Stop Instagram and TikTok suggesting you to people with your number

Unlink your phone number from Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, delete uploaded contacts and switch off contact syncing everywhere.

This guide unlinks your phone number from your social accounts, so someone who saves it can't easily be offered your profile as a "person you may know". It also deletes the address books you have already uploaded and blocks future uploads. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and your phone's settings.

Why bother

When someone saves your number and lets an app read their contacts, the app compares that list with the phone numbers and emails on its accounts. If yours matches, your profile can be suggested to them, even if you never shared your username. That could be a date you stopped replying to, a buyer from a marketplace or an ex. The suggestion is built from their address book, not yours, so the main fix is to cut the link between your number and your account. Switching off syncing on your own phone helps, but on its own it is not enough.

Before you start

Time: 30 to 45 minutes.
What you need: your phone with the apps installed, a computer or a browser for two Instagram and Facebook steps, an email address you can check, and an authenticator app such as Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, Duo Mobile or 2FAS.
Checked on: 29 October 2026, against the Instagram, TikTok and Facebook help centres, the Apple iPhone User Guide for iOS 27 (iOS 18 and later work the same way) and Google's Android help. Meta is moving people from Accounts Center to Meta Account, so you may see either name. Samsung and other Android brands sometimes word menus differently.

Steps

1 Add an email and move two-factor codes off your number (Instagram)

In Instagram, tap your profile picture at the bottom right, then the Menu (three lines) at the top right.
Tap Accounts Center (or Meta Account), then Personal details (it may say Profiles and personal details), then Contact info.
If no email is listed, tap Add new contact > Add email, enter the code you receive, and confirm.
Go back and tap Password and security > Two-factor authentication, then choose your Instagram account.
Choose Authentication app (Meta marks it as recommended), scan or copy the key into your authenticator app, and enter the 6-digit code. App-based codes can only be set up in the iPhone or Android app.
Remove Text message (SMS) as a method if it is still listed, and save the backup codes somewhere safe and offline.

You should see your email marked as confirmed and Authentication app listed as your two-factor method. Log out and back in once to make sure it works.

2 Remove your phone number from Instagram

Instagram has no switch for "don't suggest me to people who have my number". Its help centre says that once you confirm a phone number or email, your account may be recommended to anyone who has it in their contacts. Removing the number from your account is the only real control.

Go to Accounts Center > Personal details > Contact info again (on a computer: instagram.com > your profile > Edit profile > See more in Meta Account).
Tap your phone number.
If you see Delete number or Remove, choose it and confirm. These labels come from current user reports, not an official Meta article, so the wording may differ.
If no delete option appears, the number is still your only login or SMS two-factor method. Go back and finish Step 1.

The same matching works with your email. If people you want to avoid have your main email address, switch Instagram to an email address you don't share with them.

You should see only your email under Contact info.