The reliable way to track Instagram followers and unfollowers is to own the list. Export your followers today, export them again next week, and compare the two files: the names in the first that are missing from the second unfollowed you, the names in the second that were not in the first are new. The Mastros Instagram extension exports the followers and following lists of any account you can see to Excel in one run, so the comparison is a spreadsheet formula, not an app you hand your password to.
Why do follower tracker apps get accounts locked?
Tracker apps work by logging into your Instagram account on their servers and reading your lists over and over. Instagram treats a new device and a high request rate from a server as a compromised account, which is why so many of these apps end in a password reset email. The export method reads the list in your own browser, in your own session, at the pace you could scroll it, and does it only when you run it. Instagram sees you looking at your followers.
How do you export your Instagram followers list?
- Open your profile on instagram.com in Chrome.
- Open the Mastros extension from the toolbar and choose Followers.
- Run it. The extension scrolls the followers dialog and collects username, display name and profile URL for every account.
- Download as Excel or CSV. Name the file with the date.
- Repeat for Following if you also want to know who you follow that does not follow you back.
Instagram's own Download your information (Settings, Your activity, Download your information) gives the same lists for your account as JSON or HTML, official and complete, after a wait for the email. It works for a one-off; the extension is faster for a weekly check and it works on accounts other than your own.
How do you find who unfollowed you in Excel?
Put last week's usernames in column A of one sheet and this week's in column A of another. In a third column next to last week's list, use a COUNTIF against this week's list; any row that returns zero is an unfollow. Do the same the other way for new followers. In Google Sheets the formula is the same. For a following-versus-followers check, count each name in your Following export against your Followers export; zeros are people who do not follow you back.
Sorting the result by the date you first saw the name, which is just the file date, gives you a follower history without any tracker keeping it for you.
Followers vs following: what ratio matters?
The ratio is a signal people read on a profile, not a metric Instagram ranks by. What the exports give you that a ratio does not is the who: which accounts left after a particular post, which niche accounts followed after a collaboration, and which of the accounts you follow never followed back. Those are decisions; the ratio is a number.
Can you track another account's followers?
Yes, if you can see the list: public accounts, and private accounts you follow. The same export and comparison works, which is how agencies watch a client's growth and how brands watch a competitor's. What you cannot see, nothing exports: private accounts you do not follow show no list.
Is this allowed?
You are reading a list Instagram shows you, in your own session, and the extension never follows, unfollows, likes or messages anyone. Instagram's terms restrict collecting data with software; exporting what you can see at the pace you could scroll it is the practice that stays inside the limits Instagram enforces, and it is the opposite of what the tracker apps do. Keep exported lists for your own analysis; the accounts in them are people with privacy rights.
FAQ
Does Instagram notify people when I export my followers?
No. Reading the list sends nothing.
Can I see who unfollowed me without an app?
Yes: two exports and a COUNTIF. This page shows how.
How often should I export?
Weekly is enough for most accounts. Daily if you are watching the effect of a specific post or campaign.
Does the export include follower counts for each account?
It includes username, display name and profile URL as shown in the list. Open the profile URL for the count.
Can I export the followers of a large account?
Yes; the run takes longer because the extension scrolls the whole list. Plan limits are on the product page.
Is buying followers a way to fix the ratio?
No. Bought followers do not engage, engagement rate drops, and Instagram removes them in waves, which shows up in exactly the comparison this page describes.