Facebook Messenger is created and owned by Meta to act as a real-time messaging platform for Facebook friends to connect and communicate.
You might have noticed that Messenger displays the suggested people section.
Although the aim is to connect you with more friends, it can quickly get annoying when random people appear in your suggested people section.
Well, there is a way to get rid of the suggested people on Messenger.
Suggested people mainly result from giving Facebook Messenger access to your contacts. So, start by opening your Messenger application and clicking the profile picture at the top. Next, click “Phone contacts” and turn off the “Upload contacts” option. Still, on the phone contacts window, click the “Manage contacts” option. Click the “Delete all contacts” at the bottom to remove already uploaded contacts. Lastly, log out, then log into your account.
In this guide, we learn what suggested people on Messenger means. Next, we understand why Facebook Messenger displays suggested people and offer the steps to follow to get rid of suggestions on Messenger.
What Does “Suggested People” on Messenger Mean?
The suggested list on Facebook Messenger refers to the people Facebook Messenger suggests to you based on your recent activities and from your contact list.
Facebook Messenger utilizes the suggested feature to help users connect with more people. It hopes that by suggesting new people, you will likely connect with them, especially those on your contact list.
If you’ve granted Facebook Messenger access to your contacts, don’t be surprised to note that most of the people in your suggested list are in your contact list.
It feels creepy seeing the suggested list, and when you don’t want Facebook Messenger suggesting who you should consider being friends with, then getting rid of suggested on Messenger is your best option.
How To Get Someone Off Suggested on Messenger
There are two things to do when getting rid of suggestions on Messenger.
You should begin by deleting the already uploaded contacts on Messenger. After that, disable uploading of contacts to Facebook Messenger.
Let’s dive into the details.
Step #1: Deleting Uploaded Contacts
Suggested friends are based on the already uploaded contacts. If you granted Messenger access to your contact book when setting it up, any of your friends with a Facebook account who is currently not your Facebook friend will likely appear as a suggested friend.
Therefore, we should delete the uploaded contacts using the steps below:
- Open your Messenger app on your phone.
- Locate the profile picture at the top and click on it.
- On the next window, click on “Phone contacts”.
- Next, click the option to “Manage Contacts”.
- At the bottom, click the “Delete All Contacts” button.
All the already uploaded contacts to Messenger will be removed. However, that doesn’t prevent Messenger from uploading them again, as it already has access to your contacts. Therefore, we must disable this feature.
Step #2: Disabling Uploading of Contacts
We understand how annoying getting suggestions on Messenger can get. You can eliminate that by preventing Messenger from accessing your contacts using the steps below.
- Open the Messenger app on your phone.
- Once it opens, click the profile icon at the top.
- On the profile page, locate “Phone contacts” and click on them.
- Click the option for “Upload contacts” and turn it off.
Once you do, Messenger will immediately stop uploading your contacts and using them as your suggested friends.
With the two above methods, you’ve managed to get someone off suggested on Messenger, and Messenger won’t manage to sync your contacts on Messenger.
Conclusion
If Messenger has access to your contact book, it will automatically sync them and suggest them as accounts you should follow.
If you don’t want Messenger to upload your contacts or want a way to get someone off suggested on Messenger, start by turning off the uploading of contacts to Messenger, then delete the already uploaded contacts.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you allow Messenger access to your contacts, it will sync the contacts and suggest them as part of the accounts that it considers that you should follow. Therefore, if you notice the suggested people are your contacts, Messenger uploads them. In that case, consider disabling this feature and deleting the uploaded contacts.
To get rid of the suggested people on Messenger, open your Messenger app and tap on the profile icon at the top. Next, click “phone contacts” and turn off the “upload contacts” option. Next, click the “Manage contacts” option. Once it opens, click the “delete all contacts” button at the bottom. Messenger won’t display your contacts in the suggested people section.
