If you need to know how to delete contacts on iPhone, then you're in the right place. Everyone's virtual address book can end up cluttered and unorganized, so if you need to clean house and get your names and numbers in order, then we've got everything you need to know.
Should it be apps or games that need to get gone, our how to delete apps on iPhone guide can help you out. Or, if you realize your device just doesn't have enough space for what you want to download, find something new with our guide to the best gaming phones, which includes options to meet every budget.
How do I delete contacts on iPhone?
People come and go in life, and if you no longer speak to someone, there's no need for you to have their number on your phone – it's taking up precious memory, even if it's just a few megabytes.
To delete contacts on an iOS device, you need to:
- Hit the green phone icon
- Go to contacts
- Scroll through until you find the one you want to delete
- Select the contact
- Hit the edit button in the top right of the screen
- Scroll down and hit 'delete contact' at the bottom
How do I delete contacts on iPhone in bulk?
If you want a completely fresh slate when it comes to your iPhone address book, then you'll be pleased to hear that you don't have to go through the painstaking process of deleting each contact one by one. There is a method to clear your contact list in one foul swoop, so if that's what you're looking to do, then you just need to follow the steps below.
To delete multiple iPhone contacts, use the following method:
- Hit the green phone icon
- Go to contacts
- Find one of the contacts you want to delete and press the screen with two fingers to highlight the contact
- Use your fingers to scroll up or down your contacts and select all those you want to delete
- Release your fingers and do a long press to bring the options up
- Select 'delete contacts'
Can I recover deleted iPhone contacts?
The good news is that yes, you can recover accidentally deleted iPhone contacts. The caveat, however, is that this process is dependent on whether you regularly update and sync your iCloud account. If you do, then it's pretty easy to restore your contacts you mistakenly sent to the trash. To recover your contacts, you just need to:
- Sign in to iCloud
- At the bottom, there should be a 'Data Recovery' tab
- Select 'Restore Contacts'
- Select 'Restore' next to the date you deleted the contacts you want back
- Confirm the action, and once the restore is completed, you should receive a notification on your iCloud account as well as an email address to your Apple ID
However, we must reiterate that this method is only viable if you sync your iCloud account. If you don't, there's no way for you to restore any of your deleted contacts, but you do have the option of looking at old messages and resaving the number that way, so long as you remember who the conversation was with.
There you have it, everything you need to know about how to delete contacts on your iPhone. To make yourself even less available, take some time off social media with our guides on how to delete an Instagram account, how to delete Snapchat accounts, and how to delete Twitter accounts.