How to see your most recent followers on Instagram
Three ways to see who followed you recently on Instagram, including the one that shows the exact date each follower arrived, and why your list isn't in order.
Instagram is happy to tell you when someone follows you. It's much less helpful once you want a list: who followed you this week, in order, with dates. The notifications scroll away, the Followers list has no date sort, and since September 2026 its order isn't even close to chronological.
There are still good ways to get the answer. One is instant, one is exact, and one keeps working without you thinking about it.
| Method | Shows | Dates | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| lastfollowerOur pick | Every new follower and everyone who left since your last scan, by name | By scan, newest first | Keeping track week to week without lifting a finger |
| Notifications | Recent follows, grouped | Roughly, as notification times | A quick look at the last few days |
| Instagram data export | Every follower you have | Exact date and time of each follow | A precise, one-off answer |
1. Check your notifications
Tap the heart icon at the top of your home feed. Recent follows show up as "started following you". When several arrive close together Instagram groups them into one line, and tapping it opens the full list of people in that batch. Each row has a Follow back button if you don't already follow them.
It's the fastest answer and the least complete. Notifications only go back so far, groups don't say exactly when each person followed, and if follower notifications are switched off in your settings they won't be there at all. It also won't tell you about anyone who followed and then left again before you looked.
Why your Followers list isn't in order
The obvious place to look is the Followers list on your profile, and it's the least reliable. Instagram has never documented how that list is ordered, and it offers no sort for it. The Date followed sort exists only on your Following list, the people you follow.
For a long time the list was roughly newest first anyway, so scrolling the top worked well enough. That changed on 9 September 2026, when tracker makers found that Instagram had moved follow lists to a personalised order rather than a chronological one. The same change broke the old trick for seeing who someone else recently followed. Treat the top of your Followers list as a selection, not a timeline.
2. Get exact dates from your Instagram data
Instagram keeps a record of when each person followed you, and it will give it to you. Your data export includes your full follower list with the date and time of every follow. It's the only place Instagram shows follow dates at all, and it's completely private because nothing leaves Instagram except to you.
How to see the date each person followed you
Instagram calls this Export your information. You only need the followers section, which keeps the file small and quick to arrive.
- STEP 01
Open Accounts Center
In the Instagram app, go to your profile, open the menu, then Accounts Center.
- STEP 02
Find Export your information
Tap Your information and permissions, then Export your information, then Create export.
- STEP 03
Choose your profile and the device
Pick the Instagram profile you want, then Export to device.
- STEP 04
Select only followers and following
Under Customize information, deselect everything except Followers and following. Set the date range to All time.
- STEP 05
Pick a format and start
Choose HTML to read it in a browser or JSON to process it with a spreadsheet or script, then tap Start export.
- STEP 06
Download and open the followers file
Instagram emails you a link when the file is ready. It says this can take up to 30 days, though a followers-only export usually arrives far sooner, and the link expires after 4 days. In the download, open the followers file inside the connections folder, under followers and following. Each follower is listed with the time they followed you.
The export is a snapshot of one moment. Run it again in a month and you get a new file, but working out who's new and who's gone means comparing the two by hand, which is fine for a small account and tedious for a large one.
3. Track new followers between scans
If you want to know who's new every week without requesting files, that's what a follower tracker does. lastfollower reads your public follower list, keeps a copy in your own browser, and on the next scan compares the two. Anyone in the new list who wasn't in the old one is a new follower. Anyone missing is someone who left.
Seeing both sides together is the useful part. A burst of new followers followed by the same accounts leaving a few days later is the signature of follow-for-follow accounts, and it's invisible in notifications, because those only ever show arrivals. The lists, with names, are part of Pro at $4.99 a week, and there's no password or install either way.
Common questions
How do I see my recent followers on Instagram?
Tap the heart icon on your home feed to see recent "started following you" notifications. For exact dates, request your data export from Accounts Center: the followers file lists every follower with the time they followed you. A follower tracker shows who's new between scans.
Can I sort my Instagram followers by date?
Not in the app. Instagram's Date followed sort only exists on your Following list, the accounts you follow. For your followers, the data export is the only place with a date for each one.
Why isn't my Followers list in order?
Instagram has never documented the order, and since 9 September 2026 follow lists come back in a personalised order rather than newest first. The top of the list is no longer a reliable guide to who followed you most recently.
Who was my last follower on Instagram?
Your most recent "started following you" notification is the quickest answer. If notifications are off or have scrolled away, the follower with the latest timestamp in your data export is your last follower as of the moment the export was made.
Does the data export show who unfollowed me?
No. Its recently unfollowed file lists accounts you unfollowed. To find people who unfollowed you, compare two follower lists from different dates, by hand or with a tracker.
Can I see someone else's recent followers?
Not with dates. You can open a public account's Followers list, but its order isn't chronological and Instagram publishes no follow dates for other accounts. Comparing their list at two points in time is the only reliable way to spot who's new.