Method 1: compare two data downloads (full list)
This is the only way to get the complete list of everyone who unfollowed you. Instagram does not send a notification when someone unfollows, and the app has no unfollowers screen, so you work from your own data.
- Request your information the first time: in the Instagram app or site, open Accounts Center, then Your information and permissions, then Download your information. Choose Some of your information, tick Followers and following, pick JSON format and All time, and create the files. Save the zip somewhere safe.
- Wait. A week is the minimum for the comparison to mean anything; a month gives a clearer picture of who is drifting away.
- Request your information a second time, exactly the same way, and download the new zip.
- Drop both zips into our Instagram unfollowers checker using the "Compare with an older download" option. It lists every account that was in the old followers list but is missing from the new one: those are the unfollows, plus any new followers since.
The whole comparison happens in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, and you never type your Instagram password anywhere.
Method 2: check one account manually
If you only care about a specific person, you do not need any download. Open their profile in the app or on the web:
- If the button says Follow, they are not following you. (If you are not following them either, this tells you nothing about the past, only the present.)
- If it says Following with a dropdown, they follow you back.
- If you follow them and the button says Follow Back, they follow you but you do not follow them.
This only shows the current state. It cannot tell you when someone unfollowed, and for private accounts you must be an approved follower to see anything at all.
What about recently_unfollowed_profiles.json?
Your download contains a file called recently_unfollowed_profiles.json. Despite the name, it lists the accounts you recently unfollowed, not the people who unfollowed you. It is your own action history. To find who unfollowed you, you need the two-download comparison in Method 1.
Why not use an unfollower app?
Most unfollower apps ask for your Instagram login and then scrape your account on a schedule to detect changes. That violates Instagram's terms, risks a temporary lock or permanent ban, and hands your credentials to a stranger. Some also miss unfollows because Instagram rate-limits their scraping. Your own data export has the same information, comes straight from Instagram, and never leaves your device when you use a browser-based checker.
How often should you check?
Monthly is plenty for most people. Requesting a fresh download each month and comparing it against the previous one gives you a rolling picture of who is leaving. Creators watching growth more closely sometimes do it weekly, but the download can take hours to generate at busy times, so do not expect real-time results either way.
What the numbers cannot tell you
An unfollow is a weak signal. People prune their following lists in bulk, deactivate accounts, or get their accounts deleted by Instagram, and all of those look identical to an unfollow in the data. Do not read a breakup into a bulk prune. If you are tracking this for a business account, pair it with engagement numbers: losing followers while engagement holds steady usually means dead weight leaving, not a content problem.
Keep growing after the cleanup
Run the comparison automatically with the Instagram unfollowers checker: drop in two downloads and it names every account that stopped following you. Then work on keeping the followers you have: measure real performance with the Instagram engagement rate calculator, post when your audience is active with best time to post on Instagram, and reach new people with the Instagram hashtag generator.