There are many reasons why one would want to remove an app from their phone. I like to periodically clean out my app library and get rid of apps I haven’t used in a while and don’t anticipate using anytime soon. It keeps my phone visually organized and saves me from having to scroll through dozens of apps.
Removing apps from your iPhone is also a great way to free up space and keep your phone running smoothly.
How to delete apps on iPhone
Step 1 – Long press on the app you want to remove
On your iPhone’s home screen or in your app library, touch and hold the app you want to remove until a menu appears. The app library is the list of all your apps accessible when you swipe left on your home screen.
When you press and hold an app on the home screen, this menu appears with options Image: Maria Diaz/ZDNet
Step 2 – Select Remove App or Remove App
If you’re on the home screen, select Remove App from the menu that appears. The iPhone will give you the option to remove the app entirely or just remove it from your home screen while keeping it in your app library.
If you’re trying to remove an app from your app library, you’ll only be asked to confirm that you want to remove it.
Step 3: Confirm deletion
In the pop-up window that appears, select Delete app in red to confirm the removal of the app from your phone.
When you delete an app, you can download it again in the future and sign in again, but any information not connected to your sign-in account is also deleted. So if you are not signed in to an account in an app, like in a game for example, you will lose all progress.
Also read: How to clear your iPhone cache (and why you should)
The App Library on your iPhone is where all of your apps live. It is the list of all the apps currently installed on your iPhone. You can access your app library by swiping left on your home screen and you can use the search bar at the top to quickly search through apps.
There is a way to remove apps you don’t use often without losing the data associated with them. You can do this by downloading, which is basically uninstalling an app to free up storage space on your iPhone, without deleting data and information from it. To download an app, follow these steps:
- To go Settings
- To go General
- Select iPhone storage
- Choose the app to download
- Tap on Download app
You can also make your iPhone automatically download unused apps when you are running low on storage space.
Sometimes you delete apps on your iPhone only to see them appear on your screen again a few days later, like some kind of nightmare. If this happens to you, you should probably check that your app store doesn’t have automatic downloads turned on, here’s how:
- To go Settings
- To choose app store
- tap on the automatic downloads toggle to turn it off
If you’ve ever deleted an app from your iPhone, you may have seen it listed in your account’s list of purchased apps on the App Store. Any apps you’ve ever downloaded with your Apple ID will appear here, deleted ones show a cloud icon next to them because they’re no longer on your device.
How can you remove these old apps from your Apple account? Just swipe left on them and the Hide option will appear, tap on it and it will be removed from your account and while it won’t remove the app from your purchase history entirely, at least it won’t be downloaded again for five years when you sync your iPhone.
Deleting your apps on your iPhone will not delete any data backed up on your iCloud. If you want to remove data and app information from your iCloud backup, you’ll need to go to iCloud Settings.
- To go Settings
- Tap your name to access Apple ID and iCloud settings
- To go iCloud
- Select Manage storage
- Tap on Backups
- Choose the iPhone you removed the app from
- Find the app in the list (select show all apps if required)
- Deactivate the app
If you’re trying to remove an app and your iPhone doesn’t allow it, you may have a restriction on what you can do with iTunes and App Store purchases. To fix this, go to:
- Settings
- Select screen time
- Tap on Content and privacy restrictions
- To choose iTunes and App Store purchases
- Check what permissions you have to install and remove apps and in-app purchases. Make sure Removal of applications is set to Allow.