How to Know Who Unfollowed You: 3 Quick Methods to Identify Instagram Unfollowers

As social media continues to play an increasingly important role in daily life, Instagram (IG) has become a key platform for brands and individuals to conduct online marketing. However, while managing an IG account, have you ever wondered exactly "who" has unfollowed you? And what impact might losing followers have on brand management?

What Impact Does Losing Followers Have on Brand Management?

According to Arachne Group Limited, losing followers on Instagram can indeed bring a series of negative effects to social media operations, specifically:

Decline in Engagement Rate and Credibility: A high number of followers often creates a professional and reliable impression. A decrease in followers may negatively affect potential audiences' first impression of the brand. Moreover, if the follower count drops and the engagement rate does not improve—or even decreases—the IG algorithm may perceive your content as low quality, thereby reducing its reach.

Reduced Reach and Visibility: The IG algorithm prioritizes promoting popular content. If you lose followers or your engagement rate drops, the organic reach of your posts and stories may decrease, making it harder for your content to be seen by a wider audience.

Fewer Potential Collaboration Opportunities: When brands collaborate with influencers or business accounts, they often consider follower count and engagement rates. A significant drop in followers, especially if sudden, may lead potential partners to question the account’s influence, reducing collaboration opportunities.

That said, losing followers isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes, it can even help improve your community quality:

Increase in Overall Engagement Rate: If the unfollowers are inactive, ghost, or fake accounts, their departure can actually improve your account’s overall engagement rate. The remaining followers are more likely to be genuinely interested in your content, resulting in higher interaction rates. This sends a positive signal to the IG algorithm, benefiting content distribution.

Improved Follower Quality and Brand Image: A community focused on quality rather than sheer quantity often leads to higher loyalty and conversion rates. Removing inactive or irrelevant followers can make your audience more aligned with your target demographic, enabling more precise content delivery and helping maintain a professional brand image.

How to Check "Who" Unfollowed Your Instagram Account?

First, it’s important to note that Instagram prioritizes user experience and privacy protection. Therefore, it does not notify users about changes in follow status. This means there’s no direct way to get this information within the app.

As a result, many businesses turn to third-party apps to track unfollowers. However, Arachne Group Limited warns that numerous accounts have been suspended due to using such apps. These applications often scrape large amounts of data from IG, leading the algorithm to flag the account for malicious activity, resulting in suspension and undoing all previous efforts.

Thus, if you really want to know who unfollowed you, avoid rashly using third-party apps. Instead, follow official, safe methods. Below are three practical approaches:

Method 1: Manually Search for Specific Accounts in Your Follower List

This is the simplest method, suitable for checking whether a specific person (e.g., an important client or partner) still follows you.

Step 1: Go to your profile and tap your follower count.

Step 2: In the follower list, use the search bar to look for the specific IG account.

Step 3: If the account doesn’t appear, it means they are no longer following you.

Method 2: Check the Status Display on the User’s Profile (if you don’t follow them)

“Follow”: means you are not following each other.

“Following”: means the user is following you, but you are not following them.

“Following” → “Follow”: means the user has unfollowed you.

▲ The above two methods are suitable for occasionally checking individual important contacts, not for large-scale tracking of unfollowers.

Method 3: Official Data Export and Comparison (Most Recommended)

To check unfollowers on a larger scale, this is the safest, most comprehensive, and officially endorsed method:

→  Go to “Settings and Privacy” → “Accounts Center”.

→  Select “Your information and permissions”.

→  Choose “Download your information” and enter your email.

→  IG will send a data file to your email.

→  Download the ZIP file, extract it, and you’ll find followers.json and following.json containing details of your followers and accounts you follow.

▲ It’s recommended to download this data periodically and import the follower lists into Excel or Google Sheets. Use the VLOOKUP function to identify accounts that were previously following you but are no longer in the list (i.e., unfollowers).

How to Handle Follower Loss and Strengthen Brand Management? Take Proactive Measures!

As IG CEO Adam Mosseri once noted, “Frequent posting may lead to short-term follower loss, but long-term growth is faster.” In other words, don’t overstress about short-term declines. Instead, focus on the following strategies to foster growth:

1.  Regularly Review and Clean Your Follower List

Periodically check your follower list to identify and remove inactive or fake accounts. You can:

Manually inspect followers based on post count, last active time, and following/follower ratios.

Use tools like IG’s built-in Insights or reliable third-party apps (e.g., Cleaner for Instagram) to analyze follower engagement.

2.  Focus on Creating High-Quality, Relevant Content

Content is key to retaining followers. Ensure your content:

Provides value: whether entertaining, educational, or practical.

Maintains visual consistency: high-quality images/videos and a unified style strengthen brand identity.

Encourages interaction: pose questions, run polls, use interactive stickers to prompt comments and shares.

3.  Actively Engage with Your Community

Build genuine community relationships through:

Prompt replies to comments and DMs.

Initiating online events or challenges to encourage user-generated content (UGC) and boost participation.

Using interactive features in Stories, such as polls, sliders, and Q&A sessions.

4.  Review and Adjust Your Content Strategy

If you continue to lose followers, consider:

Whether your content still aligns with your target audience’s interests.

Whether your posting frequency is appropriate—too frequent or too sparse can both negatively affect the user experience.

Whether there’s an over-reliance on promotional content, which may alienate followers.

5.  Avoid Buying Followers

Never purchase followers. These are typically fake accounts, bots, or ghost followers that do not engage authentically. They can lower your engagement rate, harm your account’s standing with the IG algorithm, reduce organic reach, and even risk account penalties. Organic growth may be slower but is more sustainable.

6.  Utilize IG’s Business Tools

For business or creator accounts, make full use of built-in tools like Instagram Insights. Understand your audience demographics (age, gender, location), active times, and top-performing content to optimize your strategy and posting schedule.

On the path of online marketing, choosing a professional and reliable partner is crucial. Arachne Group Limited’s online promotion team consists of experienced and creative professionals familiar with the rules and algorithms of major social media platforms. We develop personalized marketing strategies tailored to each brand’s unique needs. Whether on IG, Facebook, Twitter, or other platforms, we help brands rapidly enhance their visibility and influence.

In summary, understanding IG unfollowing activity requires safe and legitimate methods. At the core of IG management lies a focus on content creation and marketing strategy optimization—only then can an account achieve sustained growth!