How to Make Someone Stop Following You on Instagram: A Detailed Guide

Have you ever wanted to remove a follower from your Instagram account? Maybe an ex, someone you don‘t know, or even a "frenemy" that you want to cut social media ties with? You‘re not alone.

According to a 2021 survey by Statista, over 31% of Instagram users report having unfollowed someone in the past due to undesirable, irrelevant or excessive content. And 24% say they‘ve blocked an account for similar reasons.

In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll explain the ins and outs of making someone unfollow you on Instagram. You‘ll learn:

• 4 main methods to get rid of followers
• Step-by-step instructions for each technique
• The pros and cons of each approach
• Extra tips to maintain your privacy and sanity

By the end, you‘ll understand exactly how to remove followers discreetly on Instagram. Let‘s get started!

Table of Contents

• Why Make Someone Unfollow You?
• Method 1: Remove Them as a Follower
• Method 2: Block Them
• Method 3: Restrict Them
• Method 4: Hide Your Story
• Extra Tips to Maintain Privacy
• FAQs about Unfollowing on Instagram
• Conclusion

Why Would You Want to Make Someone Unfollow You?

Before we dig into the how-to, let‘s discuss why you might want to make someone stop following you on Instagram. There are a few common reasons people remove or block followers:

1. Removing unwanted followers

You may wish to remove followers who:

• You don‘t know in real life
• Repeatedly like or comment on your posts inappropriately
• Seem like bots or fake accounts
• Appear to be following you just to sell something

Cleaning up your followers list helps ensure your account security and removes noise from your notifications.

2. Blocking bothersome exes or former friends

After ending a relationship or friendship, you may want to block an ex or former friend on social media. This helps provide a clean break and avoids any unwanted interactions.

3. Restricting bullies or trolls

If someone is posting mean or harassing comments on your content, you can restrict them to limit contact and hide their comments from your posts.

4. Hiding your story from specific people

There may be certain followers you don‘t want seeing some of your story posts for privacy reasons. Hiding your story prevents them accessing that content.

5. Gaining back personal space

For some personalities, having too many followers or friends on social media can feel invasive and overwhelming. Pruning your followers list helps reclaim personal space.

Method 1: Remove Them as a Follower

The most subtle way to make someone stop following you is to simply remove them as a follower. They won‘t get notified when you remove them, so they likely won‘t even realize it happened.

Here is a step-by-step guide to removing a follower on Instagram:

1. Open the Instagram app and go to your profile page
2. Tap "Followers" to see your full list of followers
3. Locate the user you want to remove
4. Tap the "Remove" button next to their username
5. Confirm that you want to remove the user to complete the process

Alternatively, you can remove a follower directly from their profile:

1. Go to the user‘s Instagram profile
2. Tap the three dots in the top right corner
3. Select "Remove follower"
4. Confirm to complete removing them

Once you remove someone as a follower, here‘s what happens:

• They will no longer see your posts or stories in their feed
• If your account is private, they have to request to follow you again
• If your account is public, they can refollow you without requesting

Pros

• It‘s subtle – the user likely won‘t notice they were removed
• You don‘t have to see their content anymore
• They can‘t access private content if your account is private

Cons

• On a public account, they can easily refollow you
• It‘s easy to accidentally refollow them from their profile

Overall, removing a follower is the most discreet option if you simply want someone to stop seeing your content passively. Just know they may be able to refollow you easily on a public profile.

Method 2: Block Them

Blocking someone on Instagram is more extreme than just removing them. When you block a user, they are immediately unfollowed and they won‘t be able to find your profile, posts or stories at all.

Here is how to block another user on Instagram:

1. Go to their Instagram profile
2. Tap the three dots in the top right corner
3. Select "Block"
4. Confirm that you want to block the user

When you block someone, here is what happens:

• They are removed as a follower
• You automatically unfollow them as well
• All your comments on their posts are deleted
• Their comments on your posts are removed
• You cannot send direct messages to each other

Unlike just removing them, blocking is permanent – unless you manually unblock them later. So it‘s a more "scorched earth" approach.

Pros

• Completely removes their access to your profile and posts
• Stops you from viewing their content as well
• Great for blocking abusive exes, bullies, or trolls

Cons

• It‘s irreversible unless you unblock them later
• May feel too extreme for casual friends or minor annoyances

Blocking is best reserved for people you want to remove entirely from your digital life. Use it for toxic people, not just casual cleanups.

Method 3: Restrict Them

Restricting someone is the middle ground between removing a follower and blocking them entirely. When you restrict someone, you silently limit their interactions with you.

To restrict another user:

1. Go to their Instagram profile
2. Tap the three dots in the top right corner
3. Select "Restrict"
4. Confirm that you want to restrict them

Here‘s what happens when you restrict someone:

• Their comments on your posts are hidden from everyone but you
• They won‘t see when you were last active on Instagram or if you‘ve read their messages
• You remain followers, but interactions are limited

Restricting is subtler because the user won‘t actually know they‘ve been restricted unless they realize their comments are hidden.

Pros

• Limits their ability to interact without them knowing
• Useful for quieting bullies or trolls
• You stay followers so it‘s less obvious

Cons

• You still see their posts and stories
• Not as strong as blocking them entirely

Overall, restricting is ideal for quietly reducing contact with someone harassing you in comments without provoking them further by blocking them.

Method 4: Hide Your Story

If your main concern is someone viewing your Instagram Stories, you can hide your story from them specifically while remaining followers.

To hide your story:

1. Go to their profile
2. Tap the three dots in the top right corner
3. Select "Hide Story"
4. Confirm you want to hide your story

When you hide your story from someone:

• They can‘t view your story posts
• But they still see your regular feed posts
• They won‘t know you‘ve hidden your story

Pros

• Lets you select who sees your story
• Less extreme than blocking them
• Temporary – you can reverse it anytime

Cons

• They can still interact with your non-story posts
• Need to redo it periodically for frequent story posters

Hiding your story is perfect for limiting just one person‘s access to your story content. Use it when you want to post something more risque or personal that you don‘t want that specific follower seeing.

Extra Tips to Maintain Your Privacy

In addition to removing and blocking followers, here are some extra tips to protect your privacy on Instagram:

• Review tags – Go to your settings and disable the ability for anyone to tag you in posts without approval first. This prevents unwanted tags from people mentioning you.

• Limit old posts – Remove tags of yourself in old posts and limit commenting on them. This makes it harder for new followers to dig into your past content.

• Filter comments – You can manually filter offensive words and emojis from comments so they need approval before posting. This limits harassing comments.

• Make accounts private – Having a private account ensures only approved followers see any of your content. It‘s a must for maximizing privacy.

• Prune followers regularly – Periodically review your followers list and remove any sketchy, inactive, or irrelevant followers. This keeps your account safe and tidy.

• Turn off activity status – Stop broadcasting when you were last active or typing by disabling the activity status feature in settings. This prevents unwanted pings when you‘re online.

Taking these extra steps along with removing and blocking nuisance followers helps you control your Instagram experience.

FAQs About Making Someone Unfollow You

Let‘s review some common questions about how to remove followers on Instagram:

How do I remove someone as a follower?

Go to your followers list, find their username, and tap "Remove" to remove them as a follower.

What happens when I remove a follower?

They will stop seeing your posts and you disappear from their following list. On a private account they have to request to follow you again.

How do I block someone on Instagram?

Go to their profile, tap the three dots, and choose "Block" to prevent them from viewing your profile or posts.

What happens when I block someone?

Blocking removes them as a follower, deletes all interactions with them, and makes your account invisible to them unless you unblock them.

How do I restrict someone on Instagram?

On their profile, tap the three dots and select "Restrict" to hide your activity from them and silently filter their comments on your posts.

What does restricting someone do?

Restricting limits their interactions with you without completely blocking them. They won‘t know they are restricted.

How do I hide my Instagram story from a follower?

On their profile, tap the three dots and choose "Hide Story" so they can‘t view your story posts. They‘ll still see your regular posts.

Is hiding my story permanent?

No, you can reverse hiding your story at any time. The user won‘t know if you‘ve hidden or unhidden your story from them.

Conclusion

I hope this guide gave you a comprehensive understanding of how to make someone unfollow you on Instagram.

Removing, blocking, restricting, and hiding your story provide different options depending on your specific reasons for wanting to cull a follower.

Just remember that methods like blocking should be reserved for toxic people. Try less permanent approaches first, like removing or restricting mild annoyances.

Controlling your followers list is key to creating a positive social media environment. Never feel obligated to keep following someone who stresses you out or invades your privacy!

Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions about removing followers on Instagram. I‘m happy to help you take control of your account.