How to Download Your Instagram Followers List in 2026

There is no single "export my followers" button inside Instagram, but your full followers list is included inside the data archive that Instagram makes available to every user. The short version: you request the archive from your Instagram settings, wait for an email, and your followers list arrives as a JSON or HTML file inside a ZIP. This post walks through exactly how to get it — and, more usefully, what you can do with it once you have it.

What the Instagram Followers List Export Contains

When you download your followers data from Instagram, you get a file called followers_1 — or followers_1.html if you chose the HTML format. This file contains:

• The username of every account currently following you
• A link reference to each profile
• A timestamp showing when that account started following you

This is a static snapshot. It reflects your followers at the exact moment you submitted the export request, not in real time. If someone unfollows you after you request the export, they will still appear in the file you download.

Your archive also includes a following file, which lists every account you follow. Together, these two files contain everything you need to find out who follows you back, who does not, and — when compared across two exports — who has left.

For more context on the full contents of an Instagram archive, the guide on how Instagram's data download actually works explains what else is included and how the format is structured.

How to Request Your Instagram Data Download

The steps below apply to both the mobile app and the desktop website, though the exact menu labels can shift slightly between app versions.

1. Open Instagram and go to your profile.
2. Tap the menu (three lines) and select Settings and privacy.
3. Tap Account Center (this is Meta's unified settings hub).
4. Select Your information and permissions.
5. Tap Download your information.
6. Choose your Instagram account from the list.
7. Select Some of your information, then tick Followers and following.
8. Choose JSON as the file format. JSON is more compatible with comparison tools; HTML is easier to read in a browser.
9. Set the date range to All time.
10. Tap Create files and submit the request.

Instagram will send an email to the address on your account with a download link. The wait time varies — anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours is typical, though Instagram's help documentation notes it can occasionally take up to 48 hours for larger accounts.

When the email arrives, follow the link, log in if prompted, and download the ZIP file. Keep it somewhere you can find it — you will want to compare it to future exports if you are tracking follower changes over time.

Reading the Followers List File

After downloading the ZIP, open it and look for the followers_1 file. If you requested HTML format, opening the file in any web browser shows a simple list of usernames with timestamps. If you requested JSON format, the file is a structured array of objects — one object per follower — each containing the username and the date they followed you.

Reading the JSON in a text editor is perfectly doable. The structure is straightforward. But comparing two JSON files side by side — finding accounts that appear in one and not the other — is tedious work if your account has more than a few hundred followers. Most people who try this in a spreadsheet underestimate how long it takes.

How to Find Unfollowers Using Your Followers List

One export shows you a snapshot. Two exports show you movement. The process:

1. Download your followers list today (your baseline).
2. Wait a week, a month, or however long feels meaningful.
3. Download a second followers list.
4. Compare the two. Any username in the first file that is missing from the second has unfollowed you during that period.

This is the most accurate method available for tracking Instagram unfollowers. It uses data Instagram provides directly, requires no login to any third-party service, and carries no risk to your account. The limitation is the manual comparison step — and that is where hooleft.me comes in.

The Faster Way: hooleft.me Reads the Files for You

hooleft.me is designed specifically for the comparison step. Upload your Instagram data ZIP to hooleft.me, and it parses your followers and following files automatically, then displays the results: who follows you back, who does not, and — if you have uploaded a previous snapshot — who left since then.

hooleft.me does not connect to your Instagram account and does not ask for your credentials. It reads the ZIP file you give it. The comparison that would take 20 minutes in a spreadsheet takes a few seconds in hooleft.me. The Free tier covers a single export comparison; the Pro plan adds snapshot history so you can track changes across multiple exports over time.

For anyone who wants to see who stopped following them on Instagram without giving a third-party app account access, the export-plus-hooleft.me path is the cleanest option available.

If you have already downloaded your ZIP, go to hooleft.me and upload it now. The follower comparison your notifications never gave you is already in the file.

Comparison: Ways to Access Your Followers List

FAQ

Can I download my Instagram followers list directly?

Not through a dedicated button. Your followers list is included inside the broader Instagram data archive, which you can request through Settings and your account center. It arrives as a JSON or HTML file inside a ZIP.

What format is the Instagram followers list in?

You can choose JSON or HTML when requesting your data. JSON is more useful for programmatic comparison; HTML is easier to read in a browser. Both contain usernames and the timestamp of when each account followed you.

Does the Instagram followers list show when someone followed me?

Yes. Each entry in the followers file includes a timestamp showing when that account followed you — at the time of the export request.

How do I find out who unfollowed me using my followers list?

Download two exports at different times and compare the followers files. Accounts in the first that are missing from the second have unfollowed you. hooleft.me automates this: upload your ZIP and it shows you the difference instantly.

Is downloading my Instagram data safe?

Yes. You are requesting data Instagram already holds about your account, through Instagram's own settings. No third-party app access to your credentials is involved.

Your List Is Already There

Instagram does not make your followers list easy to export in the way a spreadsheet would, but the data is there, it belongs to you, and you can request it whenever you want. A single download gives you a snapshot; a habit of downloading every few weeks gives you something closer to a timeline.

If you want the timeline without the manual comparison work, hooleft.me does it for you — same data, far less time.