How do I export my Instagram followers to a spreadsheet?
Instagram has an official export: Accounts Center, Your information and permissions, Export your information, then pick Followers and following and set the date range to All time. You get JSON or HTML with usernames and follow dates, for your own account only. To get a usable sheet, convert that file to CSV, or let an agent download, convert and sort it for you.
How to do it
- Request the file. Instagram app or web: Settings, Accounts Center, Your information and permissions, Export your information, Create export, Export to device. Customize: tick only Followers and following, date range All time, format JSON. Menu labels change now and then.
- Wait for the email. Instagram prepares the file and emails a download link. Small accounts are usually quick; large ones can take hours.
- Convert to CSV. Large accounts get several files (followers_1.json, followers_2.json and so on). Each entry holds a username, a profile link and the date they followed you. Merge all files and flatten them into three columns.
- Sort and compare. Put followers and following side by side to see who does not follow back, who followed this month, or which followers are businesses.
Your options
| Option | Effort | Catch |
|---|---|---|
| Official download, read by hand | Request, wait, read JSON | Not a spreadsheet |
| Follower export extensions | Install, log in through it | Third party sees your session; can break Instagram terms |
| Copy the list by hand | Scroll and copy | Only works for small accounts |
| TODO for AI | One message | Uses the official export, so it waits for Instagram's email |
Watch the agent do it
A real run on sample files. Yours starts from here.
I made the spreadsheet: ~/work/instagram/instagram_followers.xlsx on the cloud computer. It's also shown above in the chat.
Tab 1, "Followers": your 38 followers, each with their username, a clickable profile link and the date and time they followed you. Newest followers are at the top.
Tab 2, "Not following back": 13 of the 43 accounts you follow don't follow you back. Each row has the username, a profile link and the date you followed them, newest first. The top three are natgeo, running.club.bp and luca.chef.
- Times are in UTC. That's the time zone Instagram uses in the export, so they may be a few hours off from your local time.
- Followers file: only
followers_1.jsonwas in the folder. Instagram splits large follower lists intofollowers_2.jsonand so on. Your file has 38 entries, so there's probably only one, but if your export has more, add them to the folder and I'll re-run it.
The script that builds the spreadsheet is build.py in the same folder.