How to See Who Follows a Private Instagram Account

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Social media consultant Brianna Rojao explains how to see if your friends follow a private Instagram

Co-authored by Nicole Levine, MFA Reviewed by Brianna Rojao

Last Updated: November 7, 2025 Fact Checked

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Do any private Instagram viewers work?

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Send a Follow Request

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See Which Friends Follow Them

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Check Their Facebook Friends List

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Google Their Instagram Username

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Are you curious about who's following a private Instagram account? As you've probably noticed, you can't see a private Instagram account's followers unless you're following them.^{[1]
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Research source} But if curiosity is getting the best of you, we have a few simple tricks for finding out more information about private accounts, including whether any of your friends are followers. This wikiHow article will teach you different ways to see content on private Instagram accounts.

How can you see who follows a private Instagram?

Social media consultant Brianna Rojao explains that when you click on a private profile, you can see if any of your friends follow the account. However, the only way to see all of the account’s followers is to follow them yourself. No app or website can show you private Instagram profiles, no matter what they claim.

Section 1 of 5:

Do any private Instagram viewers work?

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While many websites and apps claim they can show you private Instagram profiles, none of them work. Some of these sites seem very convincing, but after much testing, we've found that they are all scams.
- Most of these fake viewers are mostly harmless—they make money from visitors completing "verification" steps, like watching videos and clicking ads to generate ad revenue, but they never show any private Instagram details.
- Other "viewers" are more malicious, asking for peoples' Instagram credentials or credit card information in an attempt to steal that data.

Section 2 of 5:

Send a Follow Request

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Private accounts have private follower lists. Unfortunately, there's no tool or trick that can accurately show you the followers list for a private Instagram account. The only true way to find out who is following a private account is to send them a follow request and wait for them to accept.^{[2]
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- If you're feeling nervous about sending a request from your personal Instagram account, you could always create a new account. You might want to focus your new account on something interesting or funny to intrigue the person you want to follow, such as inspiring self-help quotes, hilarious memes, toys from the 2000s, or chihuahuas in costumes.

Section 3 of 5:

See Which Friends Follow Them

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When you visit the private profile from your own account, you'll see which of your friends follow them at the top of the profile. If several friends follow the account, you'll see the first 2 or 3 names, followed by "and 15 others" (the number will vary). Tap the "and 15 others" link to see a full list of all of your friends who follow that account.^{[3]
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Section 4 of 5:

Check Their Facebook Friends List

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Just head over to Facebook, go to their profile, and click or tap Friends at the top. There's usually a bit of crossover between people's Facebook and Instagram accounts, so it's likely that a lot of the people they're friends with on Facebook also follow them on Instagram.

Section 5 of 5:

Google Their Instagram Username

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While Googling won't show you who follows the account, you might come across some private photos. This is especially true if the private account was ever public in the past—there's a chance some of the account's photos are available on other websites.
- If the username is pretty common, try adding "Instagram" to your search to narrow down the results.^{[4]
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- You can also click or tap the Images link at the top of Google to view only images in your results.

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Question

How can I determine if my Instagram profile is set to private?

Community Answer

To see if your Instagram account is private, open your profile link in an incognito window or a different browser where you are not logged in. If your profile is private, others will only see your bio, username, profile photo, and follower count, and they will be informed that your account is private. You can adjust your profile's visibility in the settings.

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How do I view a friend's Instagram profile picture?

Community Answer

To view a friend's Instagram profile picture, search for their username in the app's search bar, then select their account. Their profile picture will be displayed at the top of their profile page.

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How can I view the posts and followers of a private Instagram account?

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You cannot view the posts or follower lists of a private Instagram account unless you are an approved follower. While the total number of followers may be visible, accessing the complete list requires permission.

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