How to Remove Follow Bots on Twitch (Step-by-Step)

Follow botting happens when someone (often maliciously) sends hundreds or thousands of fake followers to your Twitch channel. These bots inflate your follower count but don't watch your streams, don't engage, and can hurt your channel's credibility. Here's how to safely remove them.

What Is Follow Botting?

Follow botting is when automated accounts (bots) follow your channel in large numbers. These bots are usually:

• Accounts with no profile pictures
• Accounts that never stream or have zero views
• Accounts with random usernames (often with numbers or random characters)
• Accounts that follow hundreds or thousands of channels

Sometimes follow botting is malicious (someone trying to make your channel look fake), and sometimes it's accidental (you clicked a sketchy link or used a service that promised followers). Either way, you'll want to remove them.

Signs You've Been Follow Botted

• Sudden follower spike: You gained 100+ followers in a short time without any reason (no viral clip, no raid, etc.)
• No engagement: Your follower count went up, but your viewer count and chat activity stayed the same
• Suspicious accounts: When you check your followers list, you see lots of accounts with no profile pictures, random names, and zero activity
• Follower count drops: Twitch sometimes removes bots automatically, so you might see your count drop suddenly

If you notice these signs, you've likely been follow botted. Don't panic—it's fixable.

Step-by-Step: Remove Follow Bots

Step 1: Choose a Follower Remover Tool

The most trusted tool is CommanderRoot's Follower Remover (commanderroot.github.io/tools/follow-remover). It's free, safe, and widely used by streamers. Other options exist, but this one is the most reliable.

Important: Only use tools from trusted sources. Never give your Twitch password to any tool—they should use OAuth (Twitch login) instead.

Step 2: Connect Your Twitch Account

Go to the follower remover tool's website and click "Connect with Twitch" or "Login with Twitch." This uses OAuth, which means you're logging in through Twitch's official system—the tool never sees your password.

You'll be asked to authorize the tool. Read the permissions it's requesting. It should only need permission to view and manage your followers—nothing else.

Step 3: Review Flagged Accounts

The tool will scan your followers and flag suspicious accounts based on criteria like:

• No profile picture
• Zero views or streams
• Following thousands of channels
• Account age (very new accounts are more likely to be bots)
• Username patterns (random characters, numbers, etc.)

The tool will show you a list of flagged accounts. Review them before removing. Some might be real followers who just have inactive accounts—you don't want to remove real people.

Step 4: Remove Bots in Batches

Most tools let you remove followers in batches (usually 50-100 at a time). This is because Twitch has rate limits—you can't remove thousands of followers instantly.

How it works: Click "Remove" or "Unfollow" for the flagged accounts. The tool will process them in batches, waiting between batches to respect Twitch's rate limits.

Time required: Removing 1000+ bots can take several hours or even days, depending on how many you're removing and Twitch's current rate limits. Be patient—the tool will handle it automatically.

Step 5: Verify Removal

After the removal process completes, check your Twitch follower count. It should have dropped by the number of bots you removed. You can also check your followers list manually to confirm the suspicious accounts are gone.

Safety Tips

• Use OAuth only: Never give your Twitch password to any tool. If a tool asks for your password, don't use it.
• Review before removing: Don't blindly remove all flagged accounts. Some might be real followers with inactive accounts.
• Start small: If you're unsure, remove a small batch first (50-100 accounts) and see how it goes.
• Check permissions: When authorizing a tool, make sure it only requests follower-related permissions. If it asks for chat moderation or other permissions you don't need, don't authorize it.
• Use trusted tools: Stick to well-known tools like CommanderRoot's. Avoid sketchy websites that promise to "boost" your followers or remove bots for a fee.

What to Expect

• Follower count drop: Your follower count will decrease. This is normal and expected—you're removing fake followers.
• Time required: Removing large numbers of bots takes time due to Twitch's rate limits. Be patient.
• No impact on real followers: As long as you review the flagged accounts, you won't accidentally remove real followers.
• Twitch may remove some automatically: Twitch sometimes removes bots on their own, so your count might drop even if you don't use a tool.

Preventing Follow Botting

You can't always prevent follow botting (sometimes it's malicious), but you can reduce the risk:

• Don't buy followers: Services that promise followers for money are usually bots. Avoid them.
• Be careful with links: Don't click sketchy links that promise "free followers" or "viewer boosts."
• Don't share your stream key: Keep your stream key private. Never share it with anyone.
• Report suspicious activity: If you notice follow botting, report it to Twitch (though they may not always act on it).

After Removal

Once you've removed the bots, your follower count will be more accurate. This is actually good—a lower, real follower count is better than a high, fake one. Real followers and potential sponsors can see that your engagement matches your follower count, which builds trust.

Focus on growing real followers through good content, networking, and off-platform promotion. Quality over quantity always wins.

Common Questions

Will removing bots hurt my channel?

No. Removing fake followers actually helps your channel by making your metrics more accurate. Real followers and potential sponsors prefer accurate numbers over inflated ones.

Can I remove bots manually?

Technically yes, but it's extremely time-consuming. If you have 1000+ bots, manually removing them would take days. Use a tool instead.

Will Twitch ban me for using a follower remover?

No. Using follower remover tools is allowed and safe. As long as you're using OAuth (not sharing your password) and the tool respects Twitch's rate limits, you're fine.