How to Delete an App on iPhone

You want an app and its data gone, not hidden in a folder or moved off the Home Screen. Deleting takes three taps from the Home Screen, and there are other routes when the icon is not in front of you.

Touch and hold the app icon

On the Home Screen, press and hold the app's icon until a menu pops up. Lift your finger as soon as the menu appears. Holding longer puts every icon into jiggle mode, which also works and is covered below.

Tap Remove App

Tap Remove App at the bottom of the menu.

Tap Delete App, then Delete

A sheet offers two choices. Remove from Home Screen only hides the icon and keeps the app in the App Library. Delete App uninstalls it and erases its data from the phone. Tap Delete App, then Delete to confirm.

Delete several apps from jiggle mode

Touch and hold an empty area of the Home Screen until the icons start to wiggle. Tap the small minus sign in the corner of each app you want gone, then Delete App, then Delete. Tap Done in the top-right corner when finished.

Delete from the App Library

Swipe left past your last Home Screen page to reach the App Library, or use its search bar to find the app. Touch and hold the icon, tap Delete App, then Delete. This is the way to remove apps that are not on any Home Screen page.

Delete from Settings to see what it frees

Open Settings, General, iPhone Storage and tap the app in the list. Its size is shown at the top. Tap Delete App, then confirm. This route is useful when clearing space, since the list is sorted with the largest apps first.

If Delete App is missing. A Screen Time restriction is blocking it. Open Settings, Screen Time, Content & Privacy Restrictions, iTunes & App Store Purchases, Deleting Apps and set it to Allow. You may need the Screen Time passcode. A few built-in apps, such as Phone, Settings, Messages, and Camera, cannot be deleted at all; for those, the menu only offers Remove from Home Screen.

Deleting does not cancel a subscription. If the app charged you through the App Store, open Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions and cancel it there. Any app you paid for can be downloaded again at no charge from the App Store under your account's purchases.