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.
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.
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