Lots of Tiktok users complain that they are constantly having friends suggested to them by the app, often people you simply don’t want to connect with. How do you stop this?
To stop TikTok from suggesting friends to you, open the TikTok app, tap the “Me” icon, head to “Settings and Privacy” (Three dot icon), “Privacy” > “Syns Contacts and Facebook Friends,” and toggle off “Sync Contacts” and “Sync Facebook Friends.”
There are basically four simple actions to perform to rid yourself of having friends suggested by Tiktok. These are:
- Disable the sync contacts and facebook friends
- Remove previously synced contacts and facebook friends
- Disable contact access to the Tiktok app
- Do not send links to others
In this post, I’ll walk you through these simple actions.
How to stop TikTok from suggesting friends?
Try the following 4 easy and quick solutions to stop TikTok from suggesting friends you are not interested in.
1. Disable the Sync Contacts and Facebook Friends
The first solution is to disable the “Sync Contacts and Facebook Friends” in your account’s privacy settings to stop TikTok from suggesting friends.
- Open “TikTok.”
- After signing in, tap “Me,” located at the end of the global navigation menu.
- Tap the three-dots (ellipsis) icon at the top-right corner of the screen.
- Select “Privacy.”
- Tap “Sync Contacts and Facebook Friends.”
- Toggle off the switches next to “Sync Contacts” and “Sync Facebook Friends.”
Note: You can also unfollow people who are friends with the suggested accounts on TikTok. To do this, open the app, navigate to “Me” > “Following,” and tap “Following” next to the account you want to unfollow.
2. Remove Previously Sync Contacts and Facebook Friends
TikTok might recommend friends based on your previously synced contacts or Facebook friends.
To stop the app from recommending people from previously synced contacts and Facebook friends, do the following steps:
- Open “TikTok.“
- After signing in, tap “Me,” located at the end of the global navigation menu.
- Tap the three dots.
- Choose “Privacy.”
- Select “Sync Contacts and Facebook Friends.”
- Tap “Remove Previously Synced Contacts.”
- Select “Remove.”
- Next, tap “Remove Previously Synced Facebook Friends.”
- Tap “Remove.”
3. Disable Contact Access to TikTok App
It is possible that you’ve provided contact access to the TikTok app on your device, allowing it to suggest friends from your contact list.
To stop TikTok from suggesting friends, disable the app’s access to your device’s contacts with the steps outlined below:
Android:
- Open “Settings.”
- Tap “Privacy.”
- Select “Permission Manager.”
- Tap “Contacts.”
- Choose “TikTok.”
- Tap “Deny” and confirm the action if prompted.
iOS:
- Open “Settings.”
- Tap “Privacy.”
- Tap “Contacts.”
- Toggle the slider next to “TikTok” to the off position.
4. Do Not Send Links To Others
Make sure you do not send any third-party links to other accounts. This is because when you share a link and the other person opens it, TikTok’s algorithm suggests them as your friends based on this interaction.
Disabling the sync settings, contact permission, and not sharing links will significantly reduce the number of unwanted friend suggestions.
But, TikTok’s algorithms might still suggest contacts or friends based on other factors, such as mutual connections and interests.
Why is TikTok suggesting me friends?
If TikTok is suggesting friends you don’t want to interact with on the platform, one of the following might be the reason:
Contacts Sync Settings
When you enable the “Sync contacts and Facebook Friends” settings, TikTok will look for people in your contacts who also have TikTok accounts. If they have turned on the “Contacts” option in their privacy settings, TikTok will suggest them to you.
Facebook Friends
TikTok also suggests friends based on your Facebook friends list. So, if you and a Facebook friend have synced your contact lists and both have turned on “Suggest your account to others,” TikTok may suggest you as friends to each other.
Mutual Connections on TikTok
Another way that TikTok suggests friends is by looking at your mutual connections. This means:
- Both are following the same accounts.
- You are following their TikTok followers.
- You follow the accounts they are following.
- The suggested friends or contacts follow your followers’ accounts.
Interest
TikTok uses a variety of factors to determine your interests, such as the videos you watch, the accounts who follow you or you choose to follow, TikTok accounts searches you’ve made, and the hashtags you use.
Once TikTok understands your interests well, it will suggest friends you might want to follow and connect with.
When You Send Links to Others Through Text
One possibility is that someone has enabled the “People who open or send links to you” option in their profile settings. So, when you send them a link, and they open it, TikTok starts suggesting their account as a friend to you.
How do I stop TikTok from suggesting me to others?
Now that you’ve stopped TikTok from suggesting friends, you might also want to prevent advising others about your account. Here are two quick ways to do this to add more privacy to your TikTok account.
Disable Suggest Your Account to Others
The first way to stop TikTok from suggesting you to others is through Privacy settings. To do this:
- Open “TikTok.”
- Tap “Me.”
- Tap the ellipsis icon (three dots) at the top-right corner of the screen.
- Choose “Privacy.”
- Tap “Suggest Your Account to Others.”
- Toggle off the settings for “Contacts,” “Facebook friends,” “People with mutual connections,” and “People who open or send links to you.”
Unlink Phone Number From TikTok
You might have linked your phone number to your TikTok account, due to which the app is suggesting your account to others who have saved your contact details.
So, to stop others from finding your TikTok account, unlink your phone number with these steps:
- Open “TikTok.”
- Tap “Me.”
- Tap the three-dots icon.
- Select “Manage Account.”
- Tap “Phone Number.”
- Choose “Unlink Phone.”
- Tap “Continue.”
- Now, enter your verification code sent to your phone number.
Note: You can also set your account to Private mode to prevent others from following you unless you approve their requests.
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve discussed how to stop TikTok from suggesting friends you don’t want to follow and connect with. We’ve also discussed why you are experiencing this issue and a few ways to prevent others from finding your TikTok account as well.
Hopefully, you can now have a more personalized experience and better control over your social interactions on TikTok.
