Quick Ways to Cancel a Sent Follow Request on Instagram

If you requested to follow someone on Instagram by accident or have changed your mind, you can cancel your follow request easily. You can also delete or deny a follow request that somebody on Instagram sent you, though you'll need a private account. This wikiHow article teaches you how to delete a follow request on Instagram using your iPhone, iPad, Android, or computer, and how to make your account private so you can control who follows you.

Quick Steps

Select Notifications or the heart icon.
Select Follow Requests.
Select Delete next to the follow request.

Section 1 of 7:

Denying a Follow Request (Mobile)

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1
Tap the heart icon. This is at the top-right corner, next to the paper airplane icon. Your Notifications will open.
- To receive to approve or deny follow requests, your account must be set to private.
- If your account is set to public, or if you accidentally approved a follower you don't want, you can remove that follower in the Settings menu.
2
Tap Follow requests. This is at the top of the page.
- If you don't see this option, you don't have any pending follow requests.
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This denies the follow request.^{[1]
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Section 2 of 7:

Denying a Follow Request (Desktop)

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You can find this in the left panel, next to the heart icon. The Notifications panel will open.
This is at the top of the Notifications panel.
This denies the follow request.

Section 3 of 7:

Canceling Your Follow Request

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1
Navigate to the user's profile. If you requested to follow someone by accident or have changed your mind, you can cancel the sent follow request. Enter the username in the search field to go to their profile.
- If you can't remember the name of the user you followed, you can download a list of your most recent followers, following, and recent follow requests. Do the following:
  - Select your profile icon.
  - Select ☰ (mobile) or the cog icon > Settings and privacy.
  - Select Account Center.
  - Select Your information and permissions.
  - Select Download your information.
  - Select Download or transfer information.
  - Select your Instagram account and tap Next followed by Some of your information.
  - Scroll down, check "Followers and Following," and tap Next.
  - Tap Download to device and tap Create file.
  - Tap Download when the file is ready. It may take a few minutes.
It should be near the top of the user's profile page. This button will change from Requested to Follow, effectively canceling the follow request.

Section 4 of 7:

Removing a Follower

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1
Navigate to the user's profile. If there's somebody following you on Instagram that you don't want to be following you, you can remove them. Enter the username in the search field to go to their profile.
- Alternatively, select your profile icon and select Followers to see a list of all your followers.
This is at the top-right corner of the user's profile. A pop-up menu will open.
You can find this in the middle of the list.
4
Select Remove to confirm. This removes the person as your follower. ^{[2]
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- If you want to prevent the user from following you again, you can block them.
- To make sure you control who can follow you in the future, jump down to Make Your Instagram Private.

Section 5 of 7:

Make Your Instagram Private

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1
Select your profile image. If you want to control who can send you follow requests in the future, make your account private.
- If you are using a computer, skip this step.
2
Select ☰. It's in the upper-right corner of your profile page on the mobile app. This opens the Settings and activity page.
- If you are using a computer, click this icon at the bottom of the menu bar to the left. Then click Settings in the pop-up menu.
It's below the "Who can see your content" header.
This sets your account to private. All follow requests will need to be approved. Only your followers will be able to see the content you post.^{[3]
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Section 6 of 7:

Can others see if you deleted the request?

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Instagram does not send notifications for rejected follow requests. When someone requests to follow you, they can check its progress by going to your profile. If a request is pending, they'll see Requested. When you delete or deny a follow request, that button will revert to the normal Follow button. They won't receive a notification, but they may suspect you rejected the request if they check.
- To avoid awkward situations, you can try to blame it on an Instagram glitch.
- When you delete a request, users can request to follow you again. If you don't want this, you can either let the request sit in your notifications or block the user.

Section 7 of 7:

Will Instagram say if a follow request got approved?

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Yes, Instagram will send notifications for accepted follow requests. When your follow request is approved, you should see: "[name] accepted your follow request." If you were accepted but didn't get a notification, you may have this disabled in your settings.
- To enable this notification, do the following:
  - Navigate to your profile and tap ☰ to open Settings and activity.
  - Tap Notifications.
  - Tap Following and followers.
  - Tap On under Accepted follow requests.
- You can also check if you were accepted by visiting the user's profile. If you were accepted, you should be able to see all the user's content.

Community Q&A

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Question

How long do "follow requests" stay active?

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Community Answer

If they stop the request, delete their account, or block you it will go away. But otherwise it will remain active until you accept or decline it.

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Question

When I hit delete to not follow, it won't go away.

Community Answer

Just ignore it. No one can follow you unless you hit the "approve" button. You could also block them if you want.

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Question

What does it look like when you delete the other follow request on their side?

Community Answer

Unless you block them, which will completely hide your profile from them, it will just show a message saying the profile is private, and they can send another follow request. They will not receive a notification either way.

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