Instagram Follower Audit: 5 Numbers From Your Own Export

How it works

1. 1

   Request a Followers and following export

   In the Instagram app go to Settings and privacy → Accounts Centre → Your information and permissions → Export your information → Create export. Pick your Instagram profile, tick only Followers and following, set the date range to All time, the format to JSON, and choose Download to device.

2. 2

   Collect the ZIP when Instagram emails you

   A followers-only export is normally ready in 10–20 minutes. Instagram sends an email with a download link that stays valid for four days; the same file is also listed on the Export your information screen.

3. 3

   Upload the ZIP on this page

   Pick the ZIP in the uploader above. Your browser reads the followers and following files locally, compares them, and shows the result straight away. Nothing is sent to a server, and you can close the tab whenever you like.

What an audit from the export looks like

Your profile shows two totals. An audit turns them into a breakdown: of the people you follow, how many follow you back; of the people who follow you, how many you follow; and how many entries in either list point at accounts that no longer exist. The data export is the only source for this that doesn't involve logging in from a third-party server, and a followers-only export is small enough to arrive in minutes. The data export guide shows exactly which files are inside.

UnfollowChecker reads the ZIP in your browser and produces the figures below in one pass, with free CSVs of both raw lists. Nothing is uploaded, and nothing is kept.

The five numbers

Each figure is defined by set arithmetic on the two files, which is why they are exact rather than estimated:

• Followers — every username in the followers_N.json files. This should match your profile count minus accounts that have since been deleted.
• Following — every username in following.json, including placeholder entries for accounts you still follow that no longer exist.
• Mutuals — usernames in both. The count is free; the list is in the $3 add-on. Detail on the mutual followers page.
• Fans — in followers, not in following. Count free, list in the same add-on. Detail on the fans page.
• Non-followers — in following, not in followers. Count free, full list $2.99. Detail on the non-followers page.
• Deleted (the footnote) — placeholder entries with no username. Excluded from the three groups above and reported separately.

Making the numbers reconcile

Two identities hold for every export, and checking them is the fastest way to confirm the audit read your files correctly. Following equals mutuals plus non-followers plus deleted. Followers equals mutuals plus fans. If the first one is off, the export was probably requested with a date range shorter than All time, which drops older follows from the following file; re-request with All time and it balances.

The deleted figure is worth a moment's attention on its own. Instagram removes fully deleted accounts from your visible counts, but deactivated accounts — the ones that might come back — stay in your lists as placeholders. A large deleted count relative to your following total usually means an old following list built up during a follow-for-follow phase that has quietly decayed.

Running the audit

Request the export from Accounts Centre → Your information and permissions → Export your information → Create export. Tick only Followers and following, set the range to All time, the format to JSON, and choose Download to device. Instagram emails a link in about 10–20 minutes; if it's been much longer, the export-delay guide explains what's normal and what to do. Upload the ZIP here and the five numbers appear immediately, with the deleted count beside them.

The counts, both CSVs and a blurred preview of the non-followers list are free. The written-out non-followers list is $2.99; the fans and mutuals lists are a $3 add-on. Every paid list is emailed as a CSV so the audit survives closing the tab. The followers check page describes the same output from the CSV side if spreadsheets are where you'd rather work.

Repeating the audit over time

One export is a snapshot; two are a trend. Keep each ZIP with the date in the filename, and when you take the next one, upload the pair to the free unfollowers diff. It compares the two followers files and lists who left and who joined in between, in full, at no cost. Over a few months that tells you whether your fans group is growing on its own, whether mutuals are drifting to non-followers, and whether a cleanup actually changed anything.

Monthly is a sensible cadence for most accounts. Weekly is overkill unless you're running a campaign; yearly loses the detail. The export itself is free and unlimited, so the only cost is the fifteen minutes of waiting each time.

What this tool can't do

The audit can't rate follower quality — fake, inactive or engaged — because the export holds follow dates and nothing about likes or comments; the ghost followers page explains that limit in full. It can't audit someone else's account. It can't take action: no following, unfollowing or removing on your behalf. And it reflects the export date, not now. Within those limits, the five numbers are exact.

Frequently asked questions