Want to know who someone recently followed on Instagram? Whether it's a partner, crush, competitor, or friend — you're not alone. Over 5 million people search for this every single month, and the demand keeps growing.
The problem? Instagram removed the Activity tab back in 2019 that showed you exactly this information. Since then, there's no built-in way to see who someone just followed. But that doesn't mean it's impossible — far from it.
In this complete guide, we'll walk you through every working method in 2026, from manual approaches to the most powerful tracking tools available today.
Back in 2018, Instagram had a "Following" tab where you could see real-time activity from people you follow — including who they just followed, what posts they liked, and what comments they left. It was incredibly powerful for keeping tabs on people's behavior.
Instagram removed this feature in October 2019, citing user privacy concerns. The official statement said users didn't realize their activity was being shared so publicly. But the demand for this information never disappeared — it just moved to third-party solutions.
The most basic approach is going directly to someone's Instagram profile and tapping "Following." You'll see their complete list of accounts they follow.
The major problem: Instagram doesn't sort this list chronologically. It uses a mixed algorithm that prioritizes accounts you might know or interact with. So you can't simply look at the top of the list to see recent follows.
To make this work manually, you'd need to screenshot or memorize their entire following list, then compare it a few days later. It works — but it's incredibly tedious and impractical for regular monitoring.
The most reliable and efficient way is using a purpose-built Instagram follower tracker app like TRUTH. Here's why it's the preferred method for millions of users:
What makes TRUTH different from other solutions is that it's 100% anonymous. The person you're tracking will never receive any notification or indication that you're monitoring their activity. There's zero connection to your Instagram account because you never log in.
The app analyzes publicly available data and presents it in a clean, chronological format with "NEW!" tags so you can instantly see what changed. Check out our full comparison of tracker apps to see how TRUTH stacks up against competitors.
While this won't show you who someone follows, you can enable post notifications for any account. Visit their profile, tap the bell icon, and select "Posts." You'll get push notifications whenever they share new content.
This gives you indirect awareness of their activity patterns but misses the key data: who they're connecting with. For that, you need Method 2.
Creating a secondary Instagram account to monitor someone can help you view their posts and stories without them knowing it's you. However, this approach has significant limitations:
For truly anonymous tracking, dedicated tools are far superior.
If you want to track activity on your own account, switching to a Professional (Business or Creator) account gives you access to follower analytics. You can see daily follower gains and losses, audience demographics, and content performance.
However, this only works for your own account — not for tracking someone else.
With the right tool like TRUTH, you can monitor a surprising amount of public activity:
Yes. Tracking publicly available Instagram data is completely legal. When someone sets their profile to public, their followers list, following list, posts, and basic profile information are visible to anyone on the internet — with or without an Instagram account.
Apps like TRUTH simply automate the process of monitoring these public lists and alerting you to changes. No hacking, no unauthorized access, no violation of any laws. Read our detailed breakdown on Instagram tracking safety.
No. TRUTH operates with complete anonymity. Here's why:
You're completely invisible.
No. TRUTH and similar tools only work with public Instagram accounts. Private accounts hide their follower and following lists from anyone who doesn't follow them.
TRUTH updates tracking data regularly, and you can set up push notifications to get alerted the moment a change is detected.
TRUTH offers a free preview of results. Full access requires a subscription with affordable weekly and annual plans.
While Instagram removed the native ability to see who someone recently followed, third-party tools like TRUTH have filled the gap completely. With anonymous tracking, real-time notifications, and instant results, it's never been easier to stay informed about someone's Instagram activity.
Ready to try it? Download TRUTH free on App Store or Google Play and see for yourself in seconds.
See who anyone recently followed. 100% anonymous, instant results.