How to delete apps on iPhone and iPad

Written By Idowu Reviewed By How-to iPad iPhone 4 Min Read

Unused apps generally take up space on the iPhone. Some even run in the background and clog up your phone’s RAM, making it slower. It’s always best to delete apps on iPhone to free up space and speed up your iPhone. Whether you want to delete an app from your iPhone permanently or you only want to offload it without deleting the app’s data, this simple guide shows you how.

How to delete apps from iPhone home screen

  1. Long-press a space on your screen until all the app icons start shaking.
  2. Tap the minus (-) icon at the top-left of the app you want to delete.
  3. Tap Delete App.
    You can delete more apps this way if you want.
  4. Finally, tap Delete to confirm.

    Permanently delete app from iPhone Home Screen

Alternatively, you can just tap and hold the app on the Home Screen → choose Remove AppDelete App → tap Delete again to confirm.

Tap and hold app, choose Remove App, Delete App, Delete again to confirm

How to delete apps from App Library on iPhone

  1. Go to the App Library → tap and hold the app you wish to delete.
  2. Choose Delete App → tap Delete to confirm.

    Delete app from App Library on iPhone

How to delete apps from iPhone via App Store

  1. Launch the App Store on your iPhone.
  2. Click on your profile icon at the top right corner of the app.
  3. Scroll down to see a list of apps installed on your iPhone.
  4. Long-press the unwanted app and tap Delete. Then tap Delete again to remove it from your iPad or iPhone.

    Delete app from App Store on iPhone

How to delete an app and still retain its data on iPhone

If you want to remove an app without deleting its data, it’s easy on the iPhone or iPad. However, reinstalling such an app restores the retained data.

  1. Go to your device’s SettingsGeneral.
  2. Go to iPhone Storage.
  3. Tap the app you want to offload.

    Tap on General, iPhone Storage, and select app on iPhone
  4. Selected Offload App. Tap Offload App once again to confirm your choice.

    Delete app and still retain its data by Offload App on iPhone

Why can’t you delete certain apps on your iPhone?

Perhaps you’ve been wondering why you can’t delete some apps on your iPhone or iPad. In simple terms, native or developer apps pre-installed on your iPhone or iPad are not removable unless you root or jailbreak your iPhone.

Hence, you can’t delete apps like Messages, Phone, Settings, TV, Apple Music, Calendar, Weather, and FaceTime, among many other built-in apps.

Signing Off

Managing your storage space is usually essential to optimize your iPhone. Redundant apps take up storage space, slow down your device’s performance, and can make your home screen look tacky. Removing unnecessary or redundant apps and deleting app data or cache files will give your iPhone or iPad an optimum speed and better performance.

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By Idowu Contributing Writer
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Idowu is an avid tech writer and a software surfer who loves covering knowledge gaps in consumer software, including anything related to iPhones. Well, when he's not reading and learning new things, you'll find Idowu losing gallantly on a solid chessboard or virtually on Lichess.
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