Social Media Instagram How to Remove Followers on Instagram Lose people fast without them even knowing by Elise Moreau Freelance Contributor Elise Moreau is a writer that has covered social media, texting, messaging, and streaming for Lifewire. Her work has appeared on Techvibes, SlashGear, Lifehack and others. our editorial process Facebook Twitter Elise Moreau Updated on December 02, 2020 Tweet Share Email The Ultimate Guide to Instagram The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Introduction Instagram Basics How to Use Instagram Instagram Tips for Beginners Check Messages on Instagram Add or Change an Instagram Background Search Instagram for Tags and Users Add Music to Instagram Video Use Instagram Video Chat Try Instagram Shopping Get Verified on Instagram Clear Search History on Instagram Posting on Instagram The Best Time to Post Save a Draft of a Post Repost an Instagram Story See Previously Liked Posts Post a GIF to Instagram Add Multiple Photos to Stories Save Instagram Videos How to Quickly Repost Photos Saving Photos Deleting Photos and Videos View Saved Posts With Instagram Collections Working With Followers Mute Someone on Instagram See Who Unfollowed You on Instagram Block Someone On Instagram Unblock Someone on Instagram See Who Viewed You Great Tools to Track Comments Remove Followers on Instagram Tips to Get a Shoutout on Instagram Attract More Instagram Followers Delete 'Suggestions for You' IG Tips & Tricks Instagram Tips and Tricks to Try Add Highlights on Instagram Learn About Instagram Direct Use Instagram's Close Friends Feature How to Delete or Deactivate Your Account Reactivate Your Account Reset Your Password Get Started With Location Tagging How to Repost Shoot Videos with Instagram Video Understanding IG Privacy & Security Hide Your Story on Instagram Does IG Send Screenshot Notifications? Make Your Instagram Account Private See Who Saved Your Instagram Posts Download Everything IG Knows About You Manage Multiple Instagram Accounts Hiding Photos Rather Than Deleting Them How to View Private Instagram Accounts Engaging Users on Instagram Start an Instagram Live Video How to Sell on Instagram Use an Instagram Creator Account Make Money as an Instagram Influencer How to Get More Likes Things You Should Definitely Do Get on the Instagram Explore Page The Best Instagram Apps to Boost Engagement How to Make a Poll Instagram Extras: Captions & More Steal These: The Best Instagram Captions Discover the Best Instagram Filters Have Fun With Instagram Hashtags Use Emoji Hashtags on IG The Easy Way to Track IG Hashtags How to Use the IG Questions Sticker Using Instagram on Other Platforms Can You Get Instagram on Apple Watch? Use Instagram on a PC or Mac Get Instagram for iPad What is the Galaxy S10 Instagram Mode? View Instagram on the Web Online Connect Instagram to Facebook Tools for Posting From the Desktop In This Article Understand Ghost Followers Step-by-Step: Remove Them Avoid Third-Party Apps Block and Unblock Followers Make Your Profile Private When it comes to Instagram followers, quality is better than quantity. On the Instagram app, you can remove unwanted followers—such as ghost followers—without blocking them first. If you're using a web browser, you must block (and unblock) them, but they won't know they were ever blocked. What Are Ghost Followers? Ghost followers are followers who are either inactive or don't engage with you by leaving likes or comments. They could be: Bots Lurkers (either strangers or people you know) Users who are only interested in getting followed back (and who will eventually unfollow you anyway) Users who were once active but then abandoned their accounts The common theme among all types of ghost followers is that they offer you no real value other than a boost to your follower count. How to Get Rid of Followers on Instagram There's no official way to remove followers from Instagram on a web browser. You must access your Instagram account from the iOS or Android app to use the Remove followers feature. Open the Instagram app on your iOS or Android device, and sign into your account. Tap the profile icon in the lower-right corner. Tap Followers to see a list of your followers. To find a follower you want to remove: Scroll through your Followers list until you find them, or Start entering a name in the search field at the top of the screen. You must do this step from your followers list. You won't find a follower removal option anywhere except your followers list. Tap Remove next to the name of the follower you want to remove. Tap Remove to confirm that you want to remove the follower. Repeat steps four through six to remove another follower. Users aren't notified when you remove them as a follower. It's up to them to notice that they're no longer following you. If they do notice, bear in mind that they're free to find your account and follow you again. You can make your account private if you want the ability to approve who follows you. 1:23 See Who Unfollowed You on Instagram Tip #1: Avoid Using Third-Party Apps That Claim to Offer Bulk Follower Removals Once upon a time, there were lots of free third-party apps that could connect to your Instagram account to help you manage your followers. One of the most helpful things they did was allowed you to remove unwanted followers in bulk. Many such apps still exist, but today, the ones that claim to do so are in violation of Instagram's API Platform Policy. Worse, apps like these could be outdated or total scams and result in your account being compromised. It might be time consuming, but the security of your account depends on your willingness to manually remove followers on an individual basis. If you have many followers and, therefore, can't keep track of which followers engage with you, verses which ones fit the role of ghost follower, you can use a service like Iconosquare (with a 14-day free trial) to see in-depth analytics of your follower engagement. Tip #2: Remove Followers from Instagram.com by Blocking and Unblocking Them Instagram.com doesn't have as many features as the app, and the ability to remove followers is one of those missing features. Luckily, there is a workaround if you absolutely have to remove followers from a web browser: On Instagram.com, navigate to a follower's profile. Select the three dots in the upper portion of the screen. Choose Block this user. Select the three dots again > Unblock this user. Blocking automatically removes them as a follower, but when you unblock them, they will remain a non-follower. Instagram users are not notified when you block them. This is a more time consuming process than using the follower removal option in the app. Not only do you have to navigate to each follower's individual profile, but you also have to carry out two more steps: blocking them and then immediately unblocking them. Tip #3: Make It Harder for Ghost Followers to Follow You by Making Your Profile Private When your Instagram account is set to public, anyone can follow you which puts you at a higher risk of being followed by accounts that only want a "follow back" and will probably ignore your content. If you want the option to screen new followers, consider making your Instagram private. With a private account, you have the ability to control who follows you. Users will have to send you a follow request that you'll have to approve before they can follow you. If you receive a follow request from a total stranger, with very promotional content, or one who follows a disproportionally large number of users relative to their follower count, they'll probably end up a ghost follower and you're better off declining their follow request. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up. Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit