Instagram data guide

How to download your Instagram followers data

Instagram lets you download an official copy of your account information. You can use the followers and following files to compare your audience over time without giving a third-party tool your Instagram password.

Request the export

1. Open Instagram and go to Accounts Center.
2. Choose Your information and permissions, then Download your information.
3. Select Download or transfer information and choose your Instagram profile.
4. Choose Some of your information, then select Followers and following.
5. Choose Download to device. Set the date range to All time and the format to JSON.
6. Submit the request and wait for Instagram to make the ZIP file available.

Instagram occasionally changes its menu labels. If yours differ, look in Accounts Center for “Download your information” and select only followers and following.

Which files do you need?

The ZIP normally contains files such as followers_1.json and following.json. Unfollower Snitch can read the ZIP directly, so you do not need to extract or edit it.

Why two exports are required

An export is a snapshot, not a history of every unfollow. Save your first ZIP as the “before” snapshot. Download another days or weeks later as the “after” snapshot. Comparing them reveals who disappeared, who arrived, and how your own following list changed.

Keep your account safe

You should not need to enter your Instagram password into an unfollower checker. On Unfollower Snitch, the comparison happens locally in your browser; the selected files and usernames are not uploaded to our server.

Compare your two Instagram exports now or read how Instagram unfollower tracking works.