Fed Up With “Suggested Friends” On TikTok? Try This

Many TikTok users want to stay under the radar when they use the social media platform. They may not want to be bothered with the app’s suggestions for new accounts to follow, and they may not want the fact that they’ve joined TikTok to be “broadcast” to people they know.

In short, the platform’s “suggested friends” feature may be compromising their privacy in ways they don’t like.

The feature is built into the system. Many people appreciate the app’s suggestions, which can be a useful tool for finding friends and quickly building a substantial TikTok follower base. In reality, it’s virtually impossible to completely stop the system from trying to connect you with acquaintances and other like-minded users.

You can dramatically limit the damage, though. One way to do it is to make your TikTok account private. That makes it much less likely that your account will be suggested to other people, but it also prevents you from gaining much traction for your TikTok videos (since only followers you approve will be able to see your TikTok content).

There’s a less-draconian way to get the job done. These steps will essentially stop the system from automatically accessing information about users you might want to follow — while also preventing the app from suggesting your account to people you might know. (They’re also good steps to take even if you’ve decided to turn your account into a private one.)

How To Stop TikTok from Suggesting Friends

Most of the work can be done from the same privacy screen in your TikTok settings.

Friends Suggested to You

If you’re like most people, you’ve given TikTok access to your phone’s contact list and other social media accounts. Most of the app’s problematic suggestions come from those lists, so it’s necessary to eliminate the links if you want to protect your privacy.

1. Visit your TikTok profile (accessible by tapping the “Profile” icon at the bottom right of the home screen).
2. Open the profile menu by clicking on the three horizontal lines at the top right of the profile page.
3. Choose “Settings and privacy” from the popup menu.
4. Tap on “Privacy.” (You can also choose to make your account private from the Privacy screen, if desired.)
5. Scroll down to and click “Sync contacts and Facebook friends.”
6. Move both the “Sync contacts” and “Sync Facebook friends” toggle switches to the left. This unlinks your TikTok account from your phone and FB contact lists.
7. Also, tap on the “Remove previously synced contacts” and “Remove previously synced Facebook friends” options, so you won’t see recommended friends based on your previous TikTok settings.
8. Return to the “Privacy” screen.

Being Suggested to Others

The actions you’ve just taken won’t prevent TikTok from suggesting your account to people you may know. There’s another step to take.

1. From the “Privacy” screen, look for the “Suggest your account to others” link and tap it.
2. Move both the “Contacts” and “Facebook friends” toggle switches to the left.

Those are the basics of protecting your TikTok privacy from people you may know. There’s something else you may also want to take care of. On the “Privacy” screen, tap on “Notifications” and scroll down to the “Personalized post suggestions” link. Set the toggle next to “Posts from people you may know” to “off.”

The system will show you a “suggested friends” list, no matter what you do. These steps, however, will make it much less likely that people you know will be on that list — and that you won’t be on the lists that those people see on TikTok.