How to delete apps on an iPhone

2 min read · 4 steps · Updated 2 October 2026

Deleting apps you do not use frees storage and tidies the Home Screen. You can download any of them again later from the App Store without paying twice.

Menu names are from iOS 26. The pictures are simplified diagrams of the screen, not screenshots.

Step by step

1. Touch and hold the app icon

   A menu appears after a moment.

   Done

2. Tap Remove App

   It is at the bottom of the menu, in red.

   Done

3. Choose Delete App

   Delete App removes the app and its data from the phone. Remove from Home Screen only hides the icon and keeps the app in the App Library.

   Done

4. Delete several from the storage list

   Open Settings, General, iPhone Storage. Tap an app, then Delete App. The list shows the largest apps first and when you last used each one.

   Done

Good to know

Deleting an app does not cancel its subscription. Open Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions.

Offload App, in the same storage list, removes the app but keeps its documents and data, and leaves the icon so you can reinstall with one tap.

Built-in apps such as Stocks or Tips can be deleted too. Settings and a few other core apps cannot.

If there is no Delete option, check Settings, Screen Time, Content & Privacy Restrictions, iTunes & App Store Purchases, Deleting Apps.

In short: Hold the icon, Remove App, Delete App.