Instagram does not offer a single master switch that completely removes all follow suggestions, but you can reduce them and hide individual recommendations in a few different places. This guide shows you where those suggestions appear, what each setting actually does, and the quickest ways to clean up your feed, Explore page, and notification prompts.
What Instagram Follow Suggestions Are
Follow suggestions are Instagram’s recommendations for accounts you might want to follow. They can appear in several places, including your feed, the Explore tab, profile pages, search results, and notifications. Instagram uses signals such as your activity, contacts, mutual followers, and accounts similar to the ones you already follow.
Turn Off Contact Syncing
One of the most common reasons Instagram keeps suggesting people you know is contact syncing. If Instagram has access to your contacts, it may use those numbers or email addresses to recommend accounts.
- Open Instagram and go to your profile.
- Tap the menu icon in the top-right corner.
- Choose Accounts Center.
- Open Your information and permissions.
- Tap Upload contacts or Contacts syncing, depending on your app version.
- Turn off contact syncing and, if available, delete uploaded contacts from Instagram's servers.
Hide Individual Follow Suggestions
If Instagram shows a specific recommended account you do not want to see, you can usually hide it. This is the best option when the app keeps surfacing the same suggestion over and over.
- Find the suggested account in your feed, on the Explore page, or in a recommendation card.
- Tap the three-dot menu next to the suggestion.
- Choose Not interested, Hide, or an equivalent option.
- Repeat this for any other accounts you do not want recommended.
Reduce Suggestions in Notifications and Emails
Instagram may also send follow suggestions as notifications or email recommendations. You can control many of these through your notification settings and email preferences.
- Open Instagram and go to Settings and privacy.
- Select Notifications.
- Review the categories related to suggestions, account recommendations, or reminders.
- Turn off the suggestion-related notifications you do not want.
- If Instagram emails suggestions to you, open one of the emails and look for the unsubscribe or email preference link at the bottom.
Limit What Instagram Uses to Recommend Accounts
You cannot fully stop Instagram from making recommendations, but you can reduce the signals it uses. This is especially helpful if the app keeps suggesting people based on your activity.
- Stop syncing your phone contacts with Instagram.
- Avoid linking unnecessary accounts or contact sources.
- Use Not interested on recommendations you do not want.
- Review your following list so Instagram has clearer interests to work with.
- Adjust privacy settings if you do not want your account to be widely discoverable.
If You Keep Seeing the Same Suggestions
Sometimes suggestions keep returning even after you hide them. That usually means Instagram still has strong signals connecting you to those accounts, such as mutual followers, shared contacts, or similar browsing behavior.
- Check whether contact syncing is still enabled.
- Remove uploaded contacts if Instagram offers that option.
- Hide the suggestion again if it reappears.
- Wait a little after changing settings, since recommendation changes may not happen instantly.
What You Can and Cannot Turn Off
It helps to know the difference between reducing suggestions and fully disabling them. Instagram lets you hide individual recommendations and limit some of the data used for suggestions, but it does not currently offer a single setting that turns off all follow suggestions everywhere.
- You can turn off contact syncing.
- You can hide or mark individual suggestions as not interesting.
- You can reduce email and notification recommendations.
- You cannot completely disable Instagram's recommendation system from inside the app.
Best Way to Minimize Follow Suggestions
If your goal is to see fewer follow suggestions, the most effective approach is to combine a few changes instead of relying on just one setting.
- Turn off contact syncing.
- Delete uploaded contacts if possible.
- Hide suggestions you do not want.
- Review notification and email preferences.
- Use Instagram normally so the app learns from the accounts you actually engage with.
When to Use Privacy Settings Instead
If your main concern is people discovering your account through recommendations, follow suggestions are only part of the picture. Your privacy settings can also affect how visible your profile is to other users.
- Set your account to private if you want to control who follows you.
- Review who can comment, message, or tag you.
- Check whether your account is linked to other social accounts or contacts.
- Limit discoverability by phone number or email where possible.
A Practical Expectation
You should expect fewer suggestions after turning off contact syncing and hiding unwanted recommendations, but not a completely empty recommendation experience. Instagram is built around suggesting accounts, so the realistic goal is to reduce and refine those suggestions rather than eliminate them entirely.
