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The definitive guide to unfollowing on Instagram
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Do you want to unfollow any Instagram accounts that don't follow you back? Or the inactive accounts? Sadly, there's no way to unfollow multiple accounts at once because Instagram has strict limits and spam detection. Instead, you can unfollow users manually from your "Following" list to easily cut down on the excess. This wikiHow article covers the unfollow limit on Instagram and what you can do instead.

Mass Unfollowing on Instagram

There's no way to unfollow multiple people on Instagram at once. Mass unfollow apps are usually scams, and unfollowing too many people at once can make Instagram think you're a bot and restrict your account. New accounts can unfollow 50 accounts a day, and older ones can unfollow 200-400.

Section 1 of 3:

Are mass unfollowing apps safe?

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  1. Apps like "Unfollow Users Cleaner" might seem like fantastic apps to mass remove those you follow, but there are many reports of privacy issues and ghost actions on their accounts that have this app. These apps may claim to do exactly what you need them to do, but then end up stealing your login information and hacking your Instagram account instead.
    • These apps may have been legitimate in the past, but have since fallen into disuse. "Unfollow Users Cleaner" hasn't been updated since 2022 or received a rating since 2021.
    • Mass unfollowing apps might also trigger Instagram's spam filter, which could lead to account restrictions or even a shadowban.
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Section 2 of 3:

How to Unfollow Multiple People on Instagram

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  1. You can either use the mobile app on your Android, iPhone, or iPad, or you can use a computer to go to instagram.com . [1]
    • Instagram implements limits in an attempt to keep spam to a minimum. They want their users to be human instead of bots. Some third-party services claim to act more human-like to avoid Instagram's consequences, but that is never 100% guaranteed. Signing up with a third-party service that mass unfollows profiles can trigger Instagram into thinking your account is a bot.
  2. It's usually towards the right side of your profile. [2]
  3. 3
    Choose a category if you're on the app (optional). To better help you filter who you're following, you can choose a category like "Least interacted with." If you don't want to choose a category (or you're on a computer), just scroll down until you see your followers.
  4. 4
    Unfollow the accounts you want to unfollow. How you do this differs slightly between the app and browser:
    • On the app, if you're looking in a category, simply tap the Following button. If you're not looking at a category, tap the three-dot button next to the Message button, then tap the red Unfollow button.
    • In the browser, simply click the Following button next to the user you don't want to follow anymore.
  5. Since Instagram isn't fond of automated processes, you'll need to click or tap Following for every account you'd like to unfollow. [3]
    • While Instagram has never confirmed if it has limits on the amount of accounts you can unfollow or follow in a day, many users have encountered these limits. [4] If your account is newer, you can unfollow 50 accounts per day. If your account is older than 6 months, you can unfollow around 200-400 accounts per day.
    • If you go over this limit, you might see an "Action Blocked" error or earn yourself a shadowban .
    • If you use third-party services and continuously go over this limit, you might get permanently banned.
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Section 3 of 3:

Who should I unfollow?

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  1. Someone who hasn't been online since 2018 probably isn't worth following. To figure out which accounts are inactive, you can go through your following list and see when their last activity was.
  2. These accounts may act human to avoid spam detection, but there are a few tell-tale signs that they are fake: [5]
    • Their following count is way higher than their followers count.
    • The few followers they do have are inactive or new accounts.
    • If they have a large following, their content is terrible.
  3. While your follower-to-following ratio doesn't really matter unless you're an influencer, [6] it can still be fun to figure out what your ratio is. You can also use this ratio to avoid accounts that are probably bots or spam accounts.
    • If you have 10,000 followers and follow 1,000 accounts, your follow ratio is 10 (or 10:1).
    • An account with 1,000 followers and 150 accounts that they follow appears to be more of a consumer account: they consume more content than create it.
    • If an account has 145k followers and only follows 150 accounts, that person is most likely a creator and pushes out a lot of content.
    • An account with less than a following ratio of .5 (0.5:1) is most likely a spam account using follow-back schemes to gain followers.
    • An account with a following ratio between .5 and 1 (0.5-1:1) is a low-quality account. They aren't necessarily spam, but the account holder isn't particularly picky about the accounts they follow and if they get followers back.
    • A 1:2 following ratio is an average following ratio for an account. This takes into account that the account holder follows a lot of celebrities or public figures, but also has a good amount of friends or networked followed accounts.
    • A 2:10 following ratio signifies a quality account. These accounts are most likely worth a follow and tend to follow back.
    • Accounts with a following ratio of 10:300,000+ are influencers. This sort of account gains a lot of followers and has a large influence.
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