unfollowing changes, and for whom, is in does Instagram notify when you unfollow someone?
Frequently asked questions
Can I mass-unfollow everyone who doesn’t follow me back?
Instagram has no bulk unfollow. Apps that automate it take one action after another on your behalf, and Instagram can limit accounts that follow or unfollow many people in a short time. KimGitti never acts for you: it shows the list and leaves the decision, and the tapping, to you.
Do private accounts I requested to follow show up?
No. A request that hasn’t been accepted isn’t in your following list, so it isn’t counted as someone who doesn’t follow you back. Once the request is accepted, the account joins your following list.
Will celebrities and brands be on the list?
Yes. Every account you follow that doesn’t follow you shows up, and most celebrities, brands and news accounts naturally belong there. Read the list as a map of your follow relationships, not as a to-unfollow list.
If I unfollow someone, will they know?
According to Instagram’s help page, people aren’t notified when you unfollow them. They can still notice through their follower count or follower list.
Why does the list sometimes look out of date?
It shows the state at your last update. If someone followed you back afterwards, or you unfollowed someone, the change appears in the next update.