Instagram Export Not Showing Followers? 6 Causes and the Fix for Each

1. Check the ZIP path first

Before assuming anything is missing, confirm where the file would be. Instagram nests the followers list two folders deep: connections/followers_and_following/followers_1.json. Opening the top level of the extracted ZIP shows only a connectionsfolder (plus a few others if you exported more categories), and nothing there is obviously named “followers”. People who stop at the top level conclude the list is absent when it is sitting one level down.

On iPhone, the Files app shows the extracted folder next to the ZIP; on Android, Files by Google extracts into a folder of the same name. Tap into connections, then followers_and_following, and the files should be there. If that folder exists and holds following.json but no followers file at all, skip to the followers_1.json missing guide, which covers that specific combination.

2. The category wasn't selected

The export screen defaults to a broad selection, and when people narrow it down they often untick more than they meant to. Under Customise information Instagram groups the options into headings such as Your Instagram activity, Connections, and Personal information. The followers list is under Connections, labelled Followers and following. If that box was clear when you tapped Start export, the resulting ZIP has no connections folder and there is nothing to find.

The fix is a new request. Go to Accounts Center → Your information and permissions → Export your information → Create export, pick the profile, choose Export to device, and this time tick only Followers and following. Keeping it to that one category also means the file comes back in minutes instead of hours. The full step list with the format and date options is in how to download your Instagram data export.

3. You exported the wrong account from Accounts Center

Accounts Center pools every Instagram and Facebook profile linked to the same login. When you tap Create exportit asks which profile to export, and the list can include a Facebook account, a second Instagram you set up years ago, or a business profile you manage. Export the wrong one and you get a perfectly valid followers file for an account you didn't care about, which on a dormant profile may contain almost nothing.

The quickest check is to open the Export your information screen and look at the row for your request: it names the profile the export covers. If it is not the account you meant, create a new export and pick the right one at the profile step. The usernames inside following.jsonare another giveaway; if you don't recognise the accounts, it is not your main profile.

4. The date range trimmed the list

This one is subtle because the file exists and contains data, just not all of it. Instagram records the date each follow happened, and the Date range option filters followers by that date. Pick Last year and anyone who followed you more than twelve months ago is left out. On an older account the result can be a followers file with a few dozen entries when the profile shows thousands, or an empty array if nobody new followed in the window.

Open followers_1.json and check the oldest timestamp. If it is close to the start of the range you picked, the list was cut. Re-request with Date range: All time. The reasoning and a worked example are in All time vs Last year, and if the file is completely empty rather than short, see export shows 0 followers.

5. HTML vs JSON confusion

If you, or a tool you are using, went looking specifically for followers_1.json and the export was requested in HTML, the file is there under a different name: followers_1.html. Same accounts, same dates, different wrapper. Some checkers only recognise the JSON name and report the followers as missing when they are simply in the other format. UnfollowChecker reads both, but if the tool you are using doesn't, re-request with Format: JSON.

6. Deactivated accounts show as placeholders

A less common complaint is that the followers list is present but some entries have no username. Those are accounts that were deactivated, deleted, or suspended between following you and the export being generated. Instagram keeps the row but blanks the identifying details, so you see an entry with an empty value and a dead link. They are not an error in the export, and they are also not people you can act on; most tools either hide them or list them separately as unknown.

What to do next

If one of the causes above matched, the fix is always the same shape: request a fresh export with Followers and following ticked, Date range: All time, and Format: JSON, from the correct profile. That request typically moves from Pending to Available in 10 to 20 minutes. When it arrives, upload the whole ZIP to the who doesn't follow me back checker without extracting anything. It locates the followers and following files itself, handles numbered splits and HTML, and runs the comparison in your browser.