What Does It Mean When You See an Instagram Green Following Button?

If you’ve been scrolling through your following list on Instagram, you might have noticed that there’s a green Following button on some of your friends’ profiles.

Are you confused after seeing an Instagram green Following button on someone’s Instagram profile? Then you’ve come to the right place. In this article, I’ll teach you why you see a green Follow button on some profiles, what it means, how to get the green one and how to remove it.

What does it mean when the Instagram following button is green?

If you see a green Following button on your friend’s profile on Instagram, that means that you’ve added that person to your Close Friends list on Instagram.

On the other hand, the rest of your friends in the following list who are not in your Close Friends won’t have a green Following button.

How to see if someone is on your Close Friends list on Instagram

There are two ways to check if a person is on your Close Friends list.

See if there’s a green Following button on their profile:

1. Open Instagram.
2. Go to the search icon and type in a friend’s name.
3. Alternatively, go to your profile, tap on ‘Following’ and find the friend for which you want to check.
4. Open your friend’s Instagram profile.
5. If the ‘Following’ button is highlighted in green, that person is in your Close Friends.

If you tap on the ‘Following’ button, you’ll see ‘Close Friends’ with a green circle and a star next to it, indicating that the person is in your Close Friends.

Check our Close Friends list in account settings:

1. Open Instagram.
2. Tap on the three lines menu in the top-right corner.
3. Select ‘Close Friends.’
4. Here you’ll see all people who are in your Close Friends list with a blue circle with a checkmark next to their username.

You might also like to learn how to save your Instagram Follower list.

How to add someone to the Close Friends list on Instagram and get the green Following button

To get the green Following button on a friend’s profile, you need to add them to your Close Friends list.

Note: First, you need to follow the person to be able to add them to your Close Friends list. If their account is private, they need to approve your follow request for you to be able to add them to Close Friends.

Once you are following a person, here’s how to add them to your Close Friends list:

1. Go to the profile of the friend.
2. Tap on the ‘Following’ button under their username and bio.
3. Tap on ‘Add to Close Friends list.’
4. Once you tap on the button, it will change to ‘Close friend,’ and a green circle with a white star will appear next to it.

Once you add a friend to Close Friends, you can share stories privately to your Close friend group.

How to remove someone from the Close Friends list

To remove someone from your Close Friends list, go to your friend’s profile, tap on the ‘Following’ button, and tap on ‘Close friend.’ The option will change to ‘Add to Close Friends list,’ and your friend will be removed from Close Friends.

Additionally, you can remove a friend from Close Friends, go to your profile, tap on the hamburger menu, select ‘Close Friends,’ and tap on the username of the person you want to remove.

How to know if someone has added you to Close Friends

Instagram doesn’t send a notification when you add someone to your Close Friends list.

The only way your friends can see that they are in your Close Friends list is by the green circle around your profile picture when you post a story to your Close Friends.

Explore also if you can see when someone shares your Instagram Story.

How to know if someone is following you back on Instagram

Apart from following someone and adding them to your Close Friends list, you might also like to know if that person also follows you back.

Here’s how to see if a friend you are following is following you back:

1. Open Instagram.
2. Go to the person’s profile.
3. Tap on ‘Following’ in the top-right corner.
4. Type in your name in the search bar.
5. If you find your account, that means the person follows you.

Another way to check if someone follows you is to go to your followers list, and enter the person's name. If you see your name there, they follow you.

However, if you can’t find your name in your Followers list or their Following list, the person doesn’t follow you.

Why can’t I follow someone on Instagram?

The most common reason you can’t follow someone on Instagram is that you have exceeded the number of accounts you can follow.

Instagram has put several limitations for users to reduce spammy behavior, including the limit on how many accounts you can follow.

You can follow up to 7,500 accounts in total and send up to 200 follow requests daily.

If you want to follow a particular person but have reached the follow limit, you need to unfollow someone from your current following list.

Conclusion

The green Following button on your friend’s profile on Instagram means that you’ve added that person to your Close Friends list on Instagram.

To add someone to your Close Friends list, go to your friend’s profile, tap on the ‘Following’ button under their username and bio, and tap on ‘Add to Close Friends list.’

To remove a friend from Close Friends, go to your friend’s profile, tap on the ‘Following’ button, and tap on ‘Close friend.’

When you add someone to Close Friends, they’ll be able to tell only when you post a Story to your Close Friends and see a green circle around your profile picture.

FAQs