FollowBack Checker

Compare your Following & Followers lists from Meta's official export.

No Instagram login required. Your export is processed locally in your browser and is never uploaded.

How to Export Your Instagram Data

Request a JSON export that includes Followers and following through Instagram's Accounts Center (steps below).

Best export settings

  • Data to export: Followers and following only
  • Date range: All time
  • Format: JSON (not HTML)
  • Media quality: Any option is okay

Why: A narrow export is smaller and faster. All time helps Instagram include full follower and following lists; shorter ranges may omit files this app needs.

Steps

  1. Open Instagram. Open the Instagram app or Instagram website and log in to your account.
  2. Go to your profile. Tap your profile picture.
  3. Open Settings and privacy. Tap the menu icon, usually the three lines in the top-right corner, then open Settings and privacy.
  4. Open Accounts Center. Find and open Accounts Center.
  5. Open Your information and permissions. Inside Accounts Center, select Your information and permissions.
  6. Choose Export or Download. Tap Export your information or Download your information. The exact wording may vary depending on Instagram's current interface.
  7. Select your Instagram account. Choose the Instagram account you want to export data from.
  8. Select the data to export. Choose Followers and following only. Avoid exporting all data unless necessary, because it creates a much larger ZIP file and takes longer to prepare.
  9. Set the date range. Choose All time. This helps make sure both followers and following data are included.
  10. Choose the format. Select JSON. Do not choose HTML because FollowBack Checker reads JSON files.
  11. Submit the export request. Submit the request and wait for Instagram/Meta to prepare the download.
  12. Download the ZIP file. Once the export is ready, download the ZIP file.
  13. Upload to FollowBack Checker. Return to the app and upload the ZIP file directly. The app should automatically detect the needed files.

Where the needed files are usually located

connections/followers_and_following/

Required files:

  • following.json
  • followers_1.json
  • followers_2.json, followers_3.json, etc. if available

Common mistakes

  1. Choosing HTML instead of JSON — FollowBack Checker needs JSON files.
  2. Choosing a short date range — Short date ranges may only export recent changes and may not include the complete followers/following files.
  3. Uploading only following.json — The app needs following.json and at least one followers_*.json file.
  4. Exporting all Instagram data — This may still work, but it creates a larger ZIP file and takes longer to prepare.
  5. Uploading screenshots — Screenshots cannot be read by the app.
  6. Uploading the wrong ZIP file — Make sure the ZIP file came from your official Instagram data export.
  7. Renaming or editing the files manually — It is better to upload the original ZIP file directly.

JSON files: Multi-select following.json and all followers_*.json, or use Choose files below (JSON picker).