How to Download Your Instagram Followers List (ZIP & JSON Export)
Maybe a guide told you to "download your Instagram data and check the JSON". Maybe ChatGPT suggested comparing your followers.json file. Or maybe you just want your complete followers list as an actual file you own. Whatever brought you here: this is the full, current guide to downloading your Instagram followers and following lists — with the exact export settings that work, what's really inside the ZIP, and the easiest way to read it.
What the export actually gives you
Instagram lets every user download a copy of their own data — it's a legal right, built into the app. For followers specifically, the export contains:
Your complete followers list — every account that follows you, with the date they followed you.
Your complete following list — every account you follow, also with dates.
This is the only official, complete, password-free way to get these lists. Scraping tools and "follower exporter" browser extensions either break Instagram's rules, miss accounts, or both.
Step 1: Request the export (the settings matter)
Follow these steps exactly — the default export settings give you the wrong thing:
In the Instagram app, tap your profile picture, open the menu (☰), then tap Accounts Centre.
Tap Your information and permissions, then Export your information, then Create export.
Choose the profile you want, then tap Export to device.
Under Customise information, set all three options like this:
Information: Followers and following — only this. If you export everything, the ZIP includes all your photos and videos and can be gigabytes.
Date range: All time — a shorter range silently drops your older followers and your lists come out incomplete.
Format: JSON — the machine-readable format every analysis tool expects. (More on JSON vs HTML below.)
Start the export and wait for Instagram's email — usually just a few minutes, longer for very large accounts. You don't need to keep the app open.
Open the download link in the email and save the ZIP file. Don't unzip it — you'll use it exactly as Instagram sent it.
What's inside the ZIP
Curious what you just downloaded? Inside the ZIP, under a folder like connections/followers_and_following/, you'll find:
followers_1.json — your followers. Big accounts get several files: followers_1.json, followers_2.json, and so on.
following.json — everyone you follow.
Each entry in these files holds a username, a link to the profile, and a timestamp — the moment that follow happened. That timestamp is a small treasure: it's how you can find your oldest, most loyal followers, and it's data you can't see anywhere in the Instagram app itself.
JSON or HTML? (Choose JSON)
Instagram offers the export in two formats. HTML looks friendly — it opens in your browser as a readable page — but it's a dead end: no tool can reliably analyze it, and manually reading thousands of names in a web page is hopeless. JSON looks scary if you open it raw, but it's the format made for analysis. Every serious guide (and every AI assistant) will point you to JSON, and if you picked HTML by mistake, just create a new export — it only takes a few minutes.
How to actually read your lists
You have two options:
Option A: open the JSON yourself. Any text editor will open followers_1.json. You'll see your followers as a long wall of brackets, quotes, and timestamps. It's all there, technically. But answering real questions — who doesn't follow me back? who unfollowed me since last month? — means cross-comparing thousands of entries across files. Doing that by eye is miserable; even in a spreadsheet it's clumsy.
Option B: upload the ZIP to a local analyzer. The Instagram Follower Analyzer reads the whole ZIP for you — you don't even unzip it. It finds followers_1.json and following.json automatically (including split files), merges everything, and turns it into readable, searchable lists: followers, following, mutuals, who doesn't follow you back, your most loyal followers, your newest ones. Everything runs in your browser — the ZIP is never uploaded to any server, and no login is needed.
And if you keep your exports coming, it can answer the question the files alone never can: who unfollowed you between two checks.
Why your export numbers don't match your profile
Don't panic if the export says you follow 950 people but your profile says 940. The export includes deactivated and suspended accounts you still technically follow, while your profile only counts active ones. Those ghost entries can't be opened or unfollowed — their profiles show "page isn't available". The analyzer lets you mark them as Gone so your numbers finally line up and they stop haunting every future check.
Frequently asked questions
Can I download someone else's followers list? No. The data export only ever contains your own account's data. Any tool claiming to export another account's full follower list is either scraping (against Instagram's rules) or lying.
Will Instagram notify anyone or flag my account? No. The export is an official feature — requesting your own data is completely normal and invisible to everyone else.
How long does the export take? Usually minutes. Instagram emails you the moment it's ready, and the download link stays valid for a few days.
Why are my followers split into several files? Instagram chunks large follower lists into followers_1.json, followers_2.json, and so on. Tools that only read the first file undercount your followers — make sure whatever you use merges all of them (the analyzer does).
Is my ZIP safe to upload to a tool? Only if the tool processes it locally. Check for a clear statement that files never leave your device — that's how the analyzer on this site works. Never use a tool that wants your Instagram password; here's why that matters.
Does this cost anything? The export is free from Instagram, and analyzing it here is free too.
Your data is already yours — use it
Instagram hands you a complete, timestamped record of your followers and following. Most people never touch it. Download it with the right settings, drop the ZIP into the analyzer, and in seconds you'll know more about your own account than the app ever shows you.
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