Instagram buries this feature, but it is one of the most useful things you can do with your account. Under GDPR Article 20, the platform has to give you a portable copy of your own data on request, and that includes your full followers and following lists, your posts, your messages, and more.
You do not need anyone's app or your password shared with a third party to get it. Here is the whole process.
Where to find the setting
The menu wording shifts slightly between app versions, but the path is stable:
- On the mobile app: Profile, then the menu (☰) in the top right, then Settings and activity. Scroll to "Your activity," then tap "Download your information."
- On desktop: Go to your profile, open Settings, then find "Your activity" and "Download your information." You can also go straight to the Accounts Center download page from your browser.
Instagram may ask you to confirm your password (its own login prompt, not a third party) before it starts the request.
The one setting that matters: JSON, not HTML
When you request the export, Instagram asks for a format. You get two choices, and the difference matters if you plan to actually analyze the data.
- JSON is structured data. It is the format tools can read cleanly and compare over time. Pick this one.
- HTML is a set of web pages meant for casual human browsing. It is harder for tools to parse reliably.
Choose JSON. If you already requested HTML, it can still work with a good parser, but JSON is the clean path.
Narrow the request so it comes back fast
By default Instagram tries to export everything, which for an old account can be gigabytes and can take days. You don't need all of it to see your followers.
When you set up the request, choose to customize the information instead of "all available information," and select just "Followers and following." Set the date range to "All time." A narrow request like this usually comes back within a few hours instead of days.
How long it takes
For a focused followers-and-following request, expect a few hours, sometimes faster. For a full account export, Instagram warns it can take up to 14 days, though it is often quicker. You will get an email from Instagram with a download link when it is ready. The link expires after a few days, so grab it when it lands.
What is actually inside the ZIP
You will download a ZIP archive. If you open it, the files that matter for follower analysis live in one folder:
- `connections/followers_and_following/followers_1.json` is your followers list. Very large accounts get this split across `followers_2.json`, `followers_3.json`, and so on.
- `connections/followers_and_following/following.json` is the list of accounts you follow.
Each entry holds a username, a profile link, and a timestamp for when the connection was made. You do not have to open or understand any of this yourself. A tool reads it for you.
What to do with it
The export is just data until you compare the two lists. The moment you diff your followers against your following, you get the answers Instagram hides:
- Who you follow that doesn't follow you back
- Who unfollowed you since your last export
- Which followers are likely inactive or ghosts
Drop the ZIP into WhoUnfollowed and it reads the file entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded to a server. You can switch off your wifi before you drop the file in, and it still works, which is the simplest proof that your data never leaves your device.
A note on safety
The reason to get comfortable with the official export is that it removes any excuse to hand your password to a follower-tracking app. Those apps log in as you and pull data through Instagram's private API, which breaks Instagram's Terms of Use and is a common reason accounts get restricted. The export Instagram gives you is already yours. A good tool just reads it, no password required.
Why the Wait Exists
A "Followers and following" request usually comes back in a few hours, but a full account archive can take up to 14 days, and it's worth knowing why. Instagram doesn't generate your export on demand the instant you click the button. The request goes into a batch processing queue that compiles data across multiple internal systems: your profile, your posts, your messages, your connections, each stored differently and pulled together only when someone asks for a copy. A narrow request touches one of those systems. A full archive touches all of them, which is the entire reason narrowing the request to just your connections data is worth doing even if you eventually want the rest.
Narrow Request vs Full Archive, Side by Side
- Followers and following only: typically a few hours, a file usually under a few megabytes, contains just your connections data with timestamps.
- Full "all available information": up to 14 days, can run into gigabytes for an active account, includes posts, stories, messages, comments, ad interests, and login history alongside your connections data.
If your goal is follower analysis, the narrow request gets you everything you need without the wait or the file size.
If the Export Never Arrives
A download link that doesn't show up within the expected window usually has one of a few explanations. Check your spam or promotions folder first. Instagram's export emails sometimes land there, especially on the first request from a given account. If it's genuinely been longer than the estimate (a few hours for a narrow request, 14 days for a full archive), submit a fresh request rather than waiting indefinitely. Also worth knowing: the download link Instagram sends expires after a few days. If you requested the export a while back and only just found the email, the link may already be dead, in which case a new request is the only fix.
Mobile vs Desktop: What Actually Differs
The setting lives in the same place conceptually on both, but the path to it looks different enough to trip people up. On mobile, it's nested under your profile menu and "Settings and activity." On desktop, Instagram increasingly routes this through the shared Accounts Center rather than a page unique to Instagram, since Accounts Center is shared across Instagram, Facebook, and Threads for anyone with linked accounts. If you manage multiple Meta accounts, double check you're requesting the export for the right one. Accounts Center makes it easy to be logged into several at once.
What to Do With the File Afterward
Once you've uploaded the ZIP somewhere that reads it locally, like WhoUnfollowed, there's no ongoing reason to keep the file in your Downloads folder indefinitely, though keeping the last one or two exports is genuinely useful. Having a prior export on hand is what lets you compare against a newer one later and see exactly who unfollowed you in between. Store a couple of recent exports somewhere you'll remember, delete the rest, and treat the file the same way you'd treat any personal data export: useful to keep briefly, not something to leave scattered across every device you own.
