Export your Instagram following list to CSV

How it works

1. 1

   Request the export from Accounts Centre

   In the Instagram app go to your profile → menu (☰) → Settings and privacy → Accounts Centre → Your information and permissions → Export your information → Create export. Select only Followers and following, date range All time, format JSON, and Download to device.

2. 2

   Download the ZIP within 4 days

   A followers-only export usually takes 10–20 minutes to prepare. Instagram emails you a download link that expires after 4 days; save the ZIP to your phone or computer.

3. 3

   Upload the ZIP or the JSON files

   Drop the whole ZIP on this page, or drag in followers_1.json and following.json on their own if you have already unzipped it. Everything is read in your browser. The results step includes free CSV buttons for your followers and following lists.

Instagram's export isn't a spreadsheet

The official route to your following list is Export your information in Accounts Centre, and it works — but what arrives is following.json, a JSON object full of usernames, profile links and ten-digit timestamps. Double-click it and you get a wall of text. Excel's JSON import can be coaxed into a table, but it's a Power Query exercise most people give up on, and the dates stay as numbers. The following.json page explains the structure if you're curious; this page is for people who just want the spreadsheet.

Getting the CSV in two minutes

Request the export with Followers and following, All time and JSON — the download guide has the full click path. When the ZIP arrives, drop it on this page. The results step shows your counts and, among them, a free Your following list (N) — CSV button; press it and following.csv downloads. Columns are Username, Profile URL and Date Followed. There's no payment, no account and no limit on list size, and the file is built in your browser from your own export.

Opening it in Google Sheets, Excel and Numbers

The CSV is plain UTF-8 with a header row, so every spreadsheet reads it. In Google Sheets, use File → Import → Upload and accept the defaults. Excel and Numbers open it on double-click. The Date Followed column is in yyyy-mm-dd form, which all three recognise as a date, so sorting and filtering by date work without reformatting. As a precaution, any cell beginning with =, +, - or @ gets a leading apostrophe so a spreadsheet doesn't try to evaluate it as a formula — real Instagram handles can't start with those characters, so you'll rarely see it.

Sorting by the date you followed

Sort the sheet by Date Followed, oldest first, and you have the most useful view of your following list that exists: the accounts you followed longest ago, which are the ones you've most likely forgotten. This is the only place that date is available — Instagram shows nothing of the sort in the app, which is why the when-did-I-follow-them guide points here. Sorting newest-first shows your recent follows, handy for undoing a follow-for-follow spree. A full follower audit uses the same sheet as its starting point.

What the paid list adds

The following CSV is every account you follow. The question most people had in mind is narrower — which of those don't follow you back — and the same upload answers it: your non-follower count appears free, and the list of names is $2.99 one-time. It's the same data as the two free CSVs, pre-compared; if you'd rather do the lookup yourself, download the followers CSV as well and run a MATCH between the two Username columns. The who doesn't follow me back page covers the paid comparison in detail.

What this export can't do

It can't export anyone's following list but your own — the data comes from an export only you can request. It can't include display names, follower counts, bios or profile pictures, because following.json doesn't hold them. It can't mark whether each account follows you back; that's the paid comparison. And it's only as current as the export: follows you've made since Instagram generated the file aren't in it until you export again.

Frequently asked questions