Instagram questions · Reviewed July 3, 2026
Can you see who someone follows if their account is private?
The short answer
No. If an account is private, its following list is hidden from anyone it hasn't approved — you can't see who a private account follows unless they accept your follow request. Tracking tools like Lurk work only with public accounts, where the following list is already visible to everyone. There is no legitimate way around a private account's privacy settings.
A private account's following list is served only to approved followers. Non-followers get nothing, which is exactly the protection the private setting is meant to provide.
Follow trackers rely on data that's already public, so they help with public profiles and stop at private ones. Any service claiming to reveal a private account's follows is a scam.
What if I already follow the private account?
Then you can see its following list normally, just like any public profile — approval removes the restriction for you.
Can a tracker watch a private account for me?
No. Trackers read public data, so they can't monitor a private account's follows unless it becomes public or approves you.
Related questions
- How do you see a private Instagram account's followers?
- Can you see who someone recently followed on Instagram?
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