Where Are Followers and Following in an Instagram Data Export?

01

The short answer

In an Instagram data export, follower and following records are usually stored inside the part of the archive related to connections or follower activity. The exact folder and file names can vary between export versions.

If your goal is to use Social Janitor, select the original Instagram ZIP directly. The importer scans the archive locally and finds the supported follower and following files automatically.

Social Janitor only reads the supported relationship data needed for this type of analysis. You do not need to manually select unrelated parts of the archive.

02

Where to look inside the export

You do not need to extract the archive to import it into Social Janitor. If you want to inspect the archive manually for troubleshooting, extract a copy and browse the folders that group different categories of account information.

Look for a folder or section related to connections, followers or following. Instagram can change the export structure over time, so the exact path may not always be identical.

If you have not requested the export yet, start with how to download your Instagram followers and following list.

03

Which files matter for follower analysis?

For a basic relationship comparison, you need the data that describes who follows you and who you follow.

• Followers: accounts that follow your Instagram profile.
• Following: accounts your Instagram profile follows.

Those two sides are enough to calculate Mutual, Following only and Followers only relationships.

You do not need messages, photos, comments or other unrelated export categories just to compare follower relationships.

04

Check that you downloaded the JSON format

Instagram may offer more than one export format. Social Janitor is designed around the structured JSON version of the follower and following data.

If the files end in .json, you have the structured format used for the analysis. If you requested a different format, you may need to create a new export in JSON.

If the file looks confusing when opened directly, that is normal. See how to read an Instagram followers JSON file for an explanation of the raw structure.

05

What if Instagram gives you multiple follower files?

Larger exports can sometimes split data across more than one file. Do not assume the first file contains every account.

Keep all follower-related parts that belong to the same export and profile together. When you select the original ZIP in Social Janitor, supported split follower files inside that archive are discovered automatically.

06

Let Social Janitor find the follower files

For the normal Social Janitor workflow, keep the Instagram ZIP intact and select it in the import area. Social Janitor scans the archive and reads the supported follower, following and related relationship JSON files it recognizes.

You only need to locate the raw JSON files yourself if you want to inspect or troubleshoot the export manually. If you already extracted them, direct JSON import remains available as a fallback.

For the complete step-by-step flow, follow how to import an Instagram export into Social Janitor.

The comparison separates accounts into Mutual, Following only and Followers only groups. Pro unlocks the complete lists, search, profile links, review markers, snapshot comparisons and CSV export.

07

If you still cannot find the follower files

If the expected data is missing, check how the export was requested before assuming the archive is broken.

• Confirm that Followers and Following were included in the requested data categories.
• Confirm that the export belongs to the correct Instagram profile.
• Check whether you requested JSON rather than another format.
• If you are inspecting the export manually, search the extracted copy for filenames or folders containing follower, following or connection-related terms.
• Request a fresh export if the archive is incomplete or does not contain the data you need.

If you only want to analyze the export in Social Janitor, you can skip the manual file search and select the original ZIP instead. Then continue with how to compare Instagram Followers and Following or how to see who doesn’t follow you back.