Instagram introduced a new feature recently that makes it easy to remove spam bot accounts and followers in just a few clicks. Everyone may not have access to this feature yet, as Instagram likes to roll these things out slowly. But it’s worth a check if you’d like to rid yourself of useless follower fluff.

Why You Should Remove Spam Bot Accounts

Spam bot accounts are not real people, they don’t interact, and they artificially inflate your follower numbers which can actually harm your overall engagement.

• Improves Engagement: Genuine followers are more likely to engage with your content, so removing spam and bot accounts can increase your overall engagement metrics.
• Enhances Credibility: Having a high number of real, engaged followers lends credibility to your account and can make it more attractive to potential collaborators or customers.
• Avoids Misleading Metrics: Bot accounts artificially inflate your follower count, which can give an inaccurate representation of your actual reach and influence.
• Quality Over Quantity: It’s better to have a smaller, authentic following that interacts with your content than a large following filled with inactive or fake accounts.

Overall, eliminating spam and bot accounts can lead to a more genuine and valuable Instagram presence.

How to Quickly Remove Spam Accounts

Step One: Click Your Followers

Click the top of your profile where it has your follower count, and a list of your followers will pop up.

Step Two: Look at the Top of the List

Your followers list will be in two parts. If it isn’t, then you don’t have the right kind of account for this option, or they haven’t released it in your area yet.

Categories should be at the top, as seen in the image below. One of the categories is “Potential Spam.” Click that to see all the accounts that may be spam.

Step 3: Verify Bot and Spam Followers

The next page will bring up a list of all your suspected spam followers. I had a 978! You can check each account to verify they really are spam accounts and not real followers. Many people commented on my Instagram post that they checked theirs and some were real accounts. I have yet to find a real account in mine.

To recognize spam followers on Instagram, look for the following characteristics:

1. Empty or Generic Profiles: Bot accounts often have incomplete profiles or generic usernames with a combination of random letters and numbers.
2. Lack of Engagement: Spam followers typically do not engage with your content by liking or commenting on posts. And likewise, there is no engagement on their profile.
3. Unusual Content: Some bot accounts may have strange or irrelevant posts that do not seem to go together.
4. High Following Count: Bot accounts may follow a large number of users without having many followers themselves.
5. Duplicate Content: If you notice identical comments or messages from multiple accounts, they could be bot-generated.

Step 4: Click Remove All

The last step after verifying you want to delete those accounts is to click “Remove All.” You’ll get a pop-up letting you know that Instagram is working on it and your follower count should be updated in 24 hours. I’ve done this three times now, every time with a lot of spam accounts removed, and there’s been no penalty.

I mention that because if you did it on your own and just started removing a bunch of accounts, Instagram my deem it suspicious activity and freeze or restrict your account. But there’s nothing to worry about when Instagram is the one doing the removals.

The next day my profile was down almost a 1,000 followers, but good riddance. I’ll probably never get to 20k at this rate, but I’d rather clear out all the bots and spam and keep my profile authentic.

About the Author

Candy Keane is a digital content creator and long-time cosplayer, most well-known for being on the cover of the Star Wars documentary Jedi Junkies. After making costumes professionally for over a decade, she now writes about geek culture and mom life, and continues to cosplay for fun, while sharing her love of costumes on Instagram @SewGeekMama. Her first children’s book, I’m Going to My First Comic Convention, was published in 2020 and won a Story Monsters Approved award for Excellence in Literature.

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