How To See Recent Followers on Instagram: Is It Possible?

You might be curious to see who most recently followed a certain someone on Instagram for many reasons. Maybe you want to know how to see recent followers on Instagram to see who’s snooping around your partner’s page. Perhaps you’re a mom protecting your kids with a makeshift parental control measure of checking who has followed them lately. Or maybe you’re a striving influencer who wants to engage with your latest followers and thank them for their support.

Regardless of your reason, if you want to uncover an account’s latest followers, stick around. In this guide, we’re uncovering whether it’s possible and how to do it, step by step.

Followers vs Following: Don’t Get Them Mixed Up!

Before getting into the nitty-gritty of how to see recently followed on Instagram, here’s a refresher on followers vs following.

First, we have your follower base. Followers are people who have followed or essentially “subscribed” to your Instagram account. Whenever you post something on Instagram, your followers see it on their feed. These users saw your content, liked what you had to offer, and wanted to stay updated on your regular posts. These also include your friends and family who follow your page to stay in touch with you.

Then, we have the people you’re following. Basically, these people are those whose posts you would like to see on your feed every time you open Instagram. These are typically friends, family, and other content creators and brands from which you want to see and hear more.

It’s interesting to go through the list of people you follow from time to time for regular clean-ups and such. (Pro tip: it’s super easy to view who you’ve followed in chronological order. There’s a filter button available at the top-right corner of the list when you view it!) But today, we’re focusing on followers—the group of users who follow a certain account.

How To View Followers on Instagram

Before we get to seeing an account’s latest fans, it’s imperative to know how to view followers on Instagram first. Here’s how to check out your follower list from your profile:

1. Open your Instagram app.

2. Click the profile icon on the bottom-right corner of the home page. This takes you to your profile.

3. You should see the number of followers you have at the top of your page. It should be somewhere to the right of your profile picture. Click on that number to see your full follower list.

What’s awesome about checking your list of followers is that it’s automatically arranged according to recency. The first name you see on the list is your most recent follower, and the last is your very first.

Are you wondering how to see the most recent followers on Instagram for other accounts? The process is pretty much the same. Here’s a quick step-by-step of it:

1. Open Instagram and click the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the page.

2. Search the username of the account whose recent followers you would like to see. Then, click on their page.

3. When you’re on their profile, click their number of followers. It should be in the same place you find yours on your profile. This should lead you to their follower list.

The main difference between seeing your list of followers vs someone else’s is that the latter isn’t arranged chronologically.

Note that on some verified accounts, the message “Only [username] can see all followers” is at the top of the list. You’ll typically see this on celebrities’ profiles.

How Are Follower Lists Arranged on Instagram?

When you look at your follower list, all the names are arranged according to who most recently followed you. However, if you look at someone else’s list of followers, this doesn’t apply. So, how are other people’s lists arranged?

It seems that Instagram arranges another user’s followers based on how you know them. If you follow an account, your username will be the first on their list of followers if you view it.

After that, you’ll probably see mutual followers or people you and that user both follow yourselves. The names are also arranged according to how much you interact with them.

Then, the Instagram algorithm will list the rest of their followers with whom you have no connection. These are people you don’t follow, don’t have mutuals with, and haven’t interacted at all.

How To See the Order of Someone’s Following on Instagram

Seeing your own follower list chronologically is very easy with Instagram’s in-app filter to see your most recent followers. This is awesome if you plan on interacting with your latest fans. It’s a great strategy to build a relationship with them early on. It encourages them to interact with your content, potentially pulling up your engagement rates.

But what about on the flip side? You might be wondering how to see the order of someone’s following on Instagram other than yourself.

Unfortunately, there’s currently no filter to arrange someone’s list of followers in chronological order. A popular trick was to view the list on a desktop and sort it according to recency. However, that hack doesn’t seem to work anymore.

So, right now, it looks like the only way to see someone else’s most recent followers is by using third-party apps. One tool called Snoopreport, for example, shows you any public profile’s follower activity. That means you’ll see a user’s most recent followers in a jiffy.

The third-party tool boasts being able to track a hundred Instagram accounts’ follower activity at a time. The best part is you don’t have to give them your login credentials, which ensures your account security.

Reddit posters have also shared a Google Chrome extension called “IG Follow” with other curious Instagram users. To use the extension, you just install it, open it, and type the username of the account whose followers you want to view. Then, it generates a list of their followers according to recency. Note that the extension might be glitchy whenever Instagram has a significant app update. That said, people on forums still swear by its power.

A Word of Warning: Using Third-Party Apps Can Lead to Some Dire Consequences

Using third-party apps to see someone’s recent followers might be super tempting because of its ease and convenience. However, note that they might not always be beneficial in the long run.

Instagram is very strict about its policies regarding using third-party tools to generate inauthentic activity and breach its users’ privacy. Using an app that creates insights using the private data of users may sound the alarm for Instagram.

If they trace the usage of these suspicious tools to your account, they can potentially put you on a shadowban. If a user experiences shadowbanning, it significantly reduces their post visibility, impacting your reach and engagement rates. So, use third-party sites to see an account’s recent followers at your own risk.

How To See Recent Followers on Instagram for Private Accounts: Is It Possible?

When an account is private, there’s no way for someone who doesn’t follow them to see their follower list. There’s no way even to speculate who follows them and in what chronological order they did.

Now, you may be thinking that maybe third-party tools can help with this instead. Unfortunately, most third-party apps rely only on public data to see Instagram users’ follower activity. That means that with these apps and extensions, you can only see recent followers of public profiles. Private accounts are completely off-limits.

Remember always to respect someone’s decision to keep their profile private and protect their follower list from the public. If their profile is private, there’s essentially no way to get accurate data about their recent followers. So, it’s best to let your curiosity go.

Get Even More New Followers With Path Social!

Curiosity can get the best of us sometimes, especially when it comes to knowing who recently followed a specific page. If you really want to get this info somehow, reputable third-party tools will be your go-to.

Luckily, your chronological follower list is more easily accessible. Engaging with your most recent followers is an awesome relationship-building technique that can win love and loyalty from your fans. But you also have to be forward-thinking and strategize how to win over even more new followers. Now that you know how to see recent followers on Instagram (and its limitations), it’s time to focus on growth.

That’s something you can do with the Path Social team. We use AI to track down the type of audience most likely to enjoy and interact with your content. Then, we promote and serve your content to make sure it reaches those people’s screens. They’ll discover your page and all the neat content you publish. This leads to an increase in your follower base, allowing you to keep growing in a sustainable, genuine way. Gain more followers with us today!