You might not use Facebook very often these days, but Instagram and WhatsApp are pretty much go-tos for many when it comes to social media and networking. And if you didn’t know, both of these apps are owned by Facebook. One of Instagram’s lesser-known features is that you can upload your contacts to its servers to find people you know on the photo-sharing platform. However, if you no longer want to sync your contacts with Facebook’s servers, here’s how to turn off contact syncing and delete your contact list from Instagram.
Delete your contact list on Instagram
As mentioned above, the “contacts sync” feature is an easier way to find people you might know on Instagram. However, this is a Facebook-owned app we’re talking about, and chances are you don’t want to share more personal data than absolutely necessary with the social media giant. Luckily, it is not very difficult to turn off contact synchronization and delete your contact list uploaded to Instagram’s servers. This is what we will talk about today in this article.
As always, you can use the table of contents below to jump to any relevant section you want to read.
Disable contact syncing on Instagram app
The first thing we need to do before deleting contacts from Instagram servers is to disallow Instagram from accessing your contacts. After all, once you’ve followed everyone you know, there’s no reason for Instagram to store your contacts. To do this, follow these steps:
To note: I show this process on Instagram for iPhone. However, the steps remain the same for Android devices, so you can follow even if you are using an Android smartphone.
- In the bottom navigation bar, tap your profile icon in the Instagram app. Next, tap the overflow menu icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
- In the drop-down menu, tap “Settings” and go to the ‘Account’ section.
- Right here, tap on “Contacts synchronization” and turn off the toggle to prevent Instagram from uploading your contacts to its servers.
Remove contact list from Instagram’s servers
Now that you have disabled the contacts sync feature in the Instagram app, we will delete the downloaded contacts from the Instagram servers. To do this, you will need to access the Instagram website on a computer. Unfortunately, Instagram does not allow you to delete your contacts from its servers using the mobile app.
- Go to the Instagram website and log in with your Instagram account. Click your profile icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
- Click on “Settings” in the context menu.
- Following, click on ‘Manage contacts’.
- Right here, click ‘Delete all’ to delete all your synced contacts from Instagram’s servers. If you have never synced your contacts with the photo sharing service, the button will disappear and not click.
That is just about everything. You have now deleted all your synced contacts from Instagram’s servers. Now, make sure you have turned off contact syncing in the Instagram app so that your contacts won’t get synced again.
Keep your personal contacts off Instagram servers
Now that you know how to delete your contacts from Instagram’s servers, you should go ahead and do it to improve your privacy. After all, why give more user data to companies like Instagram and Facebook, especially if it probably doesn’t add as much value to your user experience. So, have you ever granted Instagram access to your contact list? Do you regularly sync your contacts to find new users? If so, will you ever delete these contacts from Instagram’s servers? Let us know in the comments.
It’s pretty much on our side. While you’re here, check out our in-depth guides on how to restore deleted Instagram posts, delete Instagram account, and lock your Facebook profile to protect it from prying eyes.
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