How to remove your phone number from Instagram

Content Marketer and Writer
Updated January 23, 2023
Julia Moore
Content Marketer and Writer
Sometimes the specified phone number on Instagram becomes a real problem as people can discover your Instagram account without a hitch. If you want to protect the secrecy of this part of your life, merely unlink your phone number from Instagram. In case you're wondering how to do that, continue reading this article.
Reading time — 8 minutes

Why do you need to delete your phone number from the Instagram account? 

Instagram always helps its users to find accounts of their nearest and dearest. One of the ways is to search them by their phone numbers.

Your friends are able to easily find you on Instagram by the phone number if the synchronization of contacts in switched on in your profile, and they have your phone number in the contact list. 

Note, if you created a page for secretly viewing others' stories, the phone number in your Instagram account can blow the whole thing. That's why you may want to remove it.

By the way, we have an article about the search for an Instagram page by phone number. Follow the link to read it.

It doesn't take long to remove your phone number from Instagram. But it may be a real help if you don't want people to find you on the platform, or if you worry about your personal data. With our instructions, you will definitely easily cope with this.

Way #1 — Remove your phone's contact list from Instagram

You always can unlink the contacts list on your device and your Instagram account. Then, people who have your phone number won't see your profile among suggested ones.

You can remove your phone's contact list only in the Instagram app.
  1. Open your Instagram account and tap your profile image in the lower right corner.
  2. Hit the three lines in the upper right corner.
  3. Go to Settings.
  4. Select Account.
  5. Find and choose Contacts syncing
  6. Hit the slider, if you see that it's blue. That's how you can restrict access to your contacts on the phone.

Done! Your address book and Instagram account are not linked now.

Way #2 — Remove your phone number from Instagram

Another solution is to delete the phone number from your Instagram account. Then even the platform won't know it.

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

Before you remove a phone number from Instagram, you need to make sure that two-factor authentication is switched off. This is a method of protection, it keeps your account safe. However, if your privacy is more important for you, you have to disable this feature.

How to turn off two-factor authentication in your Instagram account:

  1. Open Instagram and tap the profile icon in the bottom right.
  2. Hit the three lines in the upper right corner.
  3. Open Settings.
  4. Find and choose Security.
  5. Choose Two-factor authentication.
  6. If you selected SMS notifications as a way of protecting, tap Text Message. If you picked two-factor authentication via WhatsApp or an application with codes, then just tap the slider next to it.
  7. Hit the slider to move it to the left.
  8. Choose Turn off.

If two-factor authentication is enabled on your account, then you'll see this:

If you see this in the Instagram settings, you can continue and remove the phone number.

Please note: you can turn off two-factor authentication only in the Instagram app.

Step 2 — Add an email when remove your phone number

If you remove your phone number from Instagram, you need to make sure there is another way to contact you. This way, you can restore your Instagram account in case you forget the password.

Email is an option. If you haven't linked your email address yet, it's time to add and confirm it. This is how you can set it:

If you already have linked an email address, but you want to change it to another one, then read this article

In the Instagram app:

  1. Open your Instagram account and tap your profile image in the lower right corner.
  2. Hit Edit Profile.
  3. Choose Personal information settings at the very bottom of the screen.
  4. Hit the Email address field.
  5. Add your email address.
  6. Hit Done.
  7. You will receive an email to confirm the linking. Open your mailbox.
  8. Find the last email from Instagram and open it.
  9. Tap Confirm email address.

That's it! Now you can delete your phone number from Instagram.

From the Instagram desktop version:

If you remove your phone number from Instagram using a computer, you may need instructions how to add an email from the desktop version:

  1. Open the Instagram desktop version and tap the profile icon in the upper right corner.

02. Select Profile.

03. Hit Edit Profile.

04. Fill in the Email field. It's right above the Phone number field.

05. Hit Submit.

06. Open your mailbox to verify the email address. Find the message from Instagram and open it.

07. Tap Confirm email address.

No more preparing, we promise. Let's remove the phone number from your Instagram account, finally.

Step 3 — Remove your phone number from your Instagram account

You can remove your phone number in the Instagram app or browser version.

Removing the phone number via the Instagram app

This instruction is suitable for both iOS and Android users. Delete the phone number from Instagram:

  1. Open your Instagram account and hit your profile image in the lower right corner.
  2. Choose Edit Profile.
  3. Go to Personal information settings.
  4. Tap Phone number.
  5. Tap the delete icon in the lower right corner of the screen.
  6. Hit Next.

Done! The mobile number has been deleted from Instagram.

Removing the phone number via the desktop version

The instructions are almost the same if you remove the phone number using Instagram on a computer. 

  1. Open the browser version of Instagram, log in to your account, and click on your photo in the upper right corner.

02. Select Profile.

03. Hit Edit Profile.

04. Click the Phone Number field and delete your number.

05. Tap Submit.

That's it! You have unlinked your phone number from Instagram.

Gain followers without a phone number on Instagram

We understand you may want to remove your phone number from your Instagram account to avoid unsolicited followers. But you should remember that this hinders your growth on Instagram. People who you may want to to be among the followers won't find you by the phone number either.

Use a link in bio tool to invite your followers from other platforms to subscribe on Instagram. Taplink, for example, gives you a page where you can add links to all your social profiles. It also lets you add text, pictures and many more to persuade them to follow the profiles' links and subscribe.

This is how it looks:

Start with free sign up to boost your social bio. These link in bio page examples can inspire you.

Let's recap

Now you know how to remove a phone number if you don't want people on Instagram or the platform itself to know it. You can choose one of the two ways:

  1. Disconnect phone's contact list from Instagram.
  2. Remove your mobile number from the system. Remember that before you do this, you need to disable two-factor authentication and add your email address. 

Removing your phone number from Instagram may slow down your follower count growth. Use one of the link in bio tools to keep the number going up. Get a page on Taplink to be able to share multiple link in your bio and tell users about yourself on it. Thus, you can invite users from other platforms to subscribe to you.

Which way of removing your phone number from Instagram do you find more preferable for yourself? Share your opinion in the comments below.