How to See When You Followed Someone on Instagram (Both Directions)
Instagram does not show a follow date next to a name in the app, but you can still get there two ways: sort your Following list by "Date followed" for relative order (who you followed first vs. last), or request your Download Your Information export, which includes a timestamp for every follow, in both directions. For new follows going forward, SnoopInsta (iOS app) notifies you when someone you're tracking follows a new account, and its You tab lists who recently followed or unfollowed you starting from your first check. It does not recover follow dates from before you started using it.
- Instagram's in-app sort only orders your Following list by earliest or latest; it never prints the date on screen.
- The data export (JSON or HTML) does include a Unix timestamp for each entry in both your following.json and followers.json files.
- The old "Following" activity tab that once showed this kind of follow timing was removed from the app in 2019 and has not come back (TechCrunch).
How long have I been following someone on Instagram?
Open the profile, tap "Following," then tap the sort icon and choose "Date followed." Sorting by earliest or latest tells you where that person falls in your list relative to everyone else you follow, but it doesn't print an actual date on the screen. For a specific day, you need the data export covered below. Our full walkthrough on sorting is at how to sort your Instagram following list by date.
Can you see when someone followed you on Instagram?
Not in the app itself. There is no "followed you on [date]" label anywhere in Instagram's interface. The only place that date exists is inside your Download Your Information export, where each entry in the followers file includes a timestamp for when that person's follow was recorded.
Checking a profile for "mutual activity" or shared posts won't give you this either; that only shows content you've both interacted with, not when the follow relationship started.
How do I download my Instagram data to see follow dates?
Instagram's Download Your Information tool packages your account history into JSON (or HTML) files. For follow dates:
- Go to Settings → Accounts Center → Your information and permissions → Download your information.
- Select "Some of your information," then choose "Followers and following." Pick JSON format if you can read raw files, or HTML for a browsable version.
- Submit the request. Instagram emails you a download link, usually within a few hours to a couple of days depending on account size.
- Open the followers_1.json file to see who followed you and when; open following.json for who you followed and when. Each entry has a timestamp next to the username.
The JSON timestamp is in Unix time (seconds since 1970), so you'll need to convert it with any online timestamp converter to get a readable date.
Why doesn't Instagram show the follow date in the app?
Instagram removed its "Following" activity tab, which once showed a timestamped feed of who an account had recently followed, liked, or commented on, in 2019 after it was mostly used to monitor exes and partners (TechCrunch). The timestamp data still exists on Instagram's servers (that's why it's in the export), but the company chose not to surface it anywhere in the live app. There's no setting or workaround inside the app that brings it back.
What about follows that happen from now on?
The export only tells you about the past up to the moment you requested it. If you want to know about a new follow after today, either your own new followers or someone else's new follows, you need something that checks again later and compares.
For someone else's account: if you want to know when a specific person followed someone, rather than reconstruct your own history, that's a different question answered in how to see when someone followed someone on Instagram. SnoopInsta watches a public username, or a private one you already follow, and sends a notification when a later check finds a new follow. It starts from the day you add the profile; it does not go back and find follows from before that.
For your own account: the SnoopInsta iPhone app's You tab lists who recently followed you and who recently unfollowed you, counted from your first check onward. It cannot tell you about follows or unfollows that happened before you started, because Instagram itself keeps no public unfollow record. For the full picture on unfollows, see how to see who unfollowed you on Instagram.
To set it up: log in to your own Instagram inside the app, run a first check to establish a baseline, then check again later (or wait for the daily check) to see what's changed.
FAQ
Can you see when you followed someone without downloading your data?
Only in relative terms. Sorting your Following list by "Date followed" shows order, earliest or latest, but not an actual date. For a specific day, the Download Your Information export is the only source Instagram provides.
Does the data export work for private accounts I follow?
Yes. The export is based on your own account's history, so it includes timestamps for every account you follow, public or private, as long as the follow happened on your account.
Can I see when someone followed me if I don't follow them back?
Yes, if they're already in your followers list. The followers file in your data export includes everyone who currently follows you, with a timestamp, regardless of whether you follow them back.
Does SnoopInsta show past follow dates?
No. SnoopInsta starts watching from the day you add a profile (for tracking someone else) or from your first check (for the You tab). It flags new activity going forward; it doesn't retrieve history from before you started.