How to Remove Contact Suggestions for Sharing on iPhone

by Heinz Tschabitscher | Aug 26, 2026 | iPhone and iPad Tips and Resources

Frustrated by a cluttered share sheet and always afraid you might share a post or photo with the wrong person accidentally? Find out here how to remove contact suggestions for sharing on iPhone and iPad ⤓ — either to hide individual contacts or all suggestions altogether.

On This Page

First, Veni, Vidi, Vendidi

Picture yourself arriving first on a beach with an ice cream cart full of delicacies, ready to trade treats for tokens. Where do you set up your little stand? Right in the middle of the beach, of course — the prime spot closest to all the beachgoers.

Now it’s my turn to show up dragging with my own cart. Where will I set up shop? Right next to your, naturally. I want to be the nearest and next best choice for all the beachgoers — and especially your customers. I’ll even sell pretty much the same flavors you do.

This phenomenon, known since mathematician and economist Harold Hotelling’s description in 1929 as Hotelling’s law, explains why competing shops, hotels, restaurants and political parties build clusters and offer very similar options. Everyone’s clamoring to be the next best choice.

What, though, if you do not want certain contacts to appear as the “nearest and next best” choice for sharing, especially when your device insists they should be? Let’s examine the options:

How to Remove Contact Suggestions for Sharing on iPhone and iPad

Turn Off All Contact Suggestions for Sharing

Time needed: 2 minutes

To disable contact suggestions on the share sheet altogether on iPhone and iPad:

Open the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad.
Open the Siri (or Apple Intelligence & Siri) category.
iOS < 18: In earlier versions of iOS and iPadOS, the category is called Siri and Suggestions.
Turn off Show When Sharing under Suggestions.

On a Mac? How to Remove Contact Suggestions from the Mac Sharing Sheet

Remove Individual Contacts from the iOS Sharing Sheet

To have iPhone or iPad not suggest a particular contact for sharing even when you have messaged them recently:

Open the share sheet.
Here’s how: Tap the sharing button anywhere, for example on this very page.
Tap and hold the contact you want to remove.
No contacts: If you see no contact suggestions, see above for the setting to enable contact suggestions.
Select Suggest Less from the context menu that appears.
Why “Less”: While iOS will remove the contact from the currently open share sheet immediately, the contact may return.

No more oversharing?

⇆ Buy La De Du a tea

Tips help fuel these email and tech how-tos.

How to Remove Contact Suggestions for Sharing on iPhone and iPad: FAQ

Will removing contacts from sharing on one device also remove them elsewhere?

No.

The setting for Siri contact suggestions for sharing is local to the device and will not synchronize.

Why do contacts return after I have told my iPhone to suggest them less?

Contact suggestions for sharing are dynamically created. Even after you have marked a contact to be suggested less, it may return when you have recently communicated with them.

The only way to reliably remove contacts from suggestions is disable the feature altogether.

(Tested with iOS 18 and 26; first published July 2025, last updated August 2026)

Home » iPhone and iPad Tips and Resources » How to Remove Contact Suggestions for Sharing on iPhone