How to Remove an App You Don't Use From Your iPhone

Remember tidying up the kitchen drawer — the one with the rubber bands, the dead batteries, and three pairs of scissors? Every so often, things pile up and it feels good to clear them out.

Your iPhone is the same way. Apps you tapped once and never opened again sit there taking up space on your screen. The good news is that getting rid of one takes about ten seconds, and you can't break anything by trying.

What "deleting an app" actually does

An "app" is just a little program on your phone — like a single tool. The Weather app shows you the weather. The Calculator app does math. When you delete one, it goes away from your phone, but you can always get it back later for free if it's one that came with the phone or one you've installed before.

Think of it like returning a book to the library. It's not gone forever — you can check it out again whenever you want.

The steps

Find the app you want to remove on your home screen. This is the screen full of little square pictures.

Press your finger gently on the app's picture and hold it there. Don't tap and let go — hold.
After about a second, a small menu will pop up.
Lift your finger and look for the words "Remove App". Tap those words.
Another little box appears asking what you want to do. Tap "Delete App".
One more box asks if you're sure. Tap "Delete".

That's it. The app is gone, and the other apps will shuffle over to fill the empty spot.

What if all the apps start wiggling?

This catches a lot of people off guard. If you hold your finger down a moment too long, every app on the screen starts jiggling like they've had too much coffee. Small minus signs (–) appear in the corners.

Don't panic — nothing is broken. The phone is just asking, "Would you like to rearrange things?" To make the wiggling stop, press the Done button in the top-right corner, or simply press the side button on your phone once. Everything goes back to normal.

If you see those minus signs while the apps are wiggling, you can also tap the minus sign on the app you want gone, and it'll ask the same "Delete App?" question.

A word of comfort about mistakes

If you delete something by accident — say, the app for your bank or your pharmacy — it's not lost. You can get it back by opening the App Store (the blue icon with a white "A" made of paintbrushes), tapping the search box at the bottom, typing the name of the app, and tapping Get or the little cloud icon next to it.

A few apps that came built into your phone, like Phone or Messages, can't be deleted at all. The phone simply won't let you, which is its way of protecting you from removing something important.

Try it today

Take a slow look at your home screen. Is there an app you've never opened? Something a grandchild installed two Christmases ago that you've never figured out? Pick just one, and walk through the steps above to remove it.

You'll free up a little space, and the next time you reach for the Phone app or the Camera, there will be one less square in the way.

Need a hand with your technology? We're here to help. Give PorchSwing a call or book an appointment, and we'll walk you through it at your own pace — no rush, no jargon.