Instagram Unfollow Apps: To Use or Not To Use

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Karen Lin

Instagram Tools | Jun 18, 2023

Want More Real Instagram Followers?

Curious about “Instagram Unfollow Apps”? No worries, you’re not the only one trying to fine-tune your follower/following count. Most IG users have been here before, either keeping tabs on who’s hit unfollow, or needing a social media purge.

If you’re looking to make Instagram your career as a content creator or influencer, these are actually important to track. You want to know who is enjoying your content, who isn’t, and when. Additionally, as you grow your following and brand viability, you should streamline who you follow. So how do you track all of this while focusing on your social media career?

Instagram Unfollow Apps offer a time-effective solution to this quandary. They take the burden of endlessly scrolling through your followers and following lists. That way, you can get back to doing what you love: creating content. That is, if these apps do what they say they’ll do.

If you’re new to the world of these third-party apps, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve put together your one-stop-shop guide all about mass-unfollowing and apps to see who unfollowed you on Instagram. Keep scrolling to take the next step in maintaining your social media presence.

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What are Instagram Unfollow Apps?

Instagram Unfollow Apps refer to one of two things. They’re either apps that keep track of who’s unfollowing you, or an app with a mass unfollow tool. These apps can be found in either the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store for download.

Most if not all of these services work by linking up with your Instagram account. The idea is to make the process easier and automated. For checking your follower count, these apps easily point you to which accounts have dropped from your list. For unfollowing, just a couple of taps and you can scrub hundreds of accounts.

It’s easy to see why these apps exist. They’re powerful options for taking control of your follower insights. But before we get into if/when to use them (and which ones), there are two questions left to answer:

  • Should you check who’s unfollowed you?
  • Should you mass unfollow other people on Instagram?

Woman checking Instagram Unfollow App on phone in sunny park

Instagram Unfollow Apps: Should You Check Who’s Unfollowed You

For the casual scroller, using an app to see who unfollowed you on Instagram may seem intense. Many users see IG as a way to keep up with friends, get entertainment, or to learn something new. To them the occasional lost follower doesn’t make waves. But for content creators or influencers, the situation is different. Here are two reasons why you might want to know who’s unfollowed you:

  1. Networking. When building up an audience base, making connections with other successful creators in your field is important. They can show you the ropes, share their experience, and potentially even collaborate with you. In fact, with Instagram’s new collabs posting feature, expanding your reach is easier than ever. 

    Networking also means you have friends within the industry. In that situation, you want to know if one of those accounts (especially if it’s a verified account) unfollowed you. This will give you a better understanding of how your peers feel about you and your content. If you check this regularly, you can respond to these changes quickly.

  2. Staying in touch with your audience. It’s also important to know when someone unfollows you when you don’t know them or they aren’t part of your network. Why? Because it’s a sign that someone no longer wishes to keep up with your content. 

    The odd unfollow here or there is no big deal, of course. But if you start to notice a trend of your numbers dwindling, you can pinpoint when and why this is happening. Does it have to do with what you’re posting? Is it a certain kind of content that’s turning people off?

    On the other hand, maybe there’s a trend in the kind of account that’s leaving your page. To have a successful online brand, it’s important to be aware of trends no matter how small.

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Instagram Unfollow Apps: Should You Mass Unfollow Other Accounts

To unfollow or not to unfollow on Instagram, that is the question. Again, using an Instagram Unfollow App to mass reduce who you’re following isn’t a necessity for the ordinary IG user. For example, if you follow only your friends, family and a few handles relating to your interests. In that case, it’s much easier to just hit the unfollow button one by one. However, if your Instagram presence is part of your job, mass unfollowing may be a necessary task.

This is especially true if you once had your account for personal use and now it’s part of your business. In this case, you can think of mass unfollowing as a form of digital spring cleaning. It’s a way of getting rid of the accounts that aren’t serving you. Like ones you no longer keep up with, inactive accounts, fake profiles, or accounts that don’t align with your brand.

Another reason to mass unfollow other Instagram accounts is for “vanity metrics”. These are stats that only matter on a surface level. Many people worry about having the perfect ratio of followers to following. The truth is, these ratios don’t matter that much except to some brands for sponsorships. In general, businesses want to collaborate with influencers with strong followings. This also means they want to see that more people follow you than the other way around.

That said, it’s important not to over do it. There are certain rules when it comes to unfollowing accounts on Instagram. Unfollowing a large swath of people all at once may cause IG to flag your account for suspicious activity. The app doesn’t specify exact limits. But we’ve done some testing.

We estimate accounts 3 months old or newer can unfollow/follow 100 accounts per day, with a limit of 10 per hour. Anything more than that is likely to set off Instagram’s algorithm and put you in the penalty box.

Close up shot of keyboard buttons spelling out DELETE.

How to Mass Unfollow Instagram Accounts

Unfortunately, there’s no one-and-done way within the app to mass unfollow Instagram accounts.  At least, not built into the app. The only manual way to do it is the long way. Here’s our step-by-step of this process:

  1. Log into your Instagram account.
  2. Navigate to your profile.
  3. Tap on the “Following” label at the top of the screen.
  4. Scroll down to or search the account you want to unfollow and tap.
  5. Once on their profile page, tap the blue “Follow” button.
  6. In the menu that appears, tap “unfollow”.
  7. Repeat this for every account you wish to unfollow.

As you can see, there’s nothing instant about this process. So we’ll give you a quick peek at how unfollow apps for Instagram generally work. You’ll enter your credentials onto the app. Then, an algorithm goes through and scrubs accounts you no longer want. The nitty gritty of the process depends on the app or service you select. However, in most cases you’ll give a criteria for the unfollow app to use to identify the accounts to remove. Then from there, the app or management team will take care of the rest for you.

However, you should always read all the reviews and instructions before you use either an app or management account. You want to ensure that the work they do doesn’t harm your good standing with Instagram or your followers. Legitimate account management services will do so in a systematic way to avoid Instagram locking or banning your account.

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How To Check Who’s Unfollowed You

You know why Instagram Unfollow Apps exist and why you want to see who’s unfollowing you. At last, we can get into the specifics of how to check who’s unfollowed you on Instagram. First we’ll show you the old-fashioned way to do it on your own.

Woman holding phone with the pink Instagram log in screen.

Checking Instagram Unfollows: Manual Version

Depending on the size of your fanbase, you might not need any Instagram unfollow apps to track your follower status. If you’re just starting to build your audience, try checking your unfollows manually. How do you do this? Well, the simplest way to confirm who follows you is to check your follower list. Here’s an easy how-to:

  1. Open Instagram on your phone or computer.
  2. View your profile by clicking or tapping on your profile picture. You should see it at the bottom right corner of your screen as a small circle.
  3. From there you should find the text “Followers” at the top of your page between “Posts” and “Following”. Tap or click on it.
  4. You’ll see a list of your followers and a search bar at the top. Search for the username in the bar or scroll through the list. If you do not see the account you’re looking for, they either don’t follow you or they’ve deleted their account.

If you suspect the user deleted their account, try typing their name into the general Instagram search bar. If they don’t show up there then there are three possible explanations. They’ve either deleted their account, you’ve misspelled their handle, or they’ve blocked you. If someone blocks you, you can no longer find any trace of their account. This is all the information you can get without using Instagram unfollow apps.

One last note about this method: it only works if you have someone specific in mind. If there’s someone you know used to follow you and you remember their information, perfect. This is the way to check their status. When you’re not sure who’s unfollowed you or you want to check multiple accounts, that’s where apps come in.

iPad displaying App Store to download Instagram Unfollow Apps

Checking Instagram Unfollows: App Version

Did you know that Instagram doesn’t send notifications when someone’s unfollowed you? The app only alerts you to new followers or updates for specific accounts or actions you’ve opted into. For this reason, it’s hard to know who’s exiting your audience and when. One day you might have 3,000 followers, and the next time you check, you could be down to 2,050. An unfollow app for Instagram takes away some of this unpredictability. However, an app can only tell you who’s unfollowed you after installation. It has no way of knowing anything before that time.

Though each app is different, they all generally work in a similar way. After downloading the app, you enter your Instagram log in credentials. Then, there’s typically an “unfollowers” tab or button that you can tap on. You’ll see any accounts that have recently unfollowed you. Many of these apps offer other features as well, like checking who’s blocked you or even “ghost followers”. Ghost followers refer to those IG users that check your account and view your content regularly without actually hitting follow. Sounds interesting, right?

All that said, we offer a word of caution to those eager to use Instagram unfollow apps. Typically, these apps are heavy with ads and don’t often work consistently. Some can even pose a serious risk to your data privacy and security. Worse, they can cause IG to flag your account as spam.

At the end of the day, you’re putting your social media account and any associated information into someone else’s hands. Before entering anything sensitive onto a third party Instagram follower tracker, ensure its legitimacy.

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The Best Apps to See Who Unfollowed You on Instagram

Once you’ve decided if Instagram unfollow apps are right for you, it’s time to find the best fit. In our book, the best apps are those with good reviews, little to no bug issues, and great security. You’ll also want to identify an app that works with your phone’s operating system. Luckily, we’ve done the work for you. Here are the three best unfollow apps for Instagram worth trying.

Close up of phone showing blue and white App Store logo with 3 notifications.

1. Best Instagram Unfollow Apps for iOS: FollowMeter

FollowMeter is a practical and basic third-party app for iPhones. It has all the features you want including a tracker for your “unfollowers”, aka the users that have unfollowed you. It also shows you new followers, who you’ve unfollowed, and information about who is following you back and vice versa. Follow these 4 easy steps to see unfollowers:

  1. Open up the App Store app on your phone.
  2. Search for FollowMeter and download the app.
  3. Once downloaded, open the app and enter your Instagram credentials.
  4. You’re now seeing your personal dashboard. Tap on the “Unfollowers” menu option to see who has unfollowed you since logging into the app.

Once you’ve tried this, explore the app’s other offerings. Use the menu option for who’s not following you back to potentially see who unfollowed you before you downloaded FollowMeter. Go through those contacts and check if there’s anyone you remember once following you who no longer does. Don’t have an iPhone? Coming up next we cover the best Instagram unfollow apps for androids.

2. Best Instagram Unfollow Apps for Androids: Followers-Unfollowers for Instagram APK

Androids and iPhones don’t always work the best with the same software. While there is a version of FollowMeter for Androids, another Unfollow app for Instagram reigns supreme with this operating system. Followers-Unfollowers for Instagram APK is the non-apple device holy grail for all things Instagram tracking. It has similar unfollow packages to what you would find on FollowMeter as well. These include your mutual followers, those that don’t follow you back, and who’s recently unfollowed you. Here’s a quick how-to:

  1. Navigate to the Google Play Store on your Android device.
  2. Search for Followers-Unfollowers for Instagram APK.
  3. Once downloaded, open the app and enter your Instagram username and password.
  4. Tap the three line icon in the upper-left hand corner. This is the menu button.
  5. Tap the “Unfollowers” option. An ad will likely pop up at this point. After that, you’ll be able to see what followers you’ve lost since logging into the app. 

Additionally, if you’re still interested in how to mass unfollow Instagram accounts, these Instagram unfollow apps have what you’re looking for. One of the menu options appropriately labeled “Mass Unfollow” allows you to get rid of 50 accounts at one time. Just keep in mind our word of caution from before about suspicious account activity. For a more cautious approach, you can always select 10 accounts at a time instead.

Desktop featuring white desktop computer for Instagram Unfollowers desktop app, keyboard, mouse, mug, and pencil cup.

3. Instagram Unfollowers Desktop App

Most of us exclusively use Instagram on our Phones. Afterall, we think of it as an app, not a website. Plus, it’s easy to scroll on our phones or check updates while we’re on the go.

However, using Instagram on your desktop is just as functional, if not better for some. For those who want a bigger screen, upload images from a computer, or handle accounts at a job, try the desktop version. If this is you, you might be seeking out an Instagram Unfollowers Desktop App.

Here’s the good news: you already have the answer. Both FollowMeter and Followers-Unfollowers are the best apps to see who unfollowed you on Instagram. And guess what? They are both available for a traditional computer. Whether you have a PC or Mac, you can download either of these Instagram unfollowers desktop apps. It works the same as doing it on your phone. Just log into your App store or the Google Play Store, and take it from there.

Do you like the idea of delegating your Instagram tasks but want to take it a step further? Apps and other tools to manage Instagram profiles are a great place to start. But if you’re ready to push yourself a step further, try Path Social. At Path Social, we’ve built an in-house platform of influencers and a proprietary AI targeting algorithm over the past decade. That’s how we can reach targeted, engaged, and organic users to boost your following. Start growing and gaining Instagram followers today.