What a follow request is
on Instagram, and how to check yours.
Short answer
When you tap Follow on a private account, you don’t follow it yet: Instagram sends a follow request and the button changes to “Requested”. The owner can approve it, delete it, or leave it unanswered forever. Instagram has no screen that lists the requests you have sent; the only complete list is inside the data download, in a file called pending_follow_requests.
Updated
What the owner sees
Requests arrive in the notifications tab, under “Follow requests”, each with Confirm and Delete. Deleting doesn’t tell you anything: your button goes back to “Follow”, which looks exactly the same as if you had cancelled it yourself. An unanswered request stays as “Requested” on your side with no time limit.
How to see the requests you sent
There is no list inside the app. The reliable way is the data download: Settings → Accounts Center → Your information and permissions → Download your information → Some of your information → Followers and following. Instagram emails a file; inside the followers_and_following folder, pending_follow_requests lists every private account you requested that hasn’t answered.
For one account, it is quicker to open its profile: if the button says “Requested”, the request is still pending.
How to cancel a request
Open the profile and tap “Requested”; it goes back to “Follow”. The owner gets no notification, and the request disappears from their list. If they had already seen it, they will know you asked, but not that you withdrew it.
Requests you receive
If your own account is private, nobody follows you without your approval. Confirm lets the account see your posts, stories and both lists. Delete is silent. If someone keeps asking, blocking is the only way to stop the requests.
Related questions
- Does a follow request expire?
- No. It stays pending until the owner answers it or you cancel it.
- Can someone see that I cancelled my follow request?
- No. It simply disappears from their list of requests.
- Why does it say Requested instead of Following?
- Because the account is private and hasn’t approved you yet. On a public account the follow is immediate.
- Can I see a private account’s followers while my request is pending?
- No. Until you are approved you see only the name, the picture, the bio and the three numbers.
Public accounts don’t need a request
If the account is public, what it follows is visible to anyone. Type the username and LikePatrol reads the list. Private accounts can’t be read, with or without a request.
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