How to Delete a Contact on iPhone: Quick & Easy Guide

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Manage and delete iPhone contacts you don't want anymore
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Do you want to erase a contact from your iPhone? You can permanently delete contacts or temporarily hide them using Lists. Keep in mind that if you have iCloud sync enabled for your contacts, the contact will be deleted from your other linked devices as well. Here's how to delete contacts on an iPhone using the Contacts app, iCloud, and settings.

Quick Steps

  1. Open the Contacts app.
  2. Tap a contact.
  3. Tap Edit .
  4. Scroll to the bottom and tap Delete Contact .
  5. Tap Delete Contact again.
Section 1 of 6:

Using the Contacts App

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  1. 1
    Open the Contacts app. It's an app with a person-shaped silhouette on a grey background and colored tabs along the right side. [1]
    • Alternatively, you can access Contacts from the Phone app by tapping the Contacts icon at the bottom of the screen.
  2. Doing so will open their contact page.
    • To search for a specific contact, tap the Search bar at the top of the screen and type in their name.
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  3. 3
    Tap Edit . It's in the upper-right corner of the screen. This will let you make changes to this person's contact page, including deleting the contact altogether.
  4. 4
    Scroll down and tap Delete Contact . It's at the bottom of the contact's page.
    • If you don't see this, make sure you're at the very bottom of the page.
  5. 5
    Tap Delete Contact again when prompted. You'll see this prompt at the bottom of the screen. After doing so, the contact will be deleted from your iPhone.
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Section 2 of 6:

Deleting All iCloud Contacts

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  1. It's a grey app containing gears that's typically located on the home screen.
    • This method will delete all contacts synced to your iPhone from your iCloud.
  2. It's the section at the top of the menu that contains your name and image if you've added one.
    • If you are not signed in, tap Sign in to (Your Device) , enter your Apple ID and password, then tap Sign In .
    • If you are running an older version of iOS, you may not need to do this step.
    • In the most recent versions of iOS, this is called your Apple Account instead of your Apple ID.
  3. 3
    Tap iCloud . It's in the second section of the menu.
  4. 4
    Tap Show All . This will expand the Apps Using iCloud section.
  5. It will turn grey, and you will be prompted to delete all of the iCloud contacts stored locally on your iPhone.
  6. All of the contacts that you had synced with your iCloud account will be deleted from your iPhone. These contacts include any locally saved information (e.g., manually added contacts).
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Section 3 of 6:

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  1. It's a grey app containing gears that's typically located on the home screen.
    • This method will delete all contacts synced to your iPhone from your email accounts.
  2. 2
    Tap Apps . If you have an older version of iOS, skip this step.
  3. 3
    Tap Contacts . You may need to scroll down to find this.
  4. 4
    Tap Accounts . It's at the top of the page.
  5. 5
    Tap an email account. All email accounts added to your iPhone can be found under the Accounts header.
    • For example, you'd tap Gmail to open your Contacts settings for a Gmail account.
  6. It will turn grey, and the contacts from the email account will no longer appear in your iPhone's Contacts app.
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Section 4 of 6:

Disabling Contact Suggestions

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  1. 1
    Open your iPhone's Settings. It's the grey app containing gears that's typically located on the home screen.
  2. 2
    Tap Apps . If you have an older version of iOS, skip this step.
  3. 3
    Tap Contacts . You may need to scroll down to find this.
  4. 4
    Tap Siri . This is at the top of the page. Some iOS versions may show Siri & Search instead.
  5. 5
    Toggle off"Show Contact Suggestions". This is towards the bottom of the screen. Siri will stop providing contact suggestions in other apps.
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Section 5 of 6:

Hiding Contacts with Lists

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  1. 1
    Separate your contacts into lists. You can create lists for your family, your business associates, your friends from the gym, etc. That way, you can hide entire categories of contacts from the list without having to remove them completely.
    • To create a new list, do the following:
      • Open the Contacts app.
      • Tap Lists in the top-left corner.
      • Tap Add List .
      • Enter a name and tap done .
      • Tap the list, and then tap Add Contacts .
      • Select the contacts you want to add and tap Done .
  2. 2
    Open the Contacts app. When you open the app again, it should default to the last list opened.
  3. 3
    Tap List . This is in the top-left corner.
    • You'll see all your lists here.
  4. 4
    Tap a list to view it. As long as you're in a list, you won't see other contacts not added to the list.
  5. 5
    Swipe left on the list if you want to delete it. Swipe left and tap the trash can icon. Tap Delete to confirm.
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Section 6 of 6:

Frequently Asked Questions

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  1. 1
    How do I delete multiple contacts on my iPhone? There's no way to delete multiple contacts at a time. You'll need to delete contacts one by one. For a quicker shortcut, tap and hold the contact in the Contacts app, and then tap Delete .
  2. 2
    Will deleting contacts from iPhone delete from iCloud? If you have iCloud Contacts enabled, deleting contacts from your iPhone will delete contacts on your iCloud and synced devices.
    • If you don't want this, disable Contacts syncing in your iCloud settings first.
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    Once a contact is deleted, can that contact reappear in your directory?
    Community Answer
    The only way this would happen would be if you sync with iCloud and the contact is still in your iCloud account.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
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    Yes No
    Not Helpful 2 Helpful 6
  • Question
    Siri has added a contact as my card, but it's not me. How do I change it?
    Community Answer
    You should be able to open the phone app, click on contacts, and at the very top it should say "my number" with your phone number and possibly your name. Click that to open it, and there should be a spot to click "use as my contact card." You may have to click edit in there first.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
    Yes No
    Not Helpful 4 Helpful 3
  • Question
    Why can't I delete all my contacts? Some are from Facebook and cannot be removed.
    Community Answer
    Go to your phone settings. Scroll to Facebook. Look for "Allow These Apps to Use Your Account." Tap the slider off. Go back to your contacts list, and the ones that were merged from Facebook will be gone.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
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    Not Helpful 8 Helpful 11
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      References

      1. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-is/guide/iphone/iph3e0ca2db/ios

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      1. Open the Contacts app.
      2. Tap a contact.
      3. Tap Edit .
      4. Tap Delete Contact .
      5. Tap Delete Contact to confirm.

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