How to export your Instagram following list.
Updated
The official export
The download lives in the account centre, under the section for your information and permissions, as a request to download your information.
You choose which account, whether you want the whole profile or a selection, and a format. JSON is the one to pick if you intend to process the file; HTML is easier to read in a browser. The request is processed and then emailed to you as a download link, usually within a few hours, occasionally longer.
This is the only method that gives you follow dates. It is also the only method that is guaranteed complete, since it comes from Instagram rather than from scrolling.
What is in the file
Inside the archive, the following list is a file listing each account you follow with a timestamp for when you followed it. The followers list is a separate file in the same folder.
Those timestamps are the reason the export is worth the wait. Nowhere in the Instagram interface will you see the date you followed someone, but the export has it for every single account.
Someone else's list
The data download only ever covers your own account. For a public profile that is not yours, the list is readable but there is no export button: what you can do is read the public list and record it.
That is what our checker does, and it is worth being precise about the boundary. It reads public following lists, meaning lists the platform serves to any visitor. It cannot read a private account's list, and it never logs in as anyone to try.
What to do with the list
A list of several hundred usernames is not, by itself, informative. Names and profile pictures say almost nothing about what those accounts publish.
The useful step is classification: reading what each account actually posts and grouping the results. That converts four hundred rows into a handful of themes, which is the difference between having the data and understanding it.
Related questions
How long does the Instagram data download take?
Usually a few hours. Large accounts, or requests for the full profile in HTML, can take longer. Instagram emails a link when it is ready.
Does the export include the date I followed each account?
Yes. That is the main advantage over copying the list by hand, since the app itself never shows those dates.
Can I export someone else's following list?
Instagram's download covers only your own account. A public profile's list can be read by anyone, but a private one cannot be read by anyone who is not an approved follower.
Which format should I choose, JSON or HTML?
JSON if anything will process the file. HTML if you just want to open it and read it.