The Cluttered Share Sheet
When you tap the “Share” button (the square with an arrow pointing up) inside any app on your iPhone, the iOS Share Sheet slides up from the bottom of the screen. By default, the top row of this menu is populated with a carousel of circular contact icons. Apple’s algorithms attempt to predict who you might want to share the content with based on your recent iMessage conversations and WhatsApp chats. While sometimes useful, this predictive row is often completely inaccurate, visually clutters the menu, and creates a significant risk of accidentally sending a sensitive photo or document to your boss instead of your spouse. If you prefer a clean, predictable sharing menu where you manually choose the app first, you can permanently disable this contact suggestion row.
How to Turn Off Contact Suggestions
You can remove this row entirely by adjusting a single toggle in the main Siri & Search settings.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down the list and tap on Siri & Search.
- Scroll down to the section titled “Suggestions from Apple.”
- Look for the toggle switch labeled Show When Sharing.
- Tap the switch to turn it Off (the green background will disappear).
The Result
The change takes effect instantly across the entire operating system. You can test it by opening the Photos app or Safari and tapping the Share button. The top row of predictive contact bubbles will be completely gone. The Share Sheet will now jump straight to your customized row of application icons (Messages, Mail, Copy, etc.), allowing you to share content much faster and with zero risk of accidental misfires.