Why Is the Followers File in Your Instagram Export Empty?

If you opened your Instagram data export and the followers file looks blank, that is almost always fixable. The file is almost certainly there — but one of four common problems is keeping you from seeing it: you are looking at the wrong file format, searching in the wrong folder, working with an archive that is still assembling, or your date range filtered the results down to nothing.

This post works through each cause so you can confirm which one applies and get to your actual follower data.

Common causes at a glance

Cause 1: You are opening the HTML format, not JSON

When you request a data download from Instagram, there is a format choice: HTML or JSON. The HTML format produces files you can view in a browser, but the content is sparse and often does not render at all when opened locally — the browser sees the file as a local resource and may block it, leaving you with a blank page or a list of links that go nowhere.

The JSON format is what tools read. Every username, every timestamp, every entry in your follower list lives in the JSON files. If you chose HTML, the followers data is technically present in the archive, but in a form that requires a browser environment to display — and a plain browser window usually cannot show it.

How to check: Unzip the archive and look at the file extensions. If you see .html files alongside the folder structure, you requested the HTML build.

Fix: Return to your Instagram settings, find the Download Your Information section, and submit a new request. On the format selector, choose JSON. A new archive will arrive by email.

For a detailed walkthrough of the request form and what each setting does, the Instagram data export step-by-step guide covers the full process.

Cause 2: The file is in a subfolder, not the archive root

The followers file is not at the top level of the archive. Instagram places it inside a specific subfolder path:

your_instagram_activity/
  connections/
    followers_and_following/
      followers_1.json   ← this is the file with your follower data
      following.json

Many people unzip the archive, see the top-level folders, and expect the follower data to appear immediately. It does not. You need to open connections, then followers_and_following, then followers_1.json.

If your account has a large number of followers, Instagram may split the list across multiple files: followers_1.json, followers_2.json, and so on. All of them live in the same followers_and_following folder.

The guide to which file in the Instagram export has your followers explains the full folder structure in detail, including the other files the archive contains and what they each store.

Cause 3: The archive is still assembling

Instagram sends an email when your export is ready to download, but the archive is not always fully built the moment the email arrives. For accounts with long histories, large media libraries, or high follower counts, Instagram sometimes delivers the archive in stages — the email comes through, the download link works, but some of the data files are still being packaged in the background.

If you downloaded immediately after the email arrived and found the followers file empty or unusually small, that is the likely explanation. Wait a few hours and download the archive again using the same link from the email. The link stays active for several days after delivery.

A rough size check helps: a followers_1.json for an account with a few hundred followers should be at least a few kilobytes. A file that is 0 bytes or fewer than 100 bytes is almost certainly still assembling.

If the download link has already expired, you will need to submit a new export request. The guide to what to do when your Instagram data download is not arriving covers the re-request steps and the common reasons the email gets delayed.

Cause 4: Your date range was set too narrow

Instagram's export request form includes an optional date range field. If you selected a start and end date — the last month, the last year, any specific window — Instagram limits the followers file to accounts that followed you within that period.

For most accounts, the majority of followers joined well before the window you selected. The result is a followers_1.json that is structurally valid JSON but contains zero entries, because no follows occurred in that specific range.

How to check: Open followers_1.json in a text editor. If you see "string_list_data": [] with nothing inside the brackets, the file is correctly formed but empty — the date filter returned nothing.

Fix: Submit a new export request with the date range field left completely blank. Instagram will include every follower from account creation onward. The new archive will arrive by email.

Confirming the file has your data

Once you have the right format and the right folder, open followers_1.json in any plain text editor. A file with valid follower data looks like this:

[
  {
    "title": "Followers",
    "media_list_data": [],
    "string_list_data": [
      {
        "href": "a link to the follower account profile",
        "value": "someusername",
        "timestamp": 1600000000
      }
    ]
  }
]

Each object in string_list_data represents one follower: the value field is the username, and timestamp is a Unix timestamp showing when they followed you. If string_list_data contains a full list of these objects, your data is intact.

If string_list_data is [], the file is valid but empty — revisit the four causes above. And if your visible follower count is in the thousands, check all the numbered files in the followers_and_following folder to confirm you are not missing followers_2.json or later files.

Once you have confirmed the data is there, the next step is comparing followers_1.json against following.json to find accounts that have not followed you back — or that were in an earlier export but are gone from this one.

If you would prefer not to compare JSON files by hand, hooleft.me reads the ZIP and does the comparison for you. Upload the archive as Instagram delivered it; hooleft.me reads every followers file and the following list automatically, then shows you the names that do not appear in both.

The shortcut: upload the ZIP to hooleft.me

For anyone who has confirmed the archive looks correct but does not want to wrangle JSON files in a text editor, hooleft.me handles the parsing and comparison in one step.

When you upload the ZIP to hooleft.me, it reads followers_1.json, following.json, and any overflow followers files from inside the archive. The result is a visual list of accounts that do not follow you back, with usernames, sorted and ready to review.

If the followers file is genuinely empty after trying the fixes above, hooleft.me will return a follower count of zero — which is itself diagnostic. It confirms the archive was readable but contained no follower data, pointing you back to the date range or format issue rather than leaving you guessing about whether the upload worked.

The free tier at hooleft.me shows your first three non-followers without creating an account. That is enough to confirm the upload parsed correctly and the data looks right before deciding whether to unlock the full list.

FAQ

Why does my followers_1.json file appear empty?

The two most common causes are opening the HTML version of the export instead of JSON, or looking at the archive root rather than the connections/followers_and_following/ subfolder. Open followers_1.json in a text editor. If string_list_data is an empty array, your date range was too narrow — re-request with no date filter.

Where is the followers file inside the Instagram data export?

Inside the unzipped archive, navigate to connections/followers_and_following/ and look for followers_1.json. The file is not at the root level. Large accounts may have additional files named followers_2.json, followers_3.json, and so on.

Can I re-request the export if my followers file is missing?

Yes. Return to your Instagram settings, find Download Your Information, and submit a new request in JSON format with the date range field left blank. The new archive arrives by email, typically within a few hours.

Does the date range setting affect the followers file?

Yes. Selecting a date range limits the export to followers who joined within that window. For a complete list, always leave the date range blank when requesting the download.

What if my followers file has data but fewer names than I expected?

Instagram splits large follower lists across multiple files: followers_1.json, followers_2.json, and so on. Check all the numbered files in connections/followers_and_following/. hooleft.me reads all of them automatically when you upload the ZIP.

What comes next

An empty followers file is almost always fixable — a format choice, a folder path, an incomplete download, or a date filter that returned nothing. Once the file has your data, the useful step is comparing it against your following list. For the fastest route from ZIP file to answers, upload the archive to hooleft.me and see who has left in seconds.