Several readers have emailed us with a specific question: “How do I see who unfollowed me on Instagram?” The truth of the matter is that Instagram doesn't natively offer this functionality right within the app. However, there are some methods to still discover unfollows.
For many millennials, Instagram is the social media platform that interests them most. Beyond seeing what your friends are up to, you can use the Instagram to seek inspiration, learn and explore new areas of interest from professionals or masters of their craft (bodybuilding, automotive, cooking, makeup or photography are great examples).
Some people only want to follow those who follow them back (to increase their follower count). We will share multiple methods with you to help you determine if a particular person unfollows you on Instagram or how to set up a third-party app to regularly monitor who unfollowed you on Instagram.
Article Shortcuts (Jump To A Section)
Manual Verification Of A Specific Instagram Account(s)
Apps For Tracking Instagram Unfollow
Are Instagram Unfollow Reporting Apps Safe?
What To Do With People Who Unfollowed You On Instagram?
How To Find Out Who Unfollowed You On Instagram (Manually)
If you are specifically looking to see whether a particular user unfollowed me on Instagram, then this will be the quickest method to carry out and also the least time-consuming.
If the Instagram user follows you and you don't follow back
If you are questioning whether someone in particular still follows me, but you have never followed them then you'll be able to use this simple method.
Instagram recently added a feature that will show you a ‘Follow Back' button if a user is actively following you, but you haven't done it in return or since unfollowed.
This means if visit an Instagram profile of someone which you don't follow, but you know used to follow you in the past then it should still say “Follow Back.” If it doesn't and all you see is just the ‘Follow' button then they have in fact unfollowed your account.
If you and the Instagram user mutually follow each other
When both you and the Instagram user in question follow each other, it becomes a more complicated endeavor as Instagram just shows a checkmark for anyone you are currently following to regardless of whether it is mutual or not.
The first option you have is either unfollow them and look for the “Follow Back” button. This is the easiest option, but it will also mean that they will likely get a notification that you followed them again (they may then think you unfollowed them) or you'll have to request permission to follow again if their Instagram profile is private.
Secondly, you can manually check your Instagram follower list which is not a big deal with a small account but can be cumbersome if you have more than 1K followers. To do this, visit your profile > click on your ‘followers' count and scour the list to see if this person's username is present. If their Instagram username isn't shown in this section, then they have unfollowed you.
Apps For Tracking Instagram Unfollow
While the previous methods would allow you to determine if a specific Instagram user unfollowed you, this section will show you multiple apps which can be linked to your Instagram and automatically show you which users have unfollowed you over time.
Note: There are many articles on this question which are outdated and recommend an app called Unfollowgram which used to be the best way to track Instagram unfollowers for over four years. However, Instagram changed their terms of service and since the method Unfollowgram used was now against their terms, their service used to be able to tell who unfollowed you on Instagram, it has since been shut down (though it still remains live for Twitter users).
1. Followers For Instagram! (iOS)
An iOS app that allows you to link up your Instagram account to view data like new followers, unfollowers, users who don't follow you back and followers that you don't follow back.
There are a bunch of free features (including unfollower tracking), but you'll need to utilize the in-app purchases from $0.99 to $1.99 to unlock advanced features like to track who has blocked you on Instagram.
Beyond this, the interface is less than stellar with a design format that looks like it could have been developed back in 2005. However, all flaws aside, it can actively track who unfollowed you on Instagram for free.
2. Follow Cop (Android)
A freemium app for Android users, Follow Cop allows you to gain a bunch of statistics on your Instagram account including non-followers, recent unfollowers, ghost followers (in-active users), top likers and top commenters.
The app is ad-supported for free users, and paid users receive no ads with higher limits for specific features. If you are looking for a free and easy to use solution for tracking who unfollowed you on Instagram from your Android smartphone or tablet then Follow Cop is a great app to consider.
3. Followers Tracker (Android)
Yet another freemium app for iOS users, Followers Tracker provides a management tool that can actively track users that have followed or unfollowed your Instagram account in real-time with comprehensive analysis.
Unlike Followers for Instagram mentioned above, this app has a modern user interface and feel to it, but charges a fee to use. This ranges from $4.99 for a month's worth of use, $17.99 for a six-month period of $23.99 for a full year of access.
Are Instagram Unfollow Reporting Apps Safe?
Many people want to utilize third-party apps for tracking their Instagram unfollowers, but they are worried about the safety of their IG account. It is true that Instagram doesn't want you to utilize third-party services, but these apps are relatively safe and you run little to no risk in using them.
However, use your own judgment before signing up for any of them and remember that moderation is key to staying under the radar. For example, enabling any sort of automation with automatically following/unfollowing other users could potentially flag your Instagram account as spam. Whereas merely monitoring and checking who has followed or unfollowed your Instagram account shouldn't draw much attention on a social platform this large.
From our knowledge, there are no known cases where Instagram users had their accounts banned for using such a service for tracking who unfollowed them. However, there are certainly cases where people have had their Instagram account shut down for over automating tasks like following, unfollowing, comments or likes.
What To Do With People Who Unfollow You On Instagram?
If you've gotten this far then, you probably have utilized at least one of the methods to determine who unfollowed me on Instagram. Once you've gotten this far you can decide to take a few different approaches to dealing with this dilemma:
- Do nothing, leave the Instagram user who unfollowed you alone and try to attract new, more targeted followers.
- Follow, like or comment on the unfollowed Instagram user's profile to try and win back their attention.
- Send them a direct message asking why they unfollowed, potentially convincing them to refollow you or gain valuable knowledge as to how to approach Instagram in a way that retains your current followers.
