How to Delete Contacts on iPhone
Sometimes you check your contact list, and all you find are numbers of people you’d probably never get in touch with ever again. While it takes nothing away from you to leave them there, the fact that they make your contact list unnecessarily long is enough reason to delete them and streamline your contact list.
On iPhone, your contacts are synched to the iCloud, so you’ll need to delete an individual contact or a group of contacts from there to delete them permanently. Thankfully, the process is seamless, and the guide here will help you with that.
Regardless of the iOS version on your iPhone, you’ll find three options to delete contacts, any of which you can use depending on the number of contacts you intend to delete. They are as follows:
How to Delete a Contact on iPhone
If you only need to delete a single contact (maybe a duplicate entry or a temporary contact like a repairman), use the following steps:
- Launch the Contacts app on your iPhone or, alternatively, open the Dialer app and then swipe to the Contacts tab
- Scroll to the contact you wish to delete and tap on it
- On the selected contact’s information page, select Edit in the top-right corner
- Next, scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap the Delete Contact button
- A prompt will pop up asking to confirm the deletion or cancel it. Tap Delete Contact to go ahead.
That’s it! The contact should be erased from your device. However, if you need to delete multiple contacts, you’ll need your computer to enable the Desktop View feature on your phone’s browser – preferably Chrome. With all that set, use the method below.
How to Delete Multiple Contacts on iPhone
Provided your contacts are synched to your iCloud, you can delete a myriad of them in one fell swoop. To do this,
- Launch Apple iCloud on your PC and log in with the same account details on your iPhone. If you’re using a mobile device, open Apple iCloud with the Desktop View feature
- Once you’re logged in, select Contacts on the homepage
- Next, under Contacts, press and hold the CTRL key (if you’re on Windows) or Command key (if you’re on Mac) and then select the contacts you wish to delete one after the other
- Now, navigate to and select the Settings (gear) icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen and click Delete from the context menu
- A prompt will pop up asking to confirm if you want to delete the selected contacts. Select Delete to go through with it.
How to Erase Your Contact List on iPhone
If you’d fair better without any of your contacts (looking for a fresh start? is everything ok?), then there’s an even better way to do so, tucked away in your iPhone’s settings. To do this,
- Open Settings on your iPhone and tap your Apple ID at the very top
- Next, select iCloud
- On the following page, confirm if the toggle button next to Contacts is on. If it is, turn it off
- Again, a prompt will pop up asking you what you want to do with your contacts. Choose Delete from My Phone
Final Notes
There you have it! Now you can have a cleaner contact list with all the redundant ones removed. However, don’t delete any contacts unless you’re sure they’re no longer needed. While it’s possible to recover them, the process can be difficult and may not always be successful.
