Exporting Instagram followers to CSV means turning a follower list into one row per account, with the username and whatever else the list shows. Instagram has no export button. Four routes get you there: Instagram's own data download, a browser extension that reads the list you are already looking at, the Graph API for accounts you own, and a category of scraper worth avoiding. Each returns something different, and only one of them works on an account you do not control.
What Instagram gives you, and what it never does
A follower list is a set of usernames. That is the honest ceiling, and it matters before you pick a tool, because every route below is bounded by the same rule: a follower export contains what the list already displays to your signed-in account, and nothing behind it.
So an export can contain the username, the display name, and the verified and follows-you flags Instagram renders beside each row. An export cannot contain an email address, a phone number, or a private account's follower list. Instagram does not put those in the list, and no tool conjures them. Anything advertising "Instagram followers with emails" is either selling a scrape of bio text — where a creator typed an address themselves — or selling a database it bought, which is a different product with different legal exposure.
The second bound is size. Instagram paginates a follower list and rate-limits the pagination, so a 200,000-follower export is a long job with pauses in it, whatever tool is running.
Method 1 — Instagram's official data download
Instagram's Download Your Information tool exports your own account, including your follower and following lists. It is free, official, and the right starting point for your own data.
- Open Instagram and go to Settings → Accounts Centre → Your information and permissions → Download your information.
- Request a download, choose your account, and select Some of your information → Followers and following.
- Pick JSON as the format. HTML is easier to read and much harder to convert.
- Submit the request and wait. Instagram emails a download link, usually within a few hours.
- Open
followers_1.jsonand convert it — a spreadsheet's JSON import, or a few lines of Python, turns it into columns.
What you get is a list of usernames and the timestamp each account followed you. What you do not get is anyone else's account: the download covers your data only. It is also not instant, which rules it out for anything time-sensitive.
Method 2 — A browser extension, for any profile you can see
A browser extension reads the follower list Instagram has already rendered in your browser and writes it to a file. This is the only route that works on an account you do not own, because it inherits exactly the access your session already has — no more.
The Mastros Instagram extension does this on instagram.com: open a profile, choose Followers, and export the list as CSV, XLSX or JSON with the username, name, verified flag and follows-you flag. It also produces the list most people actually want, which is the difference between two lists — the accounts that do not follow back — without a second export.
Two properties matter more than the feature list. The extension only reads: it never follows, likes, comments or messages, because an export tool that also acts on your account is an account-ban risk wearing a spreadsheet costume. And it pauses rather than failing: when Instagram slows the pagination down, the run waits and resumes, keeping the rows already collected instead of discarding a part-finished job.
Method 3 — The Graph API, for accounts you own
The Instagram Graph API serves Business and Creator accounts connected to a Facebook Page. It is the correct route for a product, a dashboard, or anything that needs to run on a schedule without a human present.
It will not give you a follower list. The API exposes aggregate follower metrics — counts, demographics, growth over time — not the individual accounts. Teams reach for the Graph API expecting a follower export and find the endpoint does not exist, which is a deliberate design choice on Meta's part rather than an oversight.
Use the Graph API for insights on your own account. Use one of the other methods when the requirement is a list of usernames.
Method 4 — What to avoid
Two categories are not worth the risk.
Sites that ask for your Instagram password. Handing credentials to a third party gives away the account, not the follower list, and it violates Instagram's terms in a way that gets accounts disabled. There is no version of this that is safe, including the ones that promise to "only read".
Tools claiming to export a private account's followers. A private account's follower list is not visible to non-followers, so a tool cannot read it. Ones that claim otherwise are showing cached public data, showing nothing, or lying.
Which method to use
| You want | Use |
|---|---|
| Your own followers, and can wait a few hours | Instagram's data download |
| Any profile you can already see, right now | A browser extension |
| Metrics on your own account, on a schedule | The Graph API |
| A private account's followers | Nothing — this is not possible |
FAQ
Can I export Instagram followers without an app?
Yes, through Instagram's own Download Your Information, which covers your own account and returns JSON you convert to CSV yourself. It takes hours rather than seconds and does not work on anyone else's profile.
Can I export another account's follower list?
Only one you can already see. A public account's follower list is visible to any signed-in account, so a browser extension reading your own session can export it. A private account's list is not visible to non-followers, and no tool changes that.
Does exporting followers get your Instagram account banned?
Reading a list you can already see is not what gets accounts actioned; automated acting is — mass following, unfollowing, liking or messaging, especially at machine speed. The risk sits with tools that automate engagement, not with tools that read and export. Choosing a read-only exporter is the whole mitigation.
Can a follower export include email addresses?
No. Instagram does not put email addresses in a follower list, so an export cannot contain them. Some creators publish an address in their bio, which is a different field on a different surface, and a list sold as "followers with emails" is a purchased database rather than an export.
How long does exporting a large follower list take?
Longer than the follower count suggests, because Instagram paginates and rate-limits. Expect a large export to pause repeatedly. The property to look for in a tool is whether it resumes after a pause or throws away the rows it had.
Related reading
- Instagram Follower Export & Scraper — the extension used in Method 2, and everything it exports.
- Engagement Rate Calculator — the free calculator for an Instagram or TikTok engagement rate, with the formulas.
- How to Export WhatsApp Messages to CSV — the same problem on a different platform.