Instagram doesn’t provide other users with a list of accounts belonging to one person, but there are some methods to see this. So if you’re curious to find out if someone you follow has multiple Instagram accounts, read my today’s tutorial.
Why do users have multiple Instagram accounts?
The reasons why Instagram users have two or more accounts vary. The most common reasons include such motives as:
- the desire to share specialised interests (second official account),
- the desire to view friends’ profiles without their knowledge (secret fake account),
- the desire to check posts and stories before publishing them (test account).
How to see if someone has multiple Instagram accounts? 7 ways
Below I have included the most effective ways on how to see if someone has multiple Instagram accounts. Sometimes this information is made available by the account owner themselves, but usually to find out, you have to go through a bit of trouble. 😉
1. Check bio
As I mentioned, some Instagram account owners share the information about the multiple accounts themselves. This usually applies to influencers and business page owners or administrators. The information about the second account is most often published in bio. Bio is a short note about the profile just below the profile picture. If the profile owner openly admits to his or her second account, he or she often also shares stories from both accounts.
2. Check suggested accounts
Method No. 2, i.e. checking accounts’ suggestions, can be effective when the profile owner does not openly admit to having multiple accounts and therefore keeps it secret. Other accounts of people we follow on Instagram often show up in suggested accounts. To access this section, you need to:
- open the Instagram app and go to your profile,
- in the ‘Discover people’ section, select the ‘See all’ option,
- search through your accounts’ suggestions to find an account that might belong to your friend (e.g., that has a nickname you know, the same name, photo or characteristic image).
3. Use the “Connect Contacts” function
Instagram allows users to link contacts from their phone to the app. When we use this option, we will see more matched results in our accounts’ suggestions.
More specifically, we will start to see the accounts of people whose numbers we have in our contacts on the phone. This will make it easier for us to find a friend’s multiple accounts on Instagram.
4. Use Instagram’s built-in browser
A quick and easy way to check if someone has multiple accounts on Instagram is to use the app’s built-in browser. This method will be effective as long as the friend has not used false data. Just type in different versions of the person’s name or their nickname and it is highly likely that you will come across their other account.
5. Review a person’s Followers and Following list
Another way to find out if somebody has multiple accounts on Instagram is to go through their Followers and Following lists. This method, like the previous ones, will only work if we can recognise his or her other account.
So if on the second account the friend has used a real name or has used a nickname that we know, this method will definitely be effective. The downside of this method is that it is time-consuming, especially if a person has a lot of followers.
6. Use Google
The sixth way we can check if someone has multiple Instagram accounts is to use Google search. Just type in your friend’s name and the word Instagram into the search engine and you will most likely get various results. Among them, you can find his or her other account.
7. Use your friend’s phone (only with their permission)
If your friend has used a fake name on the second account, it may not be feasible to find him or her using the above methods. In this case, the only option will be to check the other account on Instagram from his or her phone. For this, of course, we need to obtain his or her permission, as otherwise it will be illegal. To check all of your friend’s Instagram accounts, you need to:
- open the Instagram app on his/her phone,
- go to their profile,
- click on his or her name at the very top. If your friend has additional accounts, you will see them in the drop-down list.
To sum up the article, there are some ways you can see if someone has multiple Instagram accounts. It’s easy, as long as our friend used a real name or surname or a nickname known to us on the other account. The situation becomes more complicated if the account was created with false data. In this case, the only option left is to use the friend’s phone. In order to do this, the consent of the friend will, of course, be required.
