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How to Turn Off Contact Auto-Add and Friend Recommendations in a Messaging App

Tap through each step to stop unwanted contacts from being added or suggested automatically.

  1. Open Settings

    Open the app and go to Settings β€” in Telegram, tap the menu icon or your profile photo, then choose Settings.

  2. Find the Privacy menu

    Look for a "Privacy and Security" section, which is where contact-related permissions usually live.

  3. Turn off automatic contact syncing

    Turn off the option that automatically imports people from your phone's address book as contacts, so numbers you saved only for work don't get pulled in automatically.

  4. Limit who can find you by phone number

    Under "Who can find me by my phone number," restrict it to My Contacts or Nobody, so your account isn't suggested to people who happen to have your number saved.

  5. Why this is useful

    Useful when a number saved for a delivery, a one-time seller, or a work contact keeps showing up as a suggested friend, or when you'd rather not be discoverable to everyone who has your number.

Keep your contact list intentional

Most messaging apps default to matching your phone's address book against their user base, which can quietly turn a number you saved once into a permanent chat contact. Turning off auto-add and "find me by phone number" keeps your contact list to people you actually chose to add.

This only affects future matching

Turning off these settings does not remove contacts you already have β€” it only stops new automatic matching and stops your number from being surfaced to others going forward.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will turning this off remove contacts I already added?

No. This setting only affects future automatic matching and suggestions β€” it does not touch your existing contact list.

Can I stop other people from finding me by my number entirely?

In most apps, yes β€” setting the "who can find me by phone number" option to a stricter level (such as My Contacts or Nobody) prevents your account from being suggested to people who have your number but aren't already a contact.