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When Android shows people or conversations above the app icons after you tap Share, they are usually Direct Share suggestions. Messaging and social apps provide these targets, while Android ranks them using signals such as recent activity, frequency and the type of content being shared.
There is no single removal setting for every Android phone. The correct fix depends on whether you use a Pixel, another stock-Android device, or a Samsung Galaxy—and whether the suggestion comes from Android, Google Photos, Gmail or a messaging app.
First identify what Android is showing
Look at the unwanted item before changing anything:
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware match- Person or conversation: usually a Direct Share target supplied by an app such as Messages, WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram or Gmail.
- App icon: an app destination in the Android Sharesheet, not an individual contact.
- Nearby device: a Quick Share target, such as another phone or computer. This is separate from Direct Share contacts.
- Suggested contact inside Gmail or Google Photos: Google’s own suggestion system, which has different controls.
Direct Share targets are app-provided shortcuts. Android’s developer documentation explains that modern apps use the Sharing Shortcuts API to publish conversations and other targets to the Sharesheet, beginning with Android 11 and API level 30. Apps may associate different targets with images, videos, links or text, so the same person may appear for one type of content but not another.
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Learn more about Android Direct Share targets.
Try hiding one suggestion from the Share screen
- Open the photo, file, link or text you want to share.
- Tap Share.
- Touch and hold the unwanted person or conversation.
- Look for Hide, Remove, Don’t suggest, Suggest less or a similar command.
The menu is not standardized. Some phones offer only Pin, which changes priority rather than removing the target. Other Android builds provide no user-facing control for deleting an individual Direct Share entry.
If the person appears under several apps, repeat the process for each app. Deleting a contact from your phone does not necessarily remove shortcuts already published by WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram or another messaging app.
Hide suggestions in Gmail or Google Photos
Google provides a Hide suggestion option in supported Google sharing and composing flows:
- Open Gmail or a supported Google Photos sharing screen.
- Touch and hold the suggested contact.
- Tap Hide suggestion.
To restore or inspect hidden entries, search for the person’s name and choose Show hidden suggestions when that option is available.
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Google’s Android documentation specifically describes this feature for sharing an album in Google Photos, not for sharing an individual photo. Therefore, do not assume that the same control will appear on every Google Photos screen or in the general Android Sharesheet.
See Google’s instructions for suggested contacts.
Turn off suggested contacts on some Samsung Galaxy phones
On Galaxy phones with an applicable One UI version, Samsung documents this switch:
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- Tap Advanced features.
- Turn off Show contacts when sharing content.
This removes the contact icons from the sharing panel while leaving the app choices available. Samsung says the option is unavailable on phones running One UI 7. Menus can also vary by model, carrier, region and software version.
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Check Samsung’s current support instructions.
Samsung One UI 7: check Good Lock and Home Up
On some Galaxy devices, community reports indicate that Samsung’s Good Lock app may offer a related control through Home Up → Share Manager → Show Direct Share.
This is not a guaranteed feature on every One UI 7 phone. Availability may depend on the model, region, One UI build and installed Home Up version. If you do not see Share Manager or Show Direct Share, your device may not support that control.
Good Lock and Home Up are Samsung customization tools; Samsung’s official overview does not guarantee that this particular sharing option exists on every current device. Treat this as a device-dependent option rather than a universal fix.
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Samsung’s Good Lock and Home Up overview.
What Pixel and stock-Android users can do
Pixel and other stock-Android phones generally do not provide one documented, system-wide whitelist for Direct Share contacts. Try these options:
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- Long-press the target and use any available hide, remove or suggest-less command.
- Open the intended messaging or email app first, choose the recipient there, then attach or paste the content.
- For links or text, copy and paste instead of using the contact row.
- Use the Gallery or Files app’s app-only sharing interface if it presents a different chooser.
- Check the app that appears beside the person’s name for its own conversation or shortcut controls.
Opening the destination app directly is the most dependable cross-device workaround, especially when sharing sensitive material.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.If an old or unwanted contact keeps returning
The shortcut may be coming from the messaging app rather than your Contacts database. Use this order:
- Identify the app associated with the target.
- Check whether an old conversation still exists in that app.
- Remove obsolete conversations or app shortcuts if the app provides that option.
- Update the messaging app from its app store.
- Restart the phone.
- As a cautious next step, clear that app’s cache from its App info screen.
Do not routinely clear app data. It may sign you out, remove preferences, delete downloaded content or affect locally stored conversations, depending on the app. Clearing data should be a last resort after confirming that the problem is isolated to that application.
A blocked or deleted contact can also remain temporarily if an app or system service has already registered its shortcut. Blocking or deleting the phone contact does not universally remove every Direct Share entry.
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Reduce Google’s automatically saved contact information
Google offers a setting that controls contact information saved from interactions in supported Google services:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Google, then your Google Account.
- Tap Manage your Google Account.
- Open People & sharing.
- Under Contacts, tap Contact info saved from interactions.
- Turn off Save contact info when you interact with people.
This can reduce Google’s own contact-saving and suggestion behavior. It is not a guaranteed switch for third-party apps’ Direct Share shortcuts or for every Android Share-sheet suggestion.
Privacy and accidental-sharing concerns
A contact appearing in the Share sheet does not mean anything has already been sent. It is only a shortcut; you normally still need to tap the target and complete the app’s send action.
However, the row can increase accidental-tap risk and may expose conversation names to someone viewing your phone. For private or sensitive content, open the intended app first, select the recipient there and verify the recipient before sending.
Quick troubleshooting guide
| What you see | Best first action | Limitation |
|---|---|---|
| One person in Gmail or supported Google Photos sharing | Long-press and choose Hide suggestion | App-specific; Google documents limitations for individual-photo sharing |
| Several contacts on an applicable Samsung build | Disable Show contacts when sharing content | Removes the whole contact row |
| Samsung One UI 7 without that switch | Check Good Lock → Home Up → Share Manager | Availability varies by device and software |
| Pixel or stock Android Direct Share targets | Long-press the target, then share through the destination app if necessary | No universal removal setting is documented |
| Nearby phones or computers | Change Quick Share visibility settings | These are devices, not Direct Share contacts |
| One app repeatedly shows stale targets | Update it, restart the phone and cautiously clear its cache | Clearing data can be disruptive |
The bottom line
Android’s suggested people are usually Direct Share shortcuts supplied by individual apps, not a single list controlled by your Contacts app. Samsung may let you remove the entire contact row, while Pixel and stock-Android users generally have to rely on the long-press options available on their build or share directly from the intended app. Avoid factory resets and third-party cleaner apps for this problem; they are disproportionate and unreliable solutions.
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