Order tracking plays an important role in non-stationary vibration analysis of rotating machinery, especially to run-up or coast down. An instantaneous frequency estimation (IFE) based order tracking of rotating machinery is introduced. In which, a peak search algorithms of spectrogram of time-frequency analysis is employed to obtain IFE of vibrations. An improvement to peak search is proposed, which can avoid strong non-order components or noises disturbing to the peak search work. Compared with traditional methods of order tracking, IFE based order tracking is simplified in application and only software depended. Testing testify the validity of the method. This method is an effective supplement to traditional methods, and the application in condition monitoring and diagnosis of rotating machinery is imaginable.