How to Use the Instagram Followers Auto Follow

Before you start

• Awareness of Instagram limits:
  • Instagram restricts what’s visible in the web app: Some profiles only show the most recent 50 followers. The Phantom cannot bypass this limitation.
  • Auto-following is rate-limited by Instagram:
    • Safe maximum = 40 profiles per hour.
    • Exceeding this may cause faster cookie expiration or account restrictions.

Step 1: Connect your Instagram account

To let the Phantom act on your behalf:

1. Install the PhantomBuster browser extension and connect your Instagram session in one click.
2. If you’re not using Chrome or Firefox, you can retrieve your session cookie manually (see our cookie guide).

Step 2: Choose the source profile

Decide whose followers you want to follow:

• Copy the URL of the Instagram profile you’re interested in and paste it into the setup.

This Phantom will then target the followers of that account.

Step 3: Configure auto-follow behavior

Here’s where you decide how the Phantom should follow accounts:

• Number of profiles to follow per launch (required):
  • Default = 20.
  • Safe maximum = 40 per hour.
  • The Phantom can technically process up to 100 per launch, but exceeding 40 per hour risks account warnings or faster cookie expiration.

Advanced settings (dropdown in setup)

Use these checkboxes to refine how the Phantom follows accounts:

• Exclude private profiles (optional):
  Skip sending follow requests to private accounts.
• Only follow profiles with a minimum number of followers (optional):
  Enter a number to only follow accounts above that threshold.
• Only follow profiles with a minimum number of posts (optional):
  Enter the minimum number of posts an account must have for the Phantom to follow it.
• Process follower profiles only once (optional, enabled by default):
  Prevents the Phantom from retrying the same accounts in future launches, especially useful for private profiles that don’t accept your follow request.

Result file settings (dropdown in setup)

1. Name your results file (optional)

   • You can customize the file name.

     If you rename the file between launches, the Phantom will create a new results file and start processing inputs from scratch.

2. Fields to keep (optional)
   • Export only the fields you care about by listing them (comma-separated).
     Example: profileName, bio, followersCount.
   • This generates a second CSV file with just those fields.
   • Learn more in our guide: Customize how your Phantom results files are saved.

Step 4: Select launch frequency

Choose how often the Phantom should run:

1. Launch manually: Start the Phantom yourself whenever you need.
2. Launch once at a specific time: schedule a one-time run at a set date and time.
3. Launch repeatedly: schedule regular runs (e.g. once per day, several times during working hours).
4. Launch after another Phantom: chain automations together so this Phantom starts right after another finishes.
5. Advanced scheduling: customize the exact minutes, hours, days, or months when the Phantom should run.

→ For a complete walkthrough of scheduling options, see our guide to scheduling Phantoms automatically.

Step 5 (Optional): Advanced settings

Advanced settings are available if you want to fine-tune how your Phantom runs, but by default they’re already optimized for most use cases.

We recommend leaving them as they are unless a guide specifically instructs you to change something.

→ For a detailed overview of all advanced options (like execution limits, retries, email notifications, proxies, webhooks, and file management), see our Advanced settings guide.

Launch and results

When you’re ready:

1. Click Launch to start your Phantom.
2. Once it finishes, open the Results tab in the Phantom console to see the data collected.
3. Download your results as a CSV or JSON file.

→ To learn how to export your data to Google Sheets, integrate with other tools, or reuse it in more automations, check our Access and Export your Phantom Results guide.

Export and input limits on the Free plan
If you’re on the Free plan or Free trial, some features are limited:
- CSV exports include only the first 10 rows of results.
- CSV download links (for dynamic viewing in Google Sheets or integrations) are not available.
- JSON exports are not available.
- CSV upload as an input method is not supported.
To unlock all features, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan.

What you give (Input) and What you get (Output)

This section gives you a detailed breakdown of everything you need to provide to run this Phantom, and everything you’ll receive once it completes.

What you give (Input)

What you get (Output)

Tips and troubleshooting

Common pitfalls

• Going over limits → Following more than ~40 profiles/hour can cause faster cookie expiration or account restrictions.
• Private profiles not accepting requests → These stay “pending” and may never turn into followers. Use the “process once” option to avoid repeat attempts.
• Expecting full follower lists → Some profiles only show the 50 most recent followers on Instagram Web. This is a platform limitation.

If you run into errors or account issues

• Browse the Fix Issues & Troubleshoot Errors section for solutions to common problems.
• Review our Automation Rate Limits by Platform guide.
• Check our Best Practices for Social Media Automation guide.

Suggested automations

• Instagram Follower Collector → Build a list of followers before choosing who to follow.
• Instagram Auto Liker → Engage with your new follows by liking their recent posts.
• Instagram Profile Scraper → Enrich the profiles you followed with bio and activity data.