The feature no longer exists
Until 2019 the notifications screen had a Following tab. It showed other people’s activity: what the accounts you follow had liked, who they started following, what they commented on.
Instagram removed it entirely. Not buried deeper in settings, not limited — deleted. Since then nobody can see another person’s likes through the app, the website, or the official developer interface.
A test for any service promising other people’s likes: ask it to show the activity of an account you own yourself, then compare with reality. Nothing will match, because there is nowhere to take the data from.
Why it was removed
The platform’s stated reason was simplifying the interface: few people used the tab.
The real one, judging by discussions at the time, was different. The tab had become a surveillance tool. It showed not what someone published but what they did, and it did so without their knowledge. Situations followed that nobody asked for: people saw which accounts a partner was liking and drew conclusions.
It is not coming back
Over the following years the platform consistently closed features like this rather than opening them. Follow dates are not shown, unfollow history is not kept, a list of profile viewers does not exist. The logic is the same everywhere.
What remains visible
| What | Visible | How |
|---|---|---|
| Likes on a specific post | yes | Open the post and tap the like count |
| A person’s comments | yes | Under the post itself, if you find it |
| All of a person’s likes together | no | Removed in 2019 |
| Your own likes | yes | Settings, Your activity, Likes |
| Who reacts to your posts | partly | On each post separately |
So you can see that a particular person liked a particular post, but only if you already opened that post. Building an overall picture of someone’s activity from that is impossible: there are billions of posts.
Your own likes are covered separately in how to see your own likes.
A post’s like list and overall activity are different things
The confusion arises because likes appear visible. Open a post, tap the count, and you get a list of everyone who liked it. So the data exists?
It does, but from the other direction. The list is attached to the post, not to the person. Instagram answers “who liked this entry” and never answers “what did this person like”.
Why the second cannot be built from the first
Learning one person’s activity would mean opening every post they might have liked. That is all of Instagram. Even narrowing it to accounts they follow leaves thousands of entries, half of them private.
That is exactly what made the 2019 tab valuable: the platform assembled it on its own side. Removing it removed the only source.
What apps promise and what actually happens
See who reacts to YOUR postsOur method
We combine likes and comments across your recent posts into a single ranking.
UpsideThe data is real: it sits on your own posts. No account login needed.
DownsideYour account only, and public reactions only. Nobody shows other people’s activity, us included.
“Friend activity” apps
They promise to bring the 2019 tab back.
UpsideNone.
DownsideThe data does not exist, so they show invented content or ask for a password. Usually both.
Browser extensions
They promise to reveal activity on Instagram pages.
UpsideNone.
DownsideAn extension sees every open tab, mail and banking included. A disproportionate price for data that is not there.
Checking posts by hand
Opening acquaintances’ posts and looking for a name in the like list.
UpsideThe data is real.
DownsideWorks only across a tiny set of accounts and takes hours. No broad picture comes out of it.
Common questions
How do I see someone else’s likes on Instagram?
You cannot. The Following tab that showed this was removed in 2019. The data is no longer served to the app, the website, or developers.
Do the apps promising it work?
No. They have nowhere to take the data from, so they invent it or harvest passwords. Easy to test: ask one to show the activity of an account you own and compare.
Can I see that a specific person liked a specific post?
Yes, by opening that post and checking the like list. But no overall picture of their activity can be assembled that way.
Can I see my own likes?
Yes. Settings, Your activity, Interactions, Likes. The full history since registration is there.
Will the tab return?
There is no sign of it. The platform keeps closing features like this rather than restoring them.