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On WordPress.com, open your site dashboard and go to Jetpack → Newsletter → Subscribers. That owner-facing list shows people subscribed to your posts, their available subscription details, and controls to view or remove them. You can also download the list as a CSV. “Following” can mean email subscribers, WordPress.com Reader follows, or social followers; the Subscribers screen is specifically the reliable place to inspect post subscribers.

What “following” means in WordPress

WordPress uses several related ways for people to keep up with a site:

Type What the reader does What the site owner can verify
Email subscriber Subscribes to receive new posts by email. Listed in Jetpack → Newsletter → Subscribers, with available subscription and email-status details.
WordPress.com Reader follow Follows the site in the Reader feed to keep up with its posts; email delivery may also be enabled. The documented subscriber list covers people subscribed to the site’s posts; it does not establish a complete owner-facing roster of Reader-only follows.
Social follower Follows an account on a social network. Not a complete identity list in the WordPress subscriber screen. Some Subscribe block counts may include social followers.

Therefore, use the subscriber workflow when you need to know who is signed up for the site’s post subscription, not as a universal list of every person who follows the brand elsewhere.

See your WordPress.com subscribers

  1. Sign in to WordPress.com and open the relevant site’s dashboard.
  2. Select Jetpack → Newsletter → Subscribers.
  3. Review the subscriber rows. The available information includes a subscriber’s name or email address, subscription type, email-subscription status, and subscription date.
  4. Open a subscriber’s row menu and choose View to inspect that individual’s details and engagement information where available.

The same screen provides an action to remove an individual subscriber. You can also download the complete subscriber list as a CSV for record-keeping or analysis.

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Check who can currently receive email

A subscriber record does not always mean messages are currently being delivered. In Jetpack → Newsletter → Subscribers, filter by Email Subscription status when you need the people currently opted in and eligible for email.

  • Active or eligible records: included in the email audience according to the status shown.
  • Bounced: delivery to the address has failed, so the person may remain in the records without receiving new messages.
  • Emails paused: the subscription exists, but delivery is temporarily stopped.

Use the status filter rather than relying only on a headline total or the number displayed in a Subscribe block.

Use Stats to see totals and growth

For aggregate reporting, open Stats → Subscribers. This view reports all-time email-subscriber totals, a breakdown of free and paid email subscribers, subscriber growth, and emails with opens and clicks.

These are site-specific dashboard figures, not a universal count of everyone who follows the site. For individual subscriber details, return to Jetpack → Newsletter → Subscribers and open the relevant row.

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If your site is self-hosted WordPress.org

A self-hosted installation does not automatically have the WordPress.com subscriber tools. The documented setup is to install and connect the Jetpack plugin, add the Subscribe block, and then manage subscribers through Jetpack → Newsletter → Subscribers.

  1. Install Jetpack on the WordPress.org site.
  2. Connect Jetpack to a WordPress.com account when prompted.
  3. Add the Subscribe block to the page, post, or widget area where visitors should sign up.
  4. Open Jetpack → Newsletter → Subscribers in the connected dashboard to review and manage the list.

Exact menu visibility depends on the Jetpack connection and the site’s current setup. If you need a separate self-hosted newsletter workflow, a service or plugin such as MailPoet may be an alternative, but its current features and terms should be checked separately.

Why the displayed follower count may not match your email list

Different screens can count different audiences. A Subscribe block’s number may include social followers, while the email-subscriber list is intended for people subscribed to site posts. Delivery statuses can also leave bounced or paused people in the records.

For a dependable email-recipient check:

  1. Open Jetpack → Newsletter → Subscribers.
  2. Filter by Email Subscription.
  3. Review the status of the specific records you need to contact or report.
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What WordPress does not show in one owner list

WordPress.com’s Reader is primarily a reader-facing feed and subscription experience. The documented owner tools do not promise a complete identity roster for every Reader-only follow, and WordPress cannot use the subscriber screen as a list of all social-media followers. If someone has not subscribed to the site’s posts, their identity may not appear in the owner-facing subscriber records.

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Dashboard labels and feature availability can change, so a recently updated WordPress.com or Jetpack interface may place the same controls under a slightly different presentation.

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