How to Check Pending Follow Requests on Instagram

Looking to learn about your pending follow requests on Instagram and how to check which users are yet to accept? It’s quick and easy to see who’s following you or whom you’ve followed, but keeping track of those requests it gets tricky. It’s a bit more hidden in Instagram’s interface.

Download Your Instagram Followers

Head to your profile page in the Instagram app, and click the hamburger icon on the top-right to land on your Instagram Settings and activity page. You can manage all of your settings here, from Instagram’s privacy settings, to many other options. Tap Accounts Center / Accounts Centre.

Select Your information and permissions, and click Download your information.

Select Download or transfer information to see all your Meta accounts. Check the box for Instagram, and click Next to reach your profile.

Select Some of your information to see many options to select and download. Scroll down until you find the Connections category, and select Followers and following -> Next. You can download all your Instagram chats with media from this same screen.

Select Download to device, choose the desired Date range option, click Save, then hit Create files at the bottom.

It can take up to a couple of hours to prepare the file with your pending follow requests on Instagram. While you wait, check out other options on the app, such as the Notes on Instagram feature.

Find Pending Follow Requests

After your files have downloaded, go back to the Accounts Center. Select Your information and permissions -> Download your information. Under Available downloads, click the Download button under the file, then enter your password.

Select Files under Save in. Go to your downloads folder, find the .zip file you just downloaded, then extract it, and open the resulting folder.

Open the start_here file, and click Pending follow requests.

You will see everyone who has not accepted your follow requests on Instagram. Follow the links to visit their profiles if you wish to rescind your pending follow requests for their Instagram accounts.

Check Who Has Not Followed You Back

You can check much more than just your pending follow requests on Instagram. You can also check which Instagram accounts have not followed you back.

Open the start_here file, and click Followers. Copy the entire list of your Instagram followers, and click on Following. Do the same with the list of accounts you follow. You also have to manually remove the timestamp under each account. You can do that quite easily by using AI.

Head over to Compare Two Lists. Paste the list of all your Followers into the List A box and your Following list into List B. Select Compare Lists.

In the box labeled Only in list A, you can see every Instagram account that follows you, but that you don’t follow back. In the Only in list B box, you can see who does not follow you back.

Through these methods, not only can you check all your pending follow requests on Instagram, but also who does not follow you back. After all, if somebody isn’t seeing your story uploads on Instagram while you’re throwing hearts their way, it may be time to unfollow!

_{Image credit: Stable Diffusion. All screenshots by Samarveer Singh.}

Samarveer Singh - Contributor

Samarveer has been a tech-nerd since he was two, funneling every bit of saved money into gaming and computer peripherals. As the go-to person for all things tech in his circle, he lives and breathes PCs and mobile phones. When not immersed in the latest gadgets, you can find him touring cross-country, indulging his passion as an ardent motorhead.