How to Find People on Instagram

Written by Jack Lloyd

This wikiHow teaches you how to find new people to follow on Instagram. If you know the name of an account you want to follow, you can easily search for it in Instagram's search tool. You can also use Instagram's Discover People tool to find suggestions for people to follow, including people from your Facebook account and personal contact list.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Searching by Username

1
Open Instagram. Tap the orange, pink, and purple camera icon in your app list to launch Instagram. This will open your Instagram home page if you're logged in.
2
Tap the magnifying glass icon. It's the second icon at the bottom of the screen.

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3
Tap the search bar. This is the grey field at the top of the screen with "Search" written in it. Your phone's keyboard should pop up.
4
Tap the Accounts tab. This limits your search to people on Instagram.
5
Type in a name or account name. As you type, results will appear below the search bar.
6
Tap the account you want to follow. This opens that user's profile. If the page is public, you'll see a grid of their posts. If not, you'll just see their profile image and bio.
- If you don't see the account you want to follow, try scrolling down.
7
Tap the blue Follow button. It's near the top-left corner of the page. This will follow the account; you'll be able to find this account in your profile's Following section from now on.
- If the account is protected, tapping Follow will send a request to the account owner. If they approve the request, you'll start following the account.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Using the Discover People Tool

1
Open Instagram. Tap the orange, pink, and purple camera icon in your app list to launch Instagram. This will open your Instagram home page if you're logged in.
2
Tap your profile icon
. It's the outline of a person at the bottom-right corner of the screen. This opens your profile.
3
Tap the ☰ menu. It's the three horizontal lines at the top-right corner. A menu will expand.
4
Tap +Discover People. It's the silhouette of a person with a + next to it. You'll find it toward the bottom of the menu. This displays a list of Instagram accounts you may want to follow.
5
Find a profile you want to follow. Scroll down through the suggested accounts until you find one you want to follow.
- If you've synced your contacts with Instagram, you'll find some of your contacts that have Instagram accounts in this list. See the Syncing Phone or Tablet Contacts method to learn how to sync your contacts.
- If you haven't linked your Instagram account to Facebook, you'll see "Facebook" with a blue Connect button near the top of the screen. If you'd like your Facebook friends who have Instagram accounts to appear in the Discover People list, tap Connect and follow the on-screen instructions to set this up.
6
Tap a profile. This opens the person's profile page so you can check it out. If the page is public, you'll see a grid of their posts. If not, you'll just see their profile image and bio.
7
Tap Follow to follow the account. It's a blue button near the top of the screen. This follows the account, meaning that you'll be able to find this account in your profile's Following section from now on.
- If the account is protected, tapping Follow will send a request to the account owner. If they approve the request, you'll start following the account.
- Tap the back button to return to the Discover People page where you can find more people to follow.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Syncing Phone or Tablet Contacts

1
Open Instagram. Tap the orange, pink, and purple camera icon in your app list to launch Instagram. This will open your Instagram home page if you're logged in.
2
Tap your profile icon
. It's the outline of a person at the bottom-right corner of the screen. This opens your profile.
3
Tap the ☰ menu. It's the three horizontal lines at the top-right corner. A menu will expand.
4
Tap Settings. It's the gear icon at the top of the menu.
5
Tap Account. It's toward the bottom of the menu.^{[1]
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6
Tap Contacts Syncing. It's near the middle of the menu.
7
Slide the "Connect Contacts" switch to On
. This syncs your phone contacts with Instagram's servers. Once the sync is complete, you'll start seeing your contacts that have Instagram accounts in the Discover People list.
- You can disconnect contact syncing at any time by sliding this switch back to the Off position.

Community Q&A

Question

How can I find someone's Instagram account if all I have is a photo of them?

Community Answer

Use reverse image searchers like Google Image, TinEye, etc. You will only find the picture if it is on their account and their account is public.
Question

Can I find a person on Instagram without having an account?

Community Answer

Yes. But if you're not logged in, you can't search unless you're already on an Instagram page. You can search for a profile within a search engine, and from there you can use the search bar at the top and search for any profile or tag. You can see the posts if they're not private, but can't click them or view comments unless you're logged in.
Question

How can I find an account using only photos?

Community Answer

You can search by tags if they're unique enough, such as if the posts are tagged with the user's unique screen name.