Hide Recent Contacts When Using the Share Menu on iPad
About This QuickTip
Want to keep your personal contacts private when sharing files on your iPad? By default, iPadOS shows suggested contacts in the Share Sheet, which can feel unprofessional - especially in a classroom or work setting. In this QuickTip video I’ll show you how to hide these suggested contacts when sharing.
Step by Step
Open Siri & Search in Settings
Go into the Settings app, and on the left-hand side, choose Siri & Search.
Turn off Show When Sharing
At the bottom of the Siri & Search screen, there are the Siri Suggestions, and there's one here that says Show When Sharing. Toggle this off.
Share a document to check
Go back into the document you were using and go to share it. You'll notice that the top row of people has disappeared.
Questions This Answers
How do I hide suggested contacts in the share menu on iPad?
Go into the Settings app, choose Siri & Search on the left-hand side, and at the bottom under Siri Suggestions toggle off Show When Sharing. When you now go to share something, the top row of people has disappeared.
How do I stop students seeing my contacts when I share from my iPad?
Turn off Show When Sharing in Settings under Siri & Search. Your students can't see who you're messaging and they can't see your friends and family, and the iPad feels much more like a work tool and less like a home tool.
Transcript
When I’m using my iPad in the classroom, one of the things I’m not always a fan of is sharing things, because quite often it will bring up a little overlay on the screen showing contacts and group chats - friends, family members, and things like that. I always find it’s a little unprofessional in front of students.
Well, I’ve recently discovered that you can actually hide this, which means that your students can’t see who you’re messaging, and they can’t see your friends and family - which is a great plus!
To do this, all I need to do is go into the Settings app, and on the left-hand side, I’m going to choose Siri & Search. At the bottom of the Siri & Search screen, there are the Siri Suggestions, and there’s one here that says Show When Sharing. If I toggle this off and then go back into the document I was just using, when I now go to share it, you’ll notice that the top row of people has disappeared.
Suddenly, my iPad feels much more like a work tool and less like a home tool - making it much more professional and suitable to use around children.
Technical details: This QuickTip was recorded on an 11″ iPad Pro (M4) running iPadOS 18.3 in March 2025.
The content used in this video is intended for educational and informational purposes only. All rights to the images, music, clips, and other media used belong to their respective owners. I do not claim ownership over any third-party content used. This video has not been authorised, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. iPad and iPadOS are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries and regions. iOS is a registered trademark of Cisco Systems Inc. Whilst I have done my best to list all applicable trademarks for this video, in the (hopefully unlikely) event that I have missed any you can find a full list of trademarks registered to Apple Inc. on their website. Finally, please note that whilst every effort has been made to ensure the information contained within this video was correct at time of publication, please be aware that as future updates and software changes occur some or all elements of this video may become outdated. I will endeavour to remove videos which are completely obsolete so as not to cause confusion!