Public accounts show both lists
If your account is public, anyone on Instagram, including people who do not follow you, can open your followers and following lists from your profile.
Instagram Privacy Guide · Updated October 2026
How to Hide Your Following List on Instagram
Instagram does not have a switch that hides only your following list. What you can control is who is allowed to open it: a private account, removing followers and blocking are the real options, and each one works a little differently.
No fake toggles
iPhone & Android steps
Followers and following explained
Quick answer
Can You Hide Your Following List on Instagram?
Not with a dedicated setting. On a public account, anyone can tap "Following" or "Followers" on your profile and see the lists. To hide them, switch to a private account so only approved followers can see them, then remove or block anyone who should not see who you follow.
Your follower and following counts stay visible on your profile either way. Privacy settings hide the lists, not the numbers.
The setting
Is There a Setting to Turn Off Your Following List on Instagram?
No. As of October 2026, Instagram has no option to turn off or hide your following list while keeping your account public.
The "Friends" test is not a hide option
In January 2026 Instagram confirmed a small test that shows a "Friends" count (people you follow who follow you back) in place of "Following" for some users. It changes a label for a test group. It does not give you a way to hide who you follow.
Privacy decides who can look
The only built-in control over your lists is account privacy. So if you are wondering how to turn off your following list on Instagram, the practical answer is to go private.
Steps
How to Make Your Following Private on Instagram
A private account hides your followers list, following list, posts and Stories from everyone who does not already follow you. The steps are the same on iPhone and Android.
1
Open your profile menu
Tap your profile picture at the bottom right, then tap the three-line menu at the top right.
2
Go to Account privacy
In Settings and activity, find "Who can see your content" and tap Account privacy.
3
Turn on Private account
Switch on Private account and confirm. Menu wording can vary slightly between app versions.
Current followers keep access
Going private only affects people who do not follow you yet. Anyone already following you can still see who you follow, so review your followers after switching.
Business and creator accounts
Professional accounts cannot be private. You would first need to switch back to a personal account in your account settings, which removes features such as Insights.
Teen Accounts are private by default
Instagram places younger users in Teen Accounts, which are set to private by default, so their lists are already hidden from non-followers.
One person
How to Hide Who You Follow on Instagram From Specific People
If one particular person should not see your following list, you have two tools: remove them as a follower or block them.
1
Remove a follower
On your profile, tap Followers, find the person and tap Remove. Instagram does not notify them. On a private account they lose access to your lists. On a public account they can still see them.
2
Block the account
Open their profile, tap the three-dot menu and choose Block. A blocked person cannot find your profile or see your posts, followers or following list, even if your account is public.
3
Check what they can see
Blocking is not announced, but the other person may notice your profile is gone. Our guide on how to know if someone blocked you explains what a block looks like from the other side.
Followers
How Can I Hide Followers on Instagram?
Your followers list follows the same rules as your following list. There is no separate setting for either one.
Both lists are hidden together
A private account hides your followers and following lists at the same time. You cannot hide followers while showing who you follow, or the other way around.
Counts remain visible
Even on a private account, the numbers next to Followers and Following still appear on your profile. Only the names behind them are hidden.
Review your own list
To clean up who follows you, the Instagram unfollowers tracker uses your own data export to show who does not follow you back, with no password required.
Other tools
Does Restrict or Limits Hide Your Following List?
No. These features filter interactions. They do not change who can open your lists.
Restrict
Restrict limits a person's comments and moves their messages to requests, but they can still see your profile as before. Learn more in what Restrict means on Instagram and how to know if someone restricted you.
Limits
Limits temporarily hides comments and message requests from accounts that do not follow you or only recently followed you. It has no effect on your followers or following list.
Close Friends
Close Friends controls who sees specific Stories. It does not hide your lists, and people are not told whether they are on it.
Limit
How to Limit Your Following List on Instagram
If going private is not an option, the only way to limit what people see is to change the list itself.
Unfollow accounts
Accounts you unfollow disappear from your following list right away. Unfollowing does not notify the other person.
Use a second account
Many people follow private interests from a separate account. Instagram lets you add several accounts and switch between them.
Avoid "hide following" apps
Third-party apps cannot change what Instagram shows on your profile. Apps that ask for your password to "hide" lists put your account at risk.
Visibility
Can People See When You Check Their Following List?
No. Instagram does not tell anyone that you opened their followers or following list, just as it does not show profile visitors. See can you see who viewed your Instagram profile for what Instagram does and does not reveal.
FAQ
Hide Following List on Instagram FAQ
How do you hide your following list on Instagram?
Switch to a private account in Settings and activity, then Account
privacy. Only approved followers can then see your following list.
Remove or block anyone who should not see it.
Can you hide followers on Instagram without going private?
No. Instagram has no setting that hides your followers or
following list on a public account. Blocking hides your lists
from one specific person.
How do you hide Instagram followers from one person?
Block them, or make your account private and remove them as a
follower. Instagram does not notify people when they are removed
or blocked.
How do I hide who I follow on Instagram from my followers?
You cannot hide it from approved followers. Anyone who follows a
private account can see its following list, so the only option is
to remove that follower.
Is there a way to turn off the following list on Instagram?
There is no toggle to turn off the following list. A private
account is the closest option, and your follower and following
counts will still be visible.
Does making my account private hide my following count?
No. The numbers stay on your profile. A private account hides the
list of names from people who do not follow you.