“Unable to Follow More People at This Time” on X (Twitter)? Follow and Daily Limits

Does this match what you see?

• X says “You are unable to follow more people at this time.”
• The Follow button doesn’t work.
• You follow around 5,000 accounts and can’t add more.

iPhone & iPadAndroidComputer (browser)

Based on X Help Center “About following on X” (dated March 2019 on X) and “About X limits”, supplied by the site owner, October 31, 2026. Limits may change.

Why this happens: the possible causes

The four reasons X gives.

• Daily follow limitCheck this first

  X says every account can follow up to 400 accounts per day.

• Following too fastCheck this first

  X says if you followed too many accounts too quickly, try again in an hour or so.

• Follow ratioPossible

  X says once you follow 5,000 accounts, you may need more followers before following more; the number is different for each account.

• Locked or limited accountPossible

  X says locked accounts are limited in actions, including following.

How to fix it, step by step

Work through these in order. They start with the quickest, safest checks and only move to steps that sign you out or remove data later.

Your account is locked or limited

X says it may lock an account that looks compromised, or that breaks the X Rules or Terms of Service, including through aggressive following. Locked accounts can’t do some things, including following. See X account locked or limited.

Your follow request is pending

X says accounts with protected posts must approve your request before you follow them. Until they do, your follow stays pending. See protected posts.

Can’t follow one person, or you seem to have stopped following them

• Go to their profile (search for them, or type x.com/username in your browser) and check for a blue Following button. If it shows, X says their posts should appear in your Home timeline.
• If it doesn’t, tap Follow. X says an error message means the account has blocked you from following them.

Your follower count looks wrong

• Got a “new follower” notification but can’t find them later? X says the account was likely hidden for spam, unfollowed you, or deactivated.
• To see all your followers, including suspected spam accounts, X says turn off the quality filter in your settings.

Can’t unfollow someone

• On x.com: go to your following list, hover over Following next to the account until it turns red and says Unfollow, then click it. If it doesn’t change or click, refresh the page, or unfollow from their profile.
• In the app: open your following list and tap the following icon next to the account. If that doesn’t work, unfollow from their profile.

X’s other daily limits: posts, DMs and email changes

X says it limits some account actions to reduce downtime and error pages. Its current technical limits:

• Direct Messages: 500 sent per day.
• Posts: 50 original posts and 200 replies per day for unverified accounts, split into smaller half-hourly limits. (Elsewhere on the same page X gives a post limit of 2,400 updates per day, also split into half-hourly intervals.)
• Email changes: 4 per hour.
• Following: 400 per day, plus the ratio limit at 5,000.

• X says these limits count actions from all devices and apps, including the API. Every connected third-party app counts toward an hourly API limit, so using several apps hits it faster. Our tip: remove apps you don’t use.
• X says limits may be temporarily reduced when the site is very busy, and it posts updates on its status site (external site, opens in a new tab).
• Hit one? X says the error message tells you which limit it is. For time-based limits (DMs, posts, email changes, API), try again once the time has passed; for posts, X says try again in a few hours.

Follow behavior that can get you suspended

X says its Rules ban abusive following, and breaking them may lead to suspension. That includes:

• Follow churn: following and then unfollowing large numbers of accounts to inflate your follower count.
• Indiscriminate following: following or unfollowing many unrelated accounts in a short time, especially with automation.
• Copying another account’s followers, especially with automation.
• Using or promoting third-party services or apps that claim to add followers.

If your account was suspended, see X account suspended. If an app is following accounts for you, remove connected apps.

How to know it worked

• Our check: the Follow button works and no “unable to follow” message appears.

Still not working? Your next steps

1. Following accounts you didn’t choose? See posting or following on its own.

Frequently asked questions