Knowing how to uninstall apps on an iPhone or iPad can help you free up space and avoid clutter on your Home Screen. While it’s not exactly obvious how to delete apps on an iPad or iPhone, there are several methods to do it. Furthermore, if the storage space on your iOS or iPadOS device is limited, you can also offload unused apps, either manually or automatically. Read this guide to learn more and decide the best way to remove an app from your iPhone or iPad:
1. How to uninstall apps on iPhone or iPad using their Home Screen menu
If you’re wondering how to delete an app on iPhone or iPad as fast as possible, this is the quickest way. First, find the app you want to remove on your device’s Home Screen and touch-and-hold it to open a quick actions menu. Then, tap on the first option, Remove App on iPhone or Delete App on iPad.
How to delete an app on iPad or iPhone using the actions menu
If you’re using an iPhone, confirm your choice by tapping on Delete App. This step is not present on iPads.
TIP: On an iPhone, you can also tap on the “Remove from Home Screen” option if all you want is to delete an app’s icon. If you later decide to uninstall the iPhone app altogether, you can do so from the App Library by following the steps in the corresponding chapter of this guide.
Press Delete App to remove the app from iOS
Confirm your choice in the next pop-up by tapping on Delete.
Tap Delete to remove the app from iPhone or iPad
The app is immediately deleted from your iPad or iPhone, together with all its data.
2. How to delete apps on iPad or iPhone by editing the Home Screen
If you’re cleaning up your Home Screen by uninstalling apps, touching-and-holding each one can be time-consuming. Luckily, Apple considered that and created the “Edit Home Screen” mode. There are three ways to access it. The most obvious one is by touching-and-holding an app to reveal the actions menu and then tapping on “Edit Home Screen.”
How to uninstall apps on iPad or iPhone by editing the Home Screen
If you keep pressing the app a bit longer after the appearance of the quick actions menu, the “Edit Home Screen” mode is automatically activated. The same is true if you touch and hold an empty space on your Home Screen. The editing mode is impossible to miss because all the apps begin to jiggle, displaying in the upper-left corner either a -(minus) icon on iPhone or an X on iPad. Tap on the - (minus) or X symbol next to the app you want to remove from your device.
How to delete apps on iPhone using -
On an iPhone, tap on Delete App next. iPad users can skip this step.
Press Delete App if you're using an iPhone
Regardless of your device, press Delete in the next pop-up to confirm your choice.
TIP: Keep in mind that the app’s data is also deleted. If you plan to reinstall the app later and want to keep its data, we offer more details about offloading apps in the last chapter.
Tap on Delete to uninstall the app from your iPad or iPhone
The app and its data are removed at once from your device. However, you are still in the “Edit Home Screen” mode, which means you can continue to uninstall the jiggling apps by tapping on the - (minus) or X icon next to them. When you got rid of everything you wanted, press on Done in the upper-right corner or press on an empty area on your screen to exit the editing mode.
Tap when you are Done uninstalling apps on iPhone or iPad
3. How to delete an app on iPhone from the App Library
The App Library is only available on iPhones, and you can access it by swiping left on your Home Screen.
Swipe left past your Home Screen pages to reach the App Library
Depending on the number of Home Screens you enabled on iPhone, you might have to do this several times until you reach the App Library, which should look similar to the image below. You now have two options to uninstall an iPhone app.
The App Library on your iPhone
If you can see the icon of the app that you want to uninstall, touch-and-hold it, and then tap on Delete App.
How to delete iPhone apps using their App Library icon
One advantage of using the App Library to free up space is being able to delete apps you previously removed from the Home Screen.
Another plus is that, if you installed a lot of apps, you could easily use the search field at the top to locate the one you want to delete, as seen below.
To uninstall an iPhone app, first, search for it
Then, touch-and-hold the app’s icon (not its name) to open a menu and tap on Delete App.
How to remove apps on iPhone using the App Library search
Regardless of the option you chose, confirm removing the app and its data from your iPhone by tapping on Delete.
Press Delete to uninstall the app on iOS
TIP: If you encounter any issues while deleting an app, we recommend restarting your iPhone and trying again.
4. How to delete apps on iPhone or iPad from Settings
You can also use your iPhone’s or iPad’s Settings to get rid of any apps you’re not using. First, launch the Settings app by pressing its icon on your Home Screen.
Access the Settings app
In the Settings app, tap on the General entry.
Press on General
Next, access the iPhone Storage or iPad Storage, depending on your device.
Tap on the iPhone or iPad Storage
The iPhone/iPad Storage screen displays an overview of the space used on your device, followed by some recommendations and a list of all your apps, arranged from largest to smallest. Scroll down the list to find the app you want to remove, and then tap on it.
Tap on the app you want to uninstall
This opens another screen, where you can see more details about the app, as well as two options to remove it from iOS or iPadOS. To completely get rid of an app, tap on the Delete App option at the bottom.
How to delete apps on iPhone permanently from Settings
Then, press the Delete App button in the confirmation window to uninstall the app, removing its documents and data from your iPhone or iPad.
Confirm your choice by pressing Delete App
If you plan to reinstall the app at a certain point, choose to Offload App instead. This has the advantage of keeping the app’s data and documents to use later, so you can pick up where you left off.
How to offload apps on iPhone or iPad
Confirm by pressing the Offload App button at the bottom of the screen.
Confirm offloading the app on iPhone or iPad
If you think offloading apps is a great idea, there is a setting you can use to have your iPhone or iPad do this automatically, as we explain in the following subchapter.
How to offload unused apps on your iPhone or iPad
When it comes to apps you don’t need right now, but whose data you want to keep for later use, offloading is a great idea. Offloaded apps keep their Home Screen shortcuts, but a download icon is shown before the app’s name. This indicates the app needs to install again before you can use it and access the data you still have stored for it on your iPhone or iPad.
Offloaded apps show a download icon
We already explained in this chapter how to offload apps on iPhone or iPad manually, but there is a setting you can enable, called “Offload Unused Apps,” which does it for you automatically whenever you’re low on space. Open Settings, tap on General, and then access the iPhone/iPad Storage again. Here, check under Recommendations for the “Offload Unused Apps” entry and tap the Enable option next to it.
Enable the Offload Unused Apps option
A green checkmark indicates the recommendation is now enabled, which also means it’s hidden from view the next time you access the iPhone Storage.
A check mark shows you enabled the Offload Unused Apps recommendation
If you change your mind and want to disable this option, open the Settings app and tap on App Store.
Access App Store Settings
Use the switch next to “Offload Unused Apps” to disable the option.
Use the Offload Unused Apps switch to turn the setting or or off
Which method to remove an app from iPhone or iPad do you prefer?
Uninstalling apps on iPhone can be done very quickly using the options on your Home Screen. However, if you have many icons on it, it might be easier to locate the app you want to delete by using one of the other options in this guide. Better yet, you can also remove apps but keep their data by learning how to offload apps on iPhone or iPad. Before you close this guide, please tell us which way to delete apps you prefer. What app(s) did you uninstall? Let us know in a comment below.
