What to know
- Instagram’s new Threads app lets you add people you already follow on Instagram to your following list so that they can follow you back as well.
- You can find and follow your Instagram friends while setting up Threads for the first time or by manually accessing the app’s Profile and Activity screens.
- You may either follow people you like one-by-one or follow them all at once when you access your Instagram following list.
Can you follow your Instagram friends on Threads?
When you sign up on the Threads app for the first time, the app uses your existing Instagram account to log into your Threads account for the first time. Since Threads is fundamentally linked to your Instagram account, you can import your friends from the latter onto your Threads account either during set up or after.
Regardless of how you access your Instagram friends list, you can follow any or all of them, even if some of your friends haven’t yet signed up on Threads. When you follow your Instagram friends who aren’t on Threads already, your follow request would be registered for when they sign up on the new app. Depending upon the account your friends create (Public or Private), you may either follow their account as soon as they sign up or wait for their approval to reach out to them on Threads.
How to find and follow your Instagram friends on Threads
There are a bunch of ways you can find and follow your friends from Instagram on the new Threads app.
Method 1: During Threads setup
The easiest way to find your Instagram friends to follow on Threads is when you’re setting up the latter for the very first time. So, once you’ve downloaded it on your device, open the Threads app and start processing the initial setup.
After you’ve selected your Instagram account to log in to Threads, and entered your details inside the Profile page, you’ll arrive at the “Follow the same accounts you follow on Instagram?” screen. This is where you’ll be able to see a list of all your friends on Instagram.
You can scroll through this list and tap on the Follow option adjacent to the person you want to follow on Threads.
If you’re having a hard time locating someone in your friends list, you can use the search box at the top to look for someone’s name or username from the list. When their account shows up, you can tap on the Follow button to send them a follow request.
Threads also makes it easy for you to follow multiple people from your Instagram account by letting you follow them all in one go. For that, tap on Follow all at the bottom of the “Follow the same accounts you follow on Instagram?” screen.
Once you’ve selected whom you want to follow, you can continue the initial setup by tapping on Next at the top right corner and then following the on-screen instructions to complete the process.
The selected people should appear as following inside your Threads profile.
Method 2: From your Threads profile
In case you skipped following your Instagram friends during the initial setup or want to follow more people, there’s still a way to do it. Once you’ve set up your account successfully, open the Threads app on your phone.
Inside Threads, tap on the Profile tab at the bottom right corner.
When your profile screen shows up, tap on your followers count just under your name/bio. Even if you have no followers at the moment, this followers count will still be accessible on the screen as “0 followers”.
In the screen that pops up next, you’ll see a list of followers on your Threads profile. Here, tap on the Following tab at the top.
When the Following tab is selected, tap on See all at the top.
This will open the “Follow the same accounts you follow on Instagram?” screen where you’ll see a list of all your friends on Instagram. To follow someone from this list, scroll down and locate them before tapping on Follow on the right side of the selected person.
You can also use the search box at the top to look for someone’s name or username from the list. When their account shows up, you can tap on the Follow button to send them a follow request.
Depending on whether the person you followed has a public or private account, you may see either “Following” or “Requested” labels replace the Follow button. Accounts that are yet to sign up on Threads will also appear as “Following”.
If you wish to import your entire following list onto Threads, you can tap on Follow all at the bottom of the screen.
When you do that, you’ll see a prompt on the screen telling you what happens when you execute this action. To confirm your decision, tap on OK.
Method 3: From the Activity screen
The Threads app has an Activity screen which doesn’t only alert you when someone mentions or likes your thread but also notifies you when someone follows you or has sent a follow request. To follow your Instagram friends from the Activity screen, open the Threads app on your phone.
Inside Threads, tap on the Heart icon at the bottom right corner.
This will open the Activity screen inside Threads.
You can scroll down this screen to check if someone has followed you on Threads. If yes, you can tap on the Follow button adjacent to their username to follow them back on the app.
In case you have set up your Threads account as Private, you won’t be able to find people who followed you directly on the Activity screen since you need to accept their follow request first. For that, tap on the Requests tab at the top of the Activity screen.
Here, you’ll see a list of people who have sent their follow requests on Threads. To approve someone’s request, tap on Confirm adjacent to their username.
When you do that, you’ll now see a Follow button replacing the previous options. You can tap on Follow next to their username to follow back this person on Threads.
Depending on whether the person you followed has a public or private account, you may see either “Following” or “Requested” labels replace the Follow button.
That’s all you need to know about following your Instagram friends on Threads.
