One of the most extraordinary things about social media is its ability to connect people. Apps like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram allow users to connect with influencers they admire, long-distance friends, and everyone in between.

If there’s someone you want to connect with, there’s a good chance they’re on IG – after all, the platform has over 2 billion active users. But how do you find them?

There are plenty of opportunities to meet new people on Instagram and expand your account reach. You can connect with strangers through mutual friends, common hashtags, or shared interests (maybe they like the same content you do). But if you’re looking for someone you already know, searching through your contacts is the best way to track them down on the ’gram. Read on to learn exactly how to find contacts on Instagram.

Connecting with contacts on iOS, Android, and Desktop

Instagram has a feature called “contacts synching.” Enabling contact synching gives the app access to your device’s contacts, allowing it to find corresponding profiles for everyone in your phone who used the email or phone number you have to make an account.

Thanks to contact synching, you can quickly find your friends on Insta, as well as family members, co-workers, and anyone else whose information you have. You may also choose to connect your contacts from Facebook to follow them over on the ’gram.

How do you use this feature? It depends on the operating system you use to access Instagram. Let’s explore two ways to enable contact syncing.

iOS

Here’s how to see contacts on Instagram using the iOS app:

1. Open the Instagram app on your device and log in to your account.
2. Click on your profile icon (your profile picture in the lower right-hand corner).
3. Click on the hamburger icon (the three horizontal lines stacked on top of one another). From the drop-down menu, select “Discover people.”
4. Tap “See all.”
5. Select “Connect to Facebook,” “Connect contacts” or both. Select “Allow access” from the window pop-up window, and your contacts’ Instagram accounts will appear. Select the blue “Follow” button below the profiles you wish to connect with.

Android

Here’s how to find your contacts on an Android device:

1. Open the Instagram app on your device and log in to your account.
2. Click your profile icon to navigate to your page.
3. The “Discover people” section on Android is usually visible from your profile home page, below the buttons to “Edit profile” and “Share profile.” (If you don’t see it, click the icon that looks like a person and a plus sign).
4. Once in “Discover people” section, select “See all” from the right-hand side of your screen.
5. Tap “Connect to Facebook,” “Connect contacts” or both at the top of your screen, then select “Allow access” from the pop-up window.
6. Your contacts should now appear in the “Discover people” section. To add your contacts to Instagram, tap the blue “Follow” button below the profiles you wish to connect with.

What if your contacts don’t appear?

There are a few reasons why your contacts might not appear on your “Discover people” page.

Instagram only provides account recommendations based on users whose active IG accounts match the credentials in your phone. If someone’s account has been deactivated or connected to an old email address or phone number, the app likely won’t recommend the account to you.

Add contacts through Instagram’s search

While connecting your contacts to Instagram is a fast and easy way to find users you know, you can also find friends through IG’s search bar. Here’s how:

1. Click on the search icon (the magnifying glass) on Instagram’s home page. On Android and iOS, it’s located at the bottom of the screen. On the desktop, it’s on the left-hand side.
2. Type the username or real name of the person you want to follow (if you know their username, it’ll make your search much quicker).
3. The app will recommend accounts that match your search based on connections (for example, if they follow some of the same accounts as you). Scroll through the list of results until you find the person you’re looking for.
4. Click “Follow” under the person’s name. Once they accept your request, you will be able to see their profile, check out their Stories and message them through the Direct Message (DM) feature.

How to stop contacts from syncing on Instagram

Don’t want Instagram to access your contact list? No problem. It’s very easy to turn off the contacts synching feature. Just follow these steps:

1. Open the Instagram app and click your profile icon to go to your page.
2. Tap the hamburger icon (in the upper right corner) and select “Settings” from the drop-down menu.
3. Select “Account.”
4. Select “Contacts synching” and use the toggle switch to turn off this feature.

FAQs about Instagram contacts

Still have lingering questions about finding peoples’ accounts on IG? Here are the answers to some common queries.

What if I don’t know a contact’s username?

There are a few ways to find an Instagram user without their account name. You can search by their full name, but this will yield results for anyone with that name (so be prepared to scroll if you’re looking for “John Smith”). You can also search by location or hashtag if you know they frequently post under it.

Why is “Find contacts” on Instagram blank?

If your search reveals a blank page, a few things might need to be corrected. You might be searching for a user who has deactivated their account, blocked you (sorry about that), or doesn’t have an Instagram account. You also might have the contacts synching feature turned off – preventing Instagram from accessing your contacts – or have an outdated version of the app.

What should I do if Instagram’s “Find contacts” isn’t working?

First, go to your account settings (use the same directions for stopping contacts synching above) and ensure the contacts setting feature is on. That should fix the problem – but if it doesn’t, the Instagram Help Center will be able to help solve it.

Learn more about Instagram with Linktree

Do you want to mute someone whose IG stories are just too much? Curious to discover who’s checking out your stories? Hoping to delete that cringe DM you sent last weekend or hide likes to make your feed feel less competitive? Linktree’s blog can teach you everything you need to know to master Instagram.

And don’t forget about your Instagram bio. It may be limited to 150 characters, but it’s the perfect spot to direct followers to the rest of your web presence. Adding a Linktree to your bio allows you to link out to other platforms like Twitter, TikTok, and a personal website, all in one place.