How to find an Instagram account by phone number

Content Marketer and Writer
Updated 13 February, 2024
Julia Moore
Content Marketer and Writer
You can find people on Instagram by their phone number. But the search will be successful only if the person’s account is connected with the number. Besides, be ready to sync your page with the list of your contacts. It means you can be found in the same way. You can remove or hide your number on Instagram, though. Do you wonder how? Read this article to get all the answers.
Reading time — 4 minutes

Guide how to find someone on Instagram by phone number

Just a few steps to search for an IG user by their phone number.

First of all, add the phone number of someone who you want to find on Instagram to the Contacts on your phone. Then, open the Instagram app and follow the instructions:

01. Tap the three bar menu in the top right corner.

02. Find Settings.

03. Choose Account.

04. Tap Contacts syncing.

05. Activate the Connect contacts feature. Instagram will sync the phone numbers and make a search through its database.

06. Restart Instagram and go to the Settings one more time. Choose Discover people.

Now, you can see the list of Instagram accounts who linked their pages to the phone numbers that you have in your phone contacts.

Want more advanced Instagram tips? Read how to add any number of clickable links to your social profile bio.

When search for an Instagram account by phone number is impossible

If you search for an Instagram account by phone number, but can't find the user you need, there can be the following reasons:

  • A person didn't connect an Instagram account to a mobile number.
  • The account is connected to another phone number that you don't know.
  • It's challenging to understand which of your friends has a fake page or profile without an  avatar.

How to find out someone's fake and real Instagram account with their phone number

It's not always easy to find the Instagram real page. But sometimes fake pages are connected to a familiar phone number. So, you still can try to look up someone's account this way. 

You need to sync your Contacts with the Instagram account as described above. Then, follow the steps:

  1. Look through the accounts in your contacts list on Instagram. Write out or take screenshots of the account usernames that are unknown to you.
  2. Leave the app.
  3. Delete the phone number of that person whose account you want to find out on Instagram.
  4. Log in to your IG account and sync Contacts again.
  5. Scroll through the list of contacts and try to find if any Instagram profile has disappeared from your list. If it disappeared, congratulations! You've found the right account. 

Nothing has changed? Then it's impossible to find the person on Instagram by their phone number. Maybe, the user didn't specify the number when registering, uses another one, or didn't register at all on Instagram.

How to remove your phone number from Instagram?

Don't want someone to find your account on Instagram by the phone number? The platform doesn't provide users with the removing feature, so you can't delete it. 

Here are recommendations for those who don't want to be found on Instagram by phone number:

  • Don't connect your Instagram account to your phone number. No worry, your phone number is not the only contact info you can use to have access or recover your Instagram account whenever you need. Add or update your email address in the settings and use it instead. 
  • If your account will ever be blocked, or you will forget your password, then you can recover your Instagram account using your email.
  • Do not connect your Instagram account to a virtual number. You may lose access to the virtual number and so, to your account.
  • Link your IG account to a new number that no one from your friends knows and don't use it anywhere else. And you don't need this SIM card to be in your phone. Use it only once when you sync your page with a phone number. Keep it in a safe place. Remember! If you don't use this phone number at all, it will be disconnected after some time. Ask your mobile operator what you need to do to keep it alive.
Add a business card to your bio. You can add contact buttons like WA, Telegram, FB Messenger buttons or any others. Then, you will be reached only in the way you want.

Hide your phone number if you don't want people to find you on Instagram

We recommend using this method to hide your real phone number, which you give your friends, online stores, etc. Thus, you'll keep your anonymity, and you won't lose access to your Instagram account.

If you notice that someone is stalking you on Instagram, we advise you to read how to see who views your Instagram profile. You may also want to stop your account being suggested to other users.

Did you manage to find an account by mobile number on Instagram? Do you want to take back your list of contacts from Instagram? If yes, you can turn off the sync.

After the search, turn the contacts syncing off in the Instagram app. Go to the Accounts settings as described above and then:

  1. Find Contacts syncing.
  2. Deactivate the Connect contacts feature by moving the slider to the left.

Let’s recap

You can find someone on Instagram in two clicks. But at the same time, you give such personal information as your phone number. Even if you connected a mobile number, which no one knows, you still share with Instagram who your friends are.

There are more ways to find someone on Instagram. If you haven't found the person, probably they haven't connected their phone number to their account. You can try searching for them by image, hashtags, location, etc.