Hey there! Have you noticed your iPhone storage space slowly filling up over time? As you use your phone daily, downloading new apps, taking pictures, saving messages, it‘s totally normal for storage to get eaten up bit by bit.
But don‘t worry – I‘m here to help you free up space by permanently deleting apps you no longer need. Removing unused apps can be one of the best ways to open up storage and improve your iPhone‘s performance.
In this guide, I‘ll walk you through multiple methods to delete iPhone apps for good. I‘ll also share some useful tips to help manage your apps and storage effectively. Let‘s get started!
Why You Should Delete Apps on Your iPhone
Here are some of the top reasons for deleting apps on your iPhone regularly:
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Regain storage space – According to Apple, apps can take up over 150 MB of storage on average. Games and large apps like Facebook can use over 1 GB! Deleting unused apps frees up room for photos, videos, music, and new apps you actually want.
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Speed up your iPhone – Your phone has to load all the data for every app on your device, even rarely used ones. Removing unneeded apps makes your iPhone run faster and smoother.
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Enhance security – Apps you never open still have some access to your data. Getting rid of them reduces potential security and privacy risks.
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Remove clutter – Keeping your home screen organized with just your most-used apps makes your iPhone more pleasant to use daily. Less clutter also helps you find apps faster.
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Sign out of accounts – Some apps may still be signed into accounts you don‘t use anymore. Deleting them signs you out for better security.
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Fix app crashes/bugs – If an app is glitchy or keeps crashing, deleting and reinstalling it can often resolve those issues.
As you can see, taking a few minutes to prune your apps has lots of benefits! Next I‘ll go over some quick ways to see which apps are taking up space and ripe for deletion.
Identify Apps Using the Most iPhone Storage
Before mass deleting apps, it helps to get a sense of which ones are consuming the most storage. Here‘s a couple easy ways to see your storage breakdown:
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iPhone Settings – Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage to see a detailed storage usage graph. Apps are organized from largest to smallest.
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iTunes on Mac/PC – Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes. Click on your phone icon, then Storage to see app storage usage.
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Apple Support Article – Look up Apple‘s online support article HT204247, which lists typical app sizes. Social apps, games, and photography apps tend to be the biggest storage hogs.
Now that you know your phone‘s storage breakdown, it‘s time to start deleting some apps!
How to Permanently Delete Apps from Your iPhone
You‘ve got a few options for how to remove apps from your iPhone for good. I‘ll go through each method step-by-step:
Delete Apps from the Home Screen
This is the standard way most people uninstall apps. Here‘s how it works:
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Press and hold any app icon until your apps start shaking and jiggling around. This takes you into edit mode.
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Find the app you want to delete and tap the "X" in the corner of its icon.
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Finally, tap "Delete" to confirm you want to permanently remove the app.
Deleting from your home screen is quick and easy. But what if the app isn‘t on your home screen anymore? You can still delete it from the App Library.
Remove Apps in the App Library
The App Library contains all your apps, even ones that aren‘t on a home screen. Just follow these steps:
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From your home screen, swipe all the way right until you reach the App Library.
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Locate the app you want to delete. You can search for it or browse categories.
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Press and hold the app icon until a menu appears.
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Tap "Delete App" to confirm removal.
This removes the app completely from your iPhone – home screen and App Library.
Delete Apps Within iPhone Settings
You can also easily delete apps right from the Settings menu:
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Open Settings and tap "General".
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Choose "iPhone Storage".
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Select the app you want to remove.
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Tap "Delete App" and confirm to uninstall.
The Settings method shows you exactly how much storage an app is using, making it easy to identify deletion candidates.
Use Offload Unused Apps
Offloading removes an app‘s data to free up space but keeps the app icon itself. To offload unused apps:
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Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.
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Tap "Offload Unused Apps" to remove data for apps you haven‘t used recently.
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Confirm you want to offload the unused apps. Their documents/data will return if you reinstall them later.
Offloading is a great way to quickly free up some storage while still keeping your app icons handy in the App Library.
Delete App Data from iCloud
Even after you delete an iPhone app, its data may still be stored in your iCloud backup taking up space. To remove:
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Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups.
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Select your device backup.
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Tap the app you want to delete data for.
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Tap "Delete App Data" to permanently remove the app‘s data from iCloud.
Deleting app data from your iCloud backup is important for freeing up your total iCloud storage space.
Hide Apps from Your Purchase History
What if you want to remove all traces of an app from your Apple ID? Here‘s how to hide it:
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Open the App Store and tap your profile icon.
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Tap "Purchased".
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Swipe left on the app you want to hide and tap "Hide".
This simply hides the app from your purchase history list, but doesn‘t delete any data.
Expert Tips for Managing iPhone Apps
Managing your apps doesn‘t stop after deleting them. Here are some pro tips for keeping your apps optimized:
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Turn off app updates – Stop apps you don‘t use from automatically updating and taking up space. Disable updates in App Store settings.
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Delete companion apps – Get rid of extra apps for devices or services you no longer use, like smartwatch or food tracker apps.
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Sign out before deleting – Open the app, sign out of any connected accounts, then uninstall to enhance security.
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Delete partially – Offload unused apps to remove their data but keep icons available in the App Library.
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Check storage gains – After mass deleting apps, go back to iPhone storage settings to confirm you‘ve freed up space.
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Remove built-in apps last – Avoid deleting Apple‘s default apps and focus on deleting third-party apps first.
Recap: How to Delete Apps on Your iPhone
In this guide, you learned several different methods to permanently delete apps from your iPhone:
- Delete apps directly from your home screen
- Uninstall apps from the App Library
- Remove apps within iPhone Settings
- Offload unused apps to free up space
- Delete app data stored in your iCloud backup
- Hide purchase history of apps in the App Store
Clearing out unused apps improves storage space, speed, security, and organization. Apply these app deletion tips regularly to keep your iPhone decluttered and running smoothly!
Let me know if you have any other questions about managing storage or apps on your iPhone. I‘m always happy to help out!
