When you sign up for Instagram, they ask for your phone number or email address. People often don’t think much about it at the time, but later on, they may want to remove their phone number from their account to keep their personal information private. Removing your phone number from Instagram is simple, but you need to know a few important things before you start. So, let’s dive in!

Why Would You Need to Remove Your Phone Number from Instagram Account?

If you have a public account on Instagram, you may want to remove your phone number so that your friends and family can’t easily find you on the platform. It’s common to have to provide your phone number to complete a form or sign up for a website, but if you’re concerned about being tracked on Instagram using your phone number, which can be risky, you should consider removing it from your account.

How Does Removing Phone Number from Instagram Affect Visibility to Friends and Family?

Removing your phone number from Instagram can make it slightly more difficult for friends and family to find you because your phone number is one of the methods that Instagram uses to suggest friends and contacts to you. By removing your phone number, Instagram will not be able to use it to suggest your profile to others with your phone number in their contact list. However, your profile can still be discovered through other means, such as searching for your username or finding your profile through mutual friends. If you want to know more about the Instagram Suggestions feature, read our recently published blog post about how to appear on someone’s Instagram suggestions.

How to Remove Phone Number from Instagram?

If you want to remove your phone number from your Instagram account, you should meet a few prerequisites. Firstly, you’ll need to disable two-factor authentication in your account, and secondly, you should add an email address to your account as a backup contact method. To help you navigate these prerequisites, we’ve outlined three straightforward steps that you can follow:

Step 1 — Disable two-factor authentication in your Instagram account

Before you delete your phone number from Instagram, make sure to turn off “two-factor authentication.” This keeps your account safe, but you should turn it off if you care more about your privacy. To turn off this protection in your Instagram account, follow these steps:

• Open the Instagram app and tap on your profile icon at the screen’s bottom right corner.
• Tap on the three horizontal lines in the top right corner to open the menu.
• Select “Settings” from the menu.

• Find and select “Security.”

• Choose “Two-factor authentication.”

• If you have chosen SMS notifications for two-factor authentication, then select “Text Message.” If you have selected an app like WhatsApp or an authentication app, tap on the slider next to it.

• Move the slider to the left to turn off two-factor authentication.
• Choose “Turn Off.”

If you see the option to remove your phone number after completing these steps, it means that two-factor authentication has been successfully turned off.

Step 2 — Add an email when removing your phone number

If you delete your phone number from Instagram, you should have another way for people to contact you. This will help you get back into your Instagram account if you forget your password.

One option is to use your email. If you haven’t already added your email to your Instagram account, it’s important to do so now and confirm it. Here are the steps to set it up:

In the Instagram app:

• Open the Instagram app and tap on your profile image located in the lower right corner.
• Hit “Edit Profile.”
• Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and choose “Personal Information Settings.”

• Tap on the “Email Address” field.

• Add your email address.
• Hit “Done.”
• Open your mailbox and look for the confirmation email from Instagram.
• Open the email and tap “Confirm Email Address.”
• That’s all! You can now remove your phone number from your Instagram account.

From the Instagram desktop version:

• Open the Instagram website on your computer and click on the profile icon located in the upper right corner.
• Select “Profile.”
• Click on “Edit Profile.”

• Fill in the “Email” field located above the “Phone Number” field.

• Click “Submit.”
• Open your email inbox and verify the email address by finding the message from Instagram and opening it.

• Click “Confirm Email Address.”

Now that you’ve added and confirmed your email address, you’re ready to remove your phone number from your Instagram account.

Step 3 — Remove your phone number from your Instagram account

In the Instagram app:

To remove your phone number from Instagram using the mobile app, follow these steps:

• Open the Instagram app and tap on your profile image located in the lower right corner.
• Choose “Edit Profile.”

• Go to “Personal Information Settings.”

• Tap on “Phone Number.”

• Tap the delete icon located in the lower right corner of the screen.

• Hit “Next.”

• That’s it! Your phone number has now been removed from your Instagram account.

From the Instagram desktop version:

To remove your phone number from Instagram using the desktop version, follow these steps:

• Open the Instagram website on your computer, log in to your account, then click on your profile photo in the upper right corner.
• Select “Profile.”

• Click on “Edit Profile.”
• Click on the “Phone Number” field and delete your phone number.

• Tap “Submit.”

That’s all! You have successfully unlinked your phone number from your Instagram account.

What Are Some Alternative Ways to Make It Difficult for Friends and Family to Find You on Instagram?

There are several alternative ways to make it difficult for friends and family to find you on Instagram, such as:

• Make your account private: By setting your account to private, only your approved followers will be able to see your posts and stories if you want to learn how to read our article about how to make Instagram account private.
• Use a different username: Use a unique username that is not associated with your real name or personal information.
• Don’t use your full name in your profile: Using only your first name or a nickname in your profile can make it harder for others to find you on Instagram.
• Remove identifying information from your profile: Avoid including personal information like your phone number, email address, or location in your profile.
• Block specific people: If there are certain individuals you don’t want to find you on Instagram, you can block them to prevent them from accessing your profile.
• Don’t link your Instagram account to other social media platforms: This can make it difficult for others to find you through those networks.
• Unsync your phone contact list from Instagram: When you first sign up for Instagram, the app asks for permission to access your phone contacts. This allows Instagram to suggest people you may know based on your phone contacts. If you unsync your phone contact list, Instagram will no longer be able to suggest people you know based on your phone contacts. If you want to know more about syncing phone contacts, read our article about how to find contacts on Instagram.

Conclusion

In conclusion, removing your phone number from Instagram is a simple process that can help you protect your personal information and improve your privacy on the platform. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can easily remove your phone number from your account and use alternative methods to make it difficult for friends and family to find you on Instagram. By taking these steps, you can feel more secure and in control of your online presence.

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