How to follow someone on Instagram from contacts

If you’ve recently started a new Instagram account, or are just looking for some more people to follow, finding your contacts can be a great way to connect with your real-life friends on the app. Here’s how.

Instagram has been one of the biggest social media platforms in the world for years now, and is a place where millions of users share snippets of their daily lives through pictures and videos.

There are also plenty of celebrities and influencers who use the platform, and often end up garnering millions of followers on their account.

If you’ve recently started an account on Instagram, or you just want to connect with more users, it can be helpful to use your contacts to connect with people that you know in real life.

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Here’s how to do it.

How to find your contacts on Instagram

Fortunately, to make things easy, Instagram has a function that allows you to easily find out whether any of your contacts have an Instagram account.

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• Read More: How to share someone’s story on Instagram

To use this feature, simply do as follows.

1. Open Instagram.
2. Go to your profile page.
3. In the top right, click the three lines, then ‘Settings.’
4. Click ‘Follow and invite friends.’
5. Tap ‘Follow contacts,’ then ‘Continue.’

From there you should be able to access your contacts, as long as you have approved it in your device settings.

According to Instagram: “We’ll use your contacts to help you find people you know and help them find you. Your contacts will be periodically synced and stored on our servers. You can turn off syncing at any time in settings.”

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If you want to know more about how to use Instagram, you can check out our other guides here:

How to link your Instagram account to TikTok | How to see your first-liked Instagram post | How to switch Instagram feed to chronological order | How to re-share a post to your Story on Instagram | How to make money on Instagram | How to hide likes on Instagram

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA. Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions.

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Learn more...

Want to find people you already know on Instagram? By syncing your Android, iPhone, and Facebook contacts to Instagram, you can easily locate and follow people from your contact list. This wikiHow article will teach you how to connect your phone and Facebook contacts to Instagram so you can follow your friends, family, and colleagues.

Steps

1. Tap the profile icon in the Instagram app. It'll be the outline of a person (or your profile photo) at the bottom-right corner of the Instagram app.

2. Tap the menu icon ☰. It's the three horizontal lines at the top-right corner of your profile.

3. Tap Settings. It's at the top of the menu.

4. Tap Account. You'll find it near the bottom of the page.

5. Tap Contacts syncing. This is near the bottom of the page.

6. Tap the "Connect contacts" switch to sync your contacts. Turning on the switch allows Instagram to periodically sync the contacts from your Android, iPhone, or iPad to help you connect with people you already know.

   • When you sync your contacts, your Instagram account will also be recommended to any of your contacts who are also on Instagram (and have their contacts synced).

7. Go back to your profile. You can just tap the back button until you've returned to your own content.

8. Tap the "Discover people" icon. This looks like the outline of a person with a plus sign, and you'll see it next to the "Edit Profile" button at the top of your profile. The "Discover people" section will appear.

9. Tap See all on the "Discover people" section. This expands a list of suggested friends based on your connected accounts and synced contacts, as well as mutual friends.

   • Unfortunately, Instagram no longer shows you a list of all of your contacts who have Instagram in one place. You'll have to scroll through their suggestions or wait for notifications to find people in your contacts.

10. Tap Follow on an account. If the person you want to follow has not set their profile as private, you'll begin following their account automatically. If their account is private, they'll need to approve your request first.

    • Another way to find your contacts is to tap the number of people you follow on your profile, scroll all the way down to the bottom, and then tap Find people to follow. This displays the "Discover people" list in a slightly different format and order, although the suggestions will be mostly the same.
    • Instagram will periodically send you notifications about people they think you might want to follow. These notifications are also based on your synced contacts, accounts, and mutual friends. You can tap Follow on one of these notifications to start following the suggested person.

1. Tap the profile icon in the Instagram app. It'll be the outline of a person (or your profile photo) at the bottom-right corner of the Instagram app. If you haven't already done so, you can also sync your Facebook friends list to Instagram so you can easily find people you're already connected to.

2. Tap the icon of a person with a plus sign near the top of your profile. It's to the right of the "Edit Profile" button. The "Discover people" section will appear.

3. Tap See all. It's at the top-right corner of the "Discover people" section.

4. Tap Connect next to "Connect to Facebook." It's the blue button at the top of the page.

   • If prompted, tap Continue to allow Instagram to open the Facebook login page.

5. Sign in to your Facebook account. Enter your login information for Facebook, or tap Continue as (your name) to sign in. This will connect your Facebook account to Instagram, which makes it easier to follow your Facebook contacts in the app.

   • Once your contacts are synced, your Instagram account will also be recommended to any of your contacts who are also on Instagram (and have their contacts synced).

6. Tap Follow on a suggested account. If you receive a notification about a Facebook friend on Instagram, tap Follow to start following them. If their account is private, you'll need to wait for them to approve you.

7. Check the "Discover people" section to find and follow Facebook friends. You can get there at any time by tapping the icon of a person with a plus sign at the top of your profile, and then tapping See all.

   • Unfortunately, Instagram no longer shows you a list of all of your Facebook friends who have Instagram in one place. You'll have to scroll through the suggestions or wait for notifications to find people in your contacts.
   • Another way to find your Facebook friends on Instagram is to tap the number of people you follow on your profile, scroll all the way down to the bottom, and then tap Find people to follow. This displays the "Discover people" list in a slightly different format and order, although the suggestions will be mostly the same.

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

• If you know a person's username, you can easily find them on Instagram by tapping the search icon at the bottom, typing the username, and then tapping their profile when it appears. Just tap Follow on their profile to follow them.

• If you want to find new people to follow who aren't in your contacts, try tapping the magnifying glass icon and scrolling through the Explore page. You can also search for keywords and hashtags to find people who have similar interests.

  How do you find your contacts on Instagram?

  How to find your contacts on Instagram using contacts syncing.

  Tap the profile icon, located on the bottom-right side of the screen. ... .

  Tap the three lines, located in the top-right corner and choose Settings. ... .

  Select Account. ... .

  Tap Contacts Syncing. ... .

  Tap the toggle on the Contacts Syncing option..

  How do I follow a friend on Instagram with their contacts?

  Open the Android Instagram app, then click on your “profile icon” in the bottom-right section to open your Profile page. In the “Discover People” section, tap on “See All.” Tap on “Connect Contacts” at the top, then go to the next step. You can also choose “Connect to Facebook” and then skip to “Step 6.”

  Can you find contacts on Instagram by phone number?

  You can find people on Instagram by their phone number. But the search will be successful only if the person's account is connected with the number. Besides, be ready to sync your page with the list of your contacts. It means you can be found in the same way.