Instagram follow notifications: how to get an alert for new follows
By the Stalkie teamUpdated · 3 min read
Quick answer
Instagram has no notification for when another profile follows or unfollows someone; the bell on a profile only covers posts, stories, reels and lives. To get an alert for new follows, you need a tracker that checks the public following list several times a day and notifies you when something changes.
Turning on a profile's bell looks like the answer, but it only covers posts. When that profile follows someone, nothing arrives. Instagram never had this kind of alert, and since 2019 it doesn't show other people's activity anywhere.
Here you'll see what Instagram actually notifies, why the bell doesn't help and how a tracker's alerts work: where they come from, how long they take and how to set them up your way.
What Instagram notifies (and what it doesn't)
| Event | Does Instagram tell you? |
|---|---|
| Someone started following you | Yes |
| Someone requested to follow your private account | Yes |
| A profile with the bell on posted, shared a story, reel or went live | Yes |
| Someone unfollowed you | No |
| Another profile started following someone | No |
| Another profile unfollowed someone | No |
In other words, anything about someone else's following list is left out. If you want to know about it, you need another source.
Why the profile bell doesn't help
On someone's profile, the bell lets you choose posts, stories, reels and live videos. There is no option for follows. And the old Following tab, which showed people's activity, was removed in October 2019.
Without that alert, the manual alternative is to open the following list now and then and compare, as explained in how to see who someone followed. It works, but you only find out when you remember to look.
How a tracker's alerts work
- You pick a public profile to follow along.
- Stalkie keeps an eye on its following list.
- When it finds a change, it sends a notification to your phone.
On Stalkie, alerts are grouped: if a profile followed three accounts since the last alert, you get one notification, not three. You stay informed without being flooded.
- @sample.profile started following 3 accountsToday, 4:02 PM
- @sample.profile unfollowed @fictional.storeToday, 10:47 AM
- @sample.profile gained 2 new followersYesterday, 9:15 PM
Invented profiles and times, just to show the format.
How long an alert takes to arrive
Alerts arrive throughout the day, as changes show up. It isn't live, but you don't have to open anything to find out.
- The time shown is when the change was spotted; the follow may have happened a little earlier.
- Changes that arrive together become one alert, so your notifications don't fill up.
How to set alerts up your way
- Allow notifications when the app asks. Without that, changes still show up in the activity feed, but nothing reaches your phone.
- Choose what to hear about for each profile: changes in who it follows (follows and unfollows) and new followers.
- Open the activity feed to see the full history of what was detected, with times.
Want to understand unfollow alerts better? See the unfollow guide.
Will the person know?
No. The tracker reads only what is already public on the profile, without following the account and without using yours. The profile owner gets no notification. More in how to choose a safe tracker.
Frequently asked questions
Can I turn on a notification for when someone follows another person on Instagram?
Not on Instagram. The profile bell only covers posts, stories, reels and lives. For follows, you need an outside tracker that checks the following list.
Does the alert arrive the moment someone follows?
Shortly after, throughout the day. The time shown is when the change was spotted.
Will I get a notification for every single follow?
No. Changes of the same kind on the same profile are grouped into a single alert.
Can I get unfollow alerts too?
Yes. Alerts for changes in who a profile follows include both follows and unfollows, and you can turn them on or off for each profile.
Does the person get any notice that I'm following along?
No. Nothing shows up for the profile owner, neither in their notifications nor in their activity.