It can be a bit of a mystery, can’t it? As someone who frequently uses Twitter (now X), I’ve found myself eagerly sending out follow requests to private accounts, hoping to get a peek into their world.

I’d often lose track, wondering which ones were accepted and how many were still hanging in the balance. Just the other day, I saw an account that was still pending, and it made me wonder: how many requests have I actually sent that are still out there?

And if my own account is private, I’m constantly getting notifications, but where do I see who wants to follow me?

Let’s clear up the confusion and guide you through the ins and outs of Twitter’s follow requests, whether you’re sending them or receiving them.

As a Sender: Where Do My Follow Requests Go?

This is where it gets a little tricky, and perhaps a bit frustrating. Unfortunately, Twitter (X) does not offer a centralized list or a dedicated page where you can see all the follow requests you have sent and their current status.

Think of it this way: when you send a follow request to a private account, that request goes directly to the recipient. It’s on their end to accept or decline. You won’t get a “pending” list on your profile.

How do you know if a request is still pending or has been accepted/declined?

The only way to check the status of a follow request you’ve sent is to visit the profile of the private account you requested to follow.

It’s a manual process, and if you’ve sent many requests, it can be time-consuming to keep track of them all individually. There are currently no third-party tools that reliably show you a comprehensive list of your sent follow requests due to Twitter’s privacy policies.

As a Receiver (Private Account): Managing Incoming Follow Requests

If your Twitter (X) account is set to private (meaning you’ve enabled “Protect your posts” in your settings), then anyone who wants to follow you must send a follow request that you need to approve. This gives you control over who sees your content.

Fortunately, seeing and managing these incoming requests is much simpler!

Here’s how to see the follow requests coming to you:

Open the X (Twitter) app or go to the website.
Tap on More (usually in the top-left corner on mobile, or on the left sidebar on desktop with a three-dot icon).
In the menu that appears, you should see an option for “Follower requests” or “Follow requests.” This option will often have a badge with a number indicating how many pending requests you have.
Tap on “Follower requests.”

This will take you to a dedicated page where you’ll see a list of all the accounts that have requested to follow you. For each request, you’ll typically have two options:

🔵 Accept: This will allow the user to follow you and view your protected tweets.

🔴 Decline: This will reject the follow request, and the user will not be able to see your protected tweets.

Important Notes for Private Accounts:

Notifications: You’ll usually receive notifications when someone sends you a follow request, making it easy to know when to check your “Follower requests” section.
Going Public: If you decide to make your private account public, all pending follow requests will automatically be accepted. There will be no further need to manually approve followers. Conclusion

Navigating follow requests on Twitter (X) can be a bit of a mixed bag.

While the platform doesn’t offer a consolidated view of your sent requests, requiring you to manually check each profile for that “Pending” status, it provides a clear and straightforward system for managing incoming requests if your own account is private.

By understanding these mechanisms, you can better manage your connections, whether you’re trying to expand your network by reaching out to private accounts or carefully curating your own audience. Happy tweeting (or X-ing)!