If you’re tired of seeing random account suggestions on Instagram, you’re not alone. Many users find the “Discover People” section annoying, especially when it’s filled with irrelevant suggestions or people they don’t want to connect with.
Instagram introduced the Discover People feature to help users find accounts that they might be interested in—such as mutual friends, people from contacts, or trending creators. While the idea is good, in practice, it often ends up cluttering your profile and distracting you from the content you actually care about.
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Luckily, even though Instagram doesn’t provide a permanent way to disable these suggestions, there are several methods you can use to hide or control them effectively.
In this article, you’ll learn:
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What Discover People is and how it works
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How to hide the Discover People section from your profile
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How to remove suggested people
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How to stop your profile from being suggested to others
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Tips to manage Instagram suggestions for a cleaner experience
📌 What Is the Discover People Section on Instagram?
The Discover People section is a feature on Instagram that shows you recommended profiles to follow. These recommendations are based on:
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Your phone contacts
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People you follow or have interacted with
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Accounts that follow similar pages or hashtags
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Friends of friends (mutual followers)
It usually appears:
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On your profile page, under the Edit Profile button
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Occasionally, while browsing the home feed or search tab
This section is Instagram’s way of encouraging users to follow more people and increase engagement on the platform.
But if you’re someone who values privacy or just prefers a minimal profile layout, this feature can get annoying.
👣 How to Hide Discover People on Instagram Profile (iPhone & Android)
Unfortunately, Instagram doesn’t allow you to permanently disable the Discover People section. However, you can hide it temporarily from your profile using a simple trick.
🔧 Steps to Hide Discover People:
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Open the Instagram app on your smartphone.
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Go to your profile by tapping your profile picture at the bottom right.
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You’ll see the “Discover People” section under the Edit Profile button.
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Tap the user icon (👤 with a plus sign) located next to Edit Profile.
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The Discover People section will disappear instantly.
✅ Tip: If you want it back later, just tap the icon again to show the suggestions.
⚠️ Important Note:
This is not a permanent solution. If you close and reopen the app, the Discover People section will appear again. You’ll need to repeat the steps every time you open the app.
🚫 How to Remove Specific People from Instagram Suggestions
Sometimes the suggestions include people you don’t want to see, such as former friends, ex-partners, or completely random profiles.
You can manually remove these people from your suggestion list:
🔧 Steps to Remove Suggested People:
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Go to your Instagram profile.
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In the Discover People section, find the profile you want to remove.
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Tap the small ‘X’ icon on the top-right corner of their profile picture.
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Repeat this for all unwanted suggestions.
📌 Note: Instagram might still suggest similar profiles later, but at least those specific ones will be removed from the current view.
🙅♂️ How to Stop Instagram from Suggesting Your Profile to Others
If you’re concerned about privacy or just don’t want Instagram recommending your profile to strangers, you can opt out of being suggested—but only from the Instagram website, not the app.
🌐 Steps to Prevent Your Profile from Appearing in Suggestions:
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Open your browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.).
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Visit instagram.com and log in to your account.
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Click your profile picture at the bottom right corner (or on the left panel for PC users).
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Click on Edit Profile.
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Scroll down and uncheck the box next to “Similar Account Suggestions.”
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Click Submit to save changes.
🛡️ Once this is done, Instagram will stop recommending your account to others in the Discover People section.
📲 How to Remove Contacts That Influence Instagram Suggestions
Instagram often uses your contact list to recommend people you may know. If you want to stop that, follow these steps:
🔧 To Stop Instagram From Accessing Contacts:
For Android:
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Go to your phone settings.
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Tap Apps > Instagram > Permissions.
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Tap on Contacts and select Deny.
For iPhone:
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Open your Settings app.
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Scroll down and select Instagram.
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Toggle off the Contacts permission.
Also, make sure to remove already synced contacts:
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Open Instagram > Tap your profile.
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Go to Menu (three lines) > Settings and Privacy > Accounts Center.
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Tap Your information and permissions > Manage synced contacts.
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Tap Delete all contacts and turn off sync.
🧹 This will prevent Instagram from using your phone contacts to suggest people.
🙋♀️ FAQs – Instagram Discover People
Q1. Can I permanently remove the Discover People section from my profile?
No, Instagram does not allow permanent removal. You can hide it temporarily by tapping the icon next to Edit Profile.
Q2. Why does Instagram suggest people I don’t know?
Suggestions are based on your interactions, contacts, mutual friends, and algorithm predictions.
Q3. If I block someone, will they still see me in Discover People?
No, blocked users cannot see your profile, and you won’t appear in their suggestions.
Q4. Can I stop people from seeing my profile in Discover People without making my account private?
Yes. Use the web version of Instagram to uncheck “Similar account suggestions” in profile settings.
✅ Final Thoughts
Instagram’s Discover People feature is designed to help users build their network, but for many, it becomes a source of distraction or discomfort. Thankfully, while you can’t remove it completely, you can:
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Hide the Discover People section from your profile
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Remove specific unwanted suggestions
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Prevent Instagram from using your contacts
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Stop your account from appearing in other people’s suggestions
By following the steps in this guide, you’ll be able to maintain a cleaner and more private Instagram experience, just the way you like it.