How to Delete Apps on an iPhone

Reclaiming Your iPhone’s Storage

Over time, it is incredibly easy for your iPhone’s home screen to become cluttered with dozens of applications you no longer use. Whether it is a fast-food app you downloaded for a one-time coupon, a mobile game you beat three years ago, or a niche utility app, these forgotten applications quietly consume valuable storage space and drain background data.

Apple provides a few different ways to delete apps, but starting with iOS 14, they introduced the “App Library,” which changed how deletion works. Many users accidentally “remove” an app from their home screen, only to realise the app is still fully installed and taking up space on the phone.

Here is exactly how to permanently delete an app from your iPhone, and how to offload apps to save space without losing your data.

Method 1: How to Permanently Delete an App from the Home Screen

This is the fastest and most common method for removing an app you no longer want.

1. Unlock your iPhone and find the app you want to delete on your home screen.
2. Press and hold your finger firmly on the app icon for about two seconds.
3. A small quick-action menu will pop up. Tap Remove App (the text will be written in red).
4. A second confirmation window will pop up in the middle of the screen asking what you want to do.
5. Tap Delete App to permanently erase the app and all of its associated data from your phone.
6. A final warning will ask you to confirm. Tap Delete one last time.

The “Remove from Home Screen” Mistake

In Step 4 above, you will also see an option that says Remove from Home Screen. If you tap this, the app icon will disappear, making you think you deleted it. However, the app is still fully installed on your phone. It has simply been hidden away in the App Library on the very last page of your home screen.

To actually free up storage space, you must always choose Delete App.

Method 2: How to Delete Apps from the App Library

If you previously hid an app from your home screen and now want to actually delete it, you must find it in the App Library.

1. Swipe left across your home screens until you reach the very last page, which is the App Library.
2. Tap the Search bar at the top of the screen and type the name of the hidden app.
3. When the app appears in the search results, press and hold the app icon.
4. Tap Delete App from the pop-up menu.
5. Tap Delete to confirm.

Method 3: How to “Offload” an App (Save Space but Keep Data)

What if you need to free up 2GB of space to install an iOS update, but you don’t want to permanently delete a massive mobile game because you will lose all your save data and progress?

Apple offers a brilliant feature called Offloading. This deletes the heavy application file (freeing up the storage space) but safely preserves all of your personal documents, save files, and login data on the phone. When you reinstall the app later, everything returns exactly as you left it.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap on General.
3. Tap on iPhone Storage. (Wait a few seconds for the phone to calculate your storage usage).
4. Scroll down to the list of installed apps. They are organised by size, with the largest apps at the top.
5. Tap on the specific app you want to temporarily remove.
6. Tap the blue Offload App button.
7. Confirm your choice by tapping Offload App again at the bottom of the screen.

The app will be uninstalled, but its icon will remain on your home screen with a small cloud symbol next to its name. To reinstall it in the future, simply tap the icon, and it will download immediately from the App Store while instantly restoring your data.