How to Check if Two Instagram Accounts Follow Each Other (2026 Guide)

The quickest way to check if two Instagram accounts follow each other is to open each account's following list and search for the other username inside it. Instagram gives you a search box at the top of every following and followers list, so you do not have to scroll. Two searches, two results, and you have your answer.

Instagram does not have a built-in "do these two accounts follow each other" feature, and the "Followed by" line under a bio only tells part of the story. But with the in-list search, the mutuals hint, and a tracker for changes over time, you can confirm any connection between two public accounts in under a minute and keep watching it afterwards.

This guide walks through each method, explains what it can and cannot prove, and covers the private account cases.

Method 1: search inside the following list

This is the definitive method for public accounts.

1. Open the first account's profile and tap the following count.
2. Tap the search box at the top of the list and type the second account's username.
3. If the username appears, the first account follows the second. If the search comes back empty, it does not.
4. Now open the second account's profile, tap following, and search for the first username.
5. Two matches means the accounts follow each other. One match means the follow goes one way. No match means neither follows the other.

A few tips:

• Type the exact username, not the display name. Display names can be duplicated and are often not searchable in the list.
• Search is available on the app and on the website. On very large lists the search is far more reliable than scrolling, because the list order changes every time it loads. Our explainer on the Instagram following list order covers why scrolling is not dependable.
• If both accounts are public, this takes about thirty seconds and gives a certain answer.

You can also do the mirror check from the followers side: open account A's followers list and search for account B. It gives the same information as searching A in B's following list. Use whichever list is smaller.

Method 2: the "Followed by" line

Under the bio on many profiles, Instagram shows a line like "Followed by username1, username2 and 12 others". This lists accounts you follow that also follow this profile.

It is useful as a quick hint, but understand exactly what it means:

• It confirms that the named accounts follow the profile you are looking at.
• It says nothing about whether the profile follows them back.
• It only shows accounts that you follow, so if you do not follow either of the two accounts you are checking, the line will not help.
• Instagram picks which mutuals to display; the "and N others" part is hidden unless you tap through to the list, and even then it only shows accounts you follow.

So if you follow account B and you open account A's profile and see "Followed by B", you know B follows A. To know if A follows B, you still need the search from method 1.

Method 3: mutual followers between the two accounts

If you want to know how connected two accounts are beyond a direct follow, look at their shared connections. There is no single screen for this, but you can approximate it:

1. Open account A's followers list and note accounts you recognize.
2. Open account B's followers list and search for those same accounts.
3. Repeat from the following side if needed.

This is slow and only practical for a handful of names. It is mostly useful for confirming that two accounts belong to the same social circle, not for a yes-or-no follow answer.

Method 4: a tracker for changes over time

The manual methods answer "do they follow each other right now". They do not tell you when the follow happened, and they do not tell you if it changes tomorrow. For that you need to watch the lists over time, and a tracker does that automatically.

The Ick checks a public profile every hour and compares its following and followers lists with the previous check. If account A starts following account B, B appears as a new follow in A's timeline within an hour, with the detection time. If A later unfollows B, that appears as an unfollow. If you are tracking A, you also see when B starts or stops following A. Every change triggers a push notification.

This means you can:

• Confirm the current relationship at a glance from the tracked profile's lists.
• Get a dated record of when a follow began, which Instagram never shows for other people's accounts.
• Be alerted when the relationship changes in either direction without rechecking by hand.

You can track up to five public profiles, there is no Instagram login required, and the tracked person is never notified. Start by typing a username on the home page and see the first analysis. If your real question is about who someone follows, the Instagram recent follow tracker page explains the feature in depth, and how to see who someone recently followed on Instagram gives the full walkthrough.

Comparing the methods

What if one account is private?

A private account hides its following and followers lists from everyone except approved followers. That blocks half of the check, but not all of it.

• If A is public and B is private, open A's following list and search for B. If B appears, A follows B. Then open A's followers list and search for B. If B appears, B follows A. You have the full answer using only A's public lists, because B's username shows up in them even though B is private.
• If both are private and you follow neither, you cannot check. Sending a follow request will notify them.
• If you follow the private account, you can open its lists yourself and use the search box normally.

No tracker can read a private account's lists, but tracking the public account in the pair still reveals the relationship from that side. For the complete picture, read can you track a private Instagram account.

Will they know I checked?

No. Viewing a profile, opening its following or followers list, and searching inside the list are all silent actions. Instagram does not log viewers or send notifications for any of them. The only ways to reveal yourself are to tap the story ring, like a post, comment, or tap Follow. Our explainer on whether Instagram notifies when you look at someone's following list goes into every case.

Quick reference

• Follow check, right now: search each username in the other's following list.
• Direction hint from your own network: read the Followed by line.
• History and alerts: track the public account with The Ick and watch the timeline.
• Private account: check from the public side; do not trust any tool that claims to see inside a private profile.

Plans for ongoing tracking, with weekly and yearly options and regional prices, are listed on the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check if two Instagram accounts follow each other?

Open the first account's following list and use the search box to type the second account's username. If it appears, the first follows the second. Then open the second account's following list and search for the first. Two hits means they follow each other.

Can I check this if one of the accounts is private?

Only if you follow the private account, since its lists are hidden from everyone else. You can still check the other direction from the public account's lists, because a private account's username shows up in the public account's followers or following list.

Does the Followed by line prove two accounts follow each other?

No. It shows a few accounts that you follow that also follow the profile. It confirms that those accounts follow the profile, but says nothing about whether the profile follows them back. Use the in-list search for the full answer.

Will the accounts know I checked?

No. Opening profiles, opening following or followers lists, and searching inside them are all silent actions on Instagram. Nobody is notified. Just avoid tapping the story ring, the like button, or the follow button while you are there.

How can I know when two accounts start or stop following each other?

Track one of the public accounts with a tool like The Ick. It checks the profile every hour and notifies you when a specific account appears in or disappears from its following or followers list, so you learn about the change within an hour instead of rechecking by hand.