Skip to main content

How to delete iPhone contacts

Whether you’d like to delete a single contact, or remove all contacts associated with an email account, follow along for how to easily delete iPhone contacts.

Contacts on iPhone can be a bit tricky since they can be sourced from various accounts (iCloud, Gmail, Microsoft Exchange, and more). First we’ll tackle how to delete an individual contact, below will go over how to remove all contacts associated with an email account.

How to delete iPhone contacts

  1. Open the Contacts app or the Phone app and tap Contacts at the bottom
  2. Select the contact you’d like to delete
  3. Tap Edit in the top right corner
  4. Swipe to the very bottom, tap Delete Contact, tap again to confirm

Here’s how the process looks:

If you’d like to remove all contacts on your iPhone that are associated with a specific email account, but want to keep the email connected, head to Settings → Passwords & Accounts → *Select your account* → Toggle off Contacts.

You will be asked if you’d like to remove the contacts coming from that account. If for some reason you’ve accidentally removed the contacts from an email account, just reverse the steps shown above.

For a look at how to remove and merge duplicate contacts, check out our tutorial here. This how to also covers how to batch delete contacts on Mac or the web.

For more help getting the most out of your Apple devices, check out our how to guide as well as the following articles:


Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Manage push notifications

notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications
notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications