How to Export Your Twitter Following List

Your Twitter following list is more than a number. It is a map of people, sources, creators, customers, competitors, investors, journalists, and friends you have chosen to pay attention to.

If you lose access to your account, accidentally unfollow people, or decide to move part of your social graph into another system, rebuilding that list from memory is almost impossible. Exporting your Twitter following list gives you a portable record of the accounts that matter.

This guide explains why following backups are useful, what to export, and how to use Twillot to download following and follower data.

Why export your Twitter following list

Most people only think about followers. But the accounts you follow are often more valuable for daily work. They define your information diet.

Exporting the following list helps you:

• Recover important accounts after suspension or account loss.
• Audit who you follow and why.
• Move contacts into CRM, spreadsheets, or research systems.
• Compare following changes over time.
• Build private lists outside X.
• Clean inactive or irrelevant accounts safely.

For teams, the export can also document sources, market watchers, influencers, and customer accounts.

What data should a following export include

A useful export should preserve more than handles. At minimum, keep:

• User ID.
• Screen name.
• Display name.
• Bio.
• Follower and following counts.
• Post count.
• Protected or public status.
• Whether the account can receive DMs.
• Folder or category, if you use one.
• Sync date.

Handles can change. User IDs are more stable, so keep both.

Exporting with Twillot

Twillot provides a user toolbar for account-based categories such as following, followers, blocked users, and list members. When export is enabled for the current category, the Download action lets you save selected users or the visible dataset.

The workflow is:

1. Open Twillot.
2. Go to Twitter Following.
3. Sync the list if needed.
4. Filter or select users if you only want a subset.
5. Click the toolbar Download button.
6. Save the file in the format that matches your next step.

If you manage multiple categories, repeat the process for followers, blocked accounts, or list members.

Export formats

CSV is the most useful format for following lists because it opens cleanly in spreadsheet tools. JSON is better if you want complete metadata or plan to process the data with scripts.

Use CSV when you want to:

• Sort by follower count.
• Filter protected accounts.
• Find high-volume posters.
• Review inactive-looking accounts.
• Share a list with a teammate.

Use JSON when you want to:

• Preserve richer metadata.
• Compare snapshots programmatically.
• Build a custom import or migration workflow.

Export before cleanup

Before unfollowing accounts or cleaning inactive users, export first. This gives you a rollback reference if you remove the wrong person or later need to reconstruct a list.

A practical cleanup sequence:

1. Sync following.
2. Export a full backup.
3. Filter for inactive or low-signal accounts.
4. Export the filtered set.
5. Review the filtered set before taking action.

This keeps cleanup reversible at the decision level, even if the platform action itself is not easy to undo.

Use exports for migration

Following exports are useful when you want to rebuild a social graph elsewhere. You might not be able to import every account into another platform automatically, but a clean spreadsheet gives you a reliable reference.

You can also use the export to create:

• A private source database.
• A journalist or creator watchlist.
• A competitor monitoring sheet.
• A customer community list.
• A list of accounts to add into Twitter Lists.

Following export vs follower export

Following and follower exports answer different questions.

For account recovery, export following first. For audience analysis, export followers.

FAQ

Can I export my Twitter following list from X directly?

X account data exports may include account information, but the native interface is not optimized for quick following-list export and review. Twillot gives you a more direct workflow.

Should I export followers too?

Yes, if audience analysis or relationship tracking matters to you. Following and followers are different datasets and both can be useful.

What is the best format for following backup?

CSV is best for manual review. JSON is best for complete metadata and automated processing.

Should I export before unfollowing people?

Yes. Export first so you have a record of the accounts you removed or considered removing.

Next steps

Once your following list is backed up, learn how to find stale accounts in How to Find Inactive Twitter Followers or build a broader archive with How to Back Up Your Twitter Following and Followers.