How to Read Your Instagram Data Export JSON Files

When you download your Instagram data export, you receive a ZIP file full of JSON files. If you have never worked with JSON before, opening one of them for the first time can feel unrewarding: dense brackets, raw timestamps, and no obvious way to find the information you came for. But the data inside those files is genuinely useful — a complete, timestamped record of every follower and following relationship on your account — and it does not require coding skills to work with.

This post explains what the key files contain, how to read them without technical experience, and where the process becomes slow enough that a tool like hooleft.me becomes the practical choice.

What Is Inside the Instagram Data Export

When Instagram packages your data, it organizes it into folders. For follower tracking, the relevant folder is usually named connections/followers_and_following/. That folder contains several files:

• followers_1.json — every account currently following you, with timestamps
• following.json — every account you currently follow, with timestamps
• recently_unfollowed_accounts.json — accounts you have unfollowed in recent months
• pending_follow_requests.json — for private accounts, follow requests you have not yet approved

On accounts with many followers, the list is split across numbered files: followers_1.json, followers_2.json, and so on. The complete picture comes from combining all of them.

For a broader overview of what else the archive contains, the post on how Instagram's data download actually works covers the other folders and what each one holds.

Inside the Followers JSON File

Opening followers_1.json in a text editor or browser shows a structure like this:

[
  {
    "title": "",
    "media_list_data": [],
    "string_list_data": [
      {
        "href": "[profile link]",
        "value": "username",
        "timestamp": 1717200000
      }
    ]
  }
]

Each entry represents one follower. The value field is their username. The timestamp is a Unix timestamp — seconds since January 1, 1970 — that you can convert to a readable date using any free Unix timestamp converter.

The following.json file uses the same structure. Every account you follow appears as an entry with their username and the timestamp of when you followed them.

One detail worth noting: the recently_unfollowed_accounts.json file stores accounts you unfollowed, not accounts who unfollowed you. The data export does not contain a direct history of who has unfollowed your account. You find that by comparing two follower snapshots taken at different times and looking for names that disappeared.

Reading the Files Without a Programming Background

You do not need to write code to get useful information from these files. Here are the main things you can do manually:

Look up a specific username: Open the file in a text editor or browser. Use the find function (Ctrl+F on Windows, Cmd+F on Mac) and type the username. If it appears in the file, the account follows you. If it does not appear, it does not.

Read a single timestamp: Find the entry you are looking for, copy the timestamp number, and paste it into an online Unix timestamp converter. This gives you the exact date the person started following you.

Sort by date: Not straightforward manually. The entries are not in chronological order, and comparing timestamps across a large file is tedious without a tool.

Find non-mutual follows: Open both followers_1.json and following.json, and look for usernames that appear in one but not the other. This is the core task for finding who does not follow you back — and in theory it is simple. In practice, on any account with more than a few dozen connections, it is slow enough to be impractical.

The full step-by-step guide to requesting your Instagram data export explains how to get the file in the first place. What you do with it after is where the choice between manual reading and a tool like hooleft.me becomes relevant.

What You Can Discover from the Export

The combination of your followers and following files tells you things the Instagram app never surfaces directly:

• Which accounts follow you but you do not follow back
• Which accounts you follow but that do not follow you back
• The exact date a specific person started following you
• Whether someone who used to follow you is still in your list
• Your full list of mutual connections

What the export does not contain: a running history of past unfollows. The files capture the current state of your follower and following lists at the moment you requested the export. To see who left over a given period, you compare two exports — one from now and one from whenever you last downloaded — and note the names that vanished.

Comparison: Reading JSON Manually vs Using hooleft.me

The manual route is genuinely workable — if you are patient and comfortable with text files, you can get the information you need. Most people who try it once do not return to it: the files are large, the format is verbose, and comparing two snapshots carefully enough to avoid missing a name requires more focus than the task should need.

hooleft.me reads the same files and does the comparison for you. Upload your export ZIP and you see a named, dated list of followers and non-followers — the same data, presented in a format that takes seconds to read instead of an afternoon to assemble.

When to Use Each Approach

Manual JSON reading makes sense for one-off lookups: checking whether a specific account follows you, confirming a single timestamp, or exploring other parts of the archive beyond the follower files.

hooleft.me is the better choice for a complete picture — who follows you, who does not follow back, and how that has changed since the last time you checked. The visual layout and the ability to compare snapshots over time turn what is otherwise a technical exercise into a five-minute review.

If you have never exported your Instagram data, the process is simpler than it sounds and requires nothing beyond your account settings. Once you have the ZIP, hooleft.me reads the follower and following files automatically, without any JSON knowledge needed. hooleft.me does not store your personal data or access your Instagram account directly — it works from the file you give it.

FAQ

What format does the Instagram data export use?

Instagram exports your data as a ZIP file containing JSON files organized in folders. JSON files can be opened in any text editor or browser.

What is inside the followers_1.json file?

It lists every account currently following you, along with the timestamp of when they started following. Larger accounts may have followers_2.json, followers_3.json, and so on.

Can I read my Instagram data export on my phone?

You can, but it is awkward. JSON is easier to work with on a desktop. Alternatively, upload the ZIP to hooleft.me and it reads the files for you.

What is the difference between the followers and following files in the export?

The followers file lists accounts that follow you. The following file lists accounts you follow. Comparing them shows you non-mutual follows in either direction.

Is there a simpler way to read my Instagram data export?

Yes. hooleft.me parses the export automatically and shows a visual comparison of your followers and following lists without any JSON reading required.

The File Is Honest — Reading It Does Not Have to Be Hard

Your Instagram data export is one of the most complete records your account produces. It captures every follower relationship with a timestamp, without the filtering or delays the app introduces. The challenge is that JSON was built for machines, not for reading.

For anyone who wants the information without the friction, hooleft.me is the direct path: upload the ZIP file, and what was a dense technical document becomes a clear, readable record. Same data. Less squinting.