Facebook Suggesting People You Don’t Know? Why, and How to Remove or Hide Them

Does this match what you see?

• Facebook suggests strangers as friends.
• Someone you’d rather avoid keeps appearing in People You May Know.
• People You May Know keeps showing up in your Feed.
• You’re worried Facebook is suggesting you to people.

iPhone & iPadAndroidComputer (browser)

Steps for removing and hiding suggestions come from Meta’s help pages for the computer, iPhone, iPad, Android, Facebook Lite and mobile browser, which are the same apart from click or tap. Blocking steps differ slightly by device; see the linked blocking guide.

Why this happens: the possible causes

Where Meta says People You May Know suggestions come from.

• You have friends in commonCheck this first

  Meta lists having friends in common as a source of suggestions.

• You share a network, group or tagCheck this first

  Meta lists your current city, school or work, being in the same group, and being tagged in the same photo or post.

• You uploaded your contactsPossible

  Meta lists contacts you uploaded as a source of suggestions.

• The suggestion is simply wrongPossible

  Meta says it sometimes gets it wrong and shows someone you don’t know or don’t want to add.

How to fix it, step by step

Work through these in order. They start with the quickest, safest checks and only move to steps that sign you out or remove data later.

Stop Facebook uploading your phone contacts

Meta says that when contact uploading is on, the Facebook app automatically uploads the contacts you selected from your phone or tablet, and periodically updates them as you update them on your device. You can only turn this on or off in the Facebook app.

• Turn it off: tap Menu > Settings & privacy > Settings > Accounts Center > Your information and permissions > Upload contacts, select your Facebook account, then use the toggle next to Upload contacts.
• Remove contacts already uploaded: go to Meta’s Manage Your Uploaded Contacts (external site, opens in a new tab) page.

Meta says to keep in mind:

• Turning it off in the Facebook app doesn’t turn off contact, call or text uploading in the Messenger app, which has its own setting (external site, opens in a new tab).
• If you use Facebook on more than one phone or tablet, turn it off on each one.
• Blocking contact access in your phone’s settings doesn’t delete contacts you already uploaded. Meta says the only way to delete them is through the Facebook or Facebook Lite app settings.

Stop Facebook suggesting you by your phone number or email

Meta says one reason you may be suggested to someone is that their uploaded contacts include your phone number or email address. By default this setting is Possible Connections, which Meta says means you may appear as a suggestion to people who uploaded your number or email. Meta says your number or email isn’t shown in the suggestion itself.

• Change it (computer): profile picture > Settings & privacy > Settings > How people find and contact you (below Audience and visibility). Click View next to People with your email address and next to People with your phone number: they’re separate settings.
• Change it (phone, tablet or mobile browser): tap Menu (top left on iPhone and Android, bottom right on iPad, top right in Lite and a mobile browser) > Settings & Privacy > Settings > How people find and contact you (in Audience and visibility), then tap People with your email address or People with your phone number.
• Your choices: Possible Connections (people who uploaded your number or email, plus friends of friends), Friends of Friends, Friends, or No one.

Meta says to keep in mind:

• Even with this restricted, People You May Know may still suggest you based on other information.
• Searching for your email or phone number in Facebook search won’t show your profile, but a search using your email that includes your full name may.
• Facebook also checks this setting before confirming your profile to friends or friends of friends adding you to their business account, or helping you recover your password.
• Who can see the phone number or email on your profile is a separate setting: see change email or phone.

How to know it worked

• Unwanted suggestions are removed or blocked.
• People You May Know is hidden from your Feed, or your settings limit what it uses.

Still not working? Your next steps

1. Someone is harassing you? Block and report them: see how to report content on Facebook.
2. A fake profile using your name or photos? See fake accounts and impersonation.
3. Can’t add someone you do know? See can’t send friend requests.

Frequently asked questions