# How to Find Contacts, Facebook Friends and Suggested Accounts on Instagram

To find your contacts on Instagram, turn on contact uploading in Settings, then Accounts Center, then Your information and permissions, then Upload contacts; Instagram then suggests the accounts linked to numbers in your phone.

[![apidojo](/blog/authors/apidojo.png)**Apidojo** *15+ years of experience in data retrieval.*](/blog/authors/apidojo/)

**16 October 2026** Published

**2 min** Read

![Cover card reading 'Find Contacts and Facebook Friends on Instagram'](/blog/covers/find-contacts.png)

**To find your contacts on Instagram, turn on contact uploading in Settings, then Accounts Center, then Your information and permissions, then Upload contacts; Instagram then suggests the accounts linked to numbers in your phone.** To find Facebook friends, add both accounts to the same Accounts Center. Suggested accounts appear in Discover people, on your profile and in search. This guide is one of the search tasks collected in [how to search on Instagram](/blog/instagram-search/how-to-search-on-instagram/).

All three routes depend on connections you allow, and the people you find have to allow it too. This guide covers each one and how to turn them off. Finding a specific person is covered in [how to find someone on Instagram](/blog/instagram-search/find-someone-on-instagram/).

## How Do You Find Your Phone Contacts on Instagram?

**Turn on contact uploading in Accounts Center, then check your suggestions.** Listed below are the 5 steps.

1.  **Tap** your profile picture, then the menu (three lines).
2.  **Tap** **Accounts Center**.
3.  **Tap** **Your information and permissions**, then **Upload contacts**.
4.  **Switch on** uploading for your Instagram account and allow access to contacts.
5.  **Open** Discover people, or the follow and invite friends section, to see contacts on Instagram.

Meta’s documentation for Instagram’s Suggested Accounts confirms synced contacts are used to recommend accounts, and that disconnecting contact syncing stops it ([Meta Transparency Center](https://transparency.meta.com/features/explaining-ranking/ig-suggested-accounts/)). Looking up one specific number is covered in [can you find someone on Instagram by phone number](/blog/instagram-search/find-by-phone-number/).

## How Do You Find Facebook Friends on Instagram?

**Add your Facebook and Instagram accounts to the same Accounts Center; Instagram can then suggest Facebook friends who are on Instagram.** Meta’s system card notes that when you unlink Facebook, Instagram stops using Facebook data to recommend accounts (Meta Transparency Center).

## Where Are Suggested Accounts on Instagram?

**Suggested accounts appear in Discover people, under Suggested for you on your profile and feed, and after you follow someone.** They’re ranked by signals such as mutual friends, whether the account follows you, and how close you are with it (Meta Transparency Center).

| Source of a suggestion | You can control it by |
| --- | --- |
| Your phone contacts | Turning off contact uploading |
| Facebook friends | Removing Facebook from Accounts Center |
| Mutual followers | Nothing directly; it reflects your network |
| Accounts similar to ones you follow | Tapping X on suggestions you don’t want |

## How Do You Find Mutual Friends on Instagram?

**Open someone’s profile; under their bio Instagram shows a line naming followers you have in common, and tapping it lists them.** Mutual connections are also why people you know turn up in your suggestions.

## How Do You Stop Appearing in Other People’s Suggestions?

**Stop uploading contacts, remove Facebook from Accounts Center, and turn off your phone number’s discoverability in your contact info settings.** A private account also limits who can see your content, though it can still be suggested. What suggestions do and don’t reveal is covered in [can people see if you search them on Instagram](/blog/instagram-search/can-people-see-your-searches/).

## Questions people ask

### Does Instagram notify contacts when you join?

Instagram may suggest your account to people who have your number, if they've synced contacts.

### How do you delete uploaded contacts?

In Accounts Center, under Upload contacts, turn off uploading and remove previously uploaded contacts.

### Why does Instagram suggest people I don't know?

Suggestions also use mutual followers and similar accounts, not only your contacts.

### Can you see who has your number on Instagram?

No, Instagram doesn't show who has your number in their contacts.

## More on searching Instagram

-   [How to Search on Instagram: Accounts, Tags, Places Search Instagram for accounts, keywords, hashtags, audio and places, understand how results are ranked, and use search more precisely.](/blog/instagram-search/how-to-search-on-instagram/)
-   [Can People See If You Search Them on Instagram? No, searching or viewing a profile is private. What Instagram does show, how suggestions really work, and how to stay private.](/blog/instagram-search/can-people-see-your-searches/)
-   [Clear Instagram Search History and Reset Suggestions Clear all or single Instagram searches, auto-clear history in Accounts Center, and reset the suggestions and recommendations behind them.](/blog/instagram-search/clear-search-history/)
-   [How to Find Someone on Instagram (No Username Needed) 6 ways to find a person on Instagram, by name, mutual friends, contacts or Facebook, and why some accounts can't be found.](/blog/instagram-search/find-someone-on-instagram/)
-   [How to Find Your Instagram URL, Handle and QR Code Copy your Instagram profile link, understand handles and display names, find your QR code, and add links to your bio.](/blog/instagram-search/find-profile-url/)
-   [How to View Instagram Without an Account What you can and can't see on Instagram without logging in, how to open public profiles by URL, and why viewer sites are risky.](/blog/instagram-search/view-without-account/)
-   [Can You Find Someone on Instagram by Phone Number? Instagram search doesn't take phone numbers, but contact syncing can. The steps, why it fails, and how to stop people finding you.](/blog/instagram-search/find-by-phone-number/)
-   [How to Search by Location on Instagram Search places on Instagram, read place pages, fix missing locations, and collect posts tagged at a venue or city.](/blog/instagram-search/search-by-location/)
-   [How to Turn Off Meta AI Search on Instagram You can't remove Meta AI from Instagram search, but you can mute it, search the normal way, delete chats and limit content reuse.](/blog/instagram-search/turn-off-meta-ai-search/)
-   [How to Find an Instagram User ID What an Instagram user ID is, how it differs from a username, and how to look one up or find an account from its ID.](/blog/instagram-search/find-user-id/)

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