Your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch include a large lineup of built-in apps, many of which you'll probably never use and may want to remove. While they take up very little storage and won’t earn you much extra space once removed, they can crowd your home screen, and deleting them frees up some real estate for other apps.
If you're running iOS 14 or higher, any version of iPadOS, and watchOS 9.4+ on an Apple Watch, you can get rid of most of the built-in apps. Here's how to remove (and restore) them.
Which Apps Can Be Deleted?
Apple iOS and iPadOS apps that you can jettison include:
- Activity
- Apple Books
- Apple TV
- Calculator
- Calendar
- Clock
- Compass
- Contacts
- FaceTime
- Files
- Find My
- Freeform
- Health
- Home
- iTunes Store
- Maps
- Measure
- Music
- News (where available)
- Notes
- Podcasts
- Reminders
- Shortcuts
- Stocks
- Tips
- Translate
- TV (where available)
- Voice Memos
- Wallet
- Watch app
- Weather
WatchOS apps that you can remove include:
- Activity
- Alarms
- Blood Oxygen
- Camera Remote
- Contacts
- Cycle Tracking
- Depth
- ECG
- Find Devices
- Find Items
- Find People
- Heart Rate
- Medications
- Memoji
- Mindfulness
- Noise
- Now Playing
- Siren
- Sleep
- Stopwatch
- Timers
- Tips
- Voice Memos
- Wallet
- Walkie-Talkie (where available)
- Workout
- World Clock
Apps that you can't kick out include the App Store, Camera, Messages, Phone, Photos, Safari, and Settings. You can only delete the Watch app if you unpair your Apple Watch.
Removing some of these apps may affect the functionality of others. If you delete the Books, Maps, Music, or Podcasts apps, for example, you won't be able to effectively use CarPlay. Deleting the Music app will affect playback of audio content in your library on some car stereos or stereo receivers. If you delete an app from your iPhone that also exists on your Apple Watch, the app is removed from both devices.
However, some features will still be available if you delete the associated app. For example, if you get rid of the Contacts app, contact information remains in the Phone app. If you delete the FaceTime app, you can still make and receive FaceTime calls via the Contacts and Phone apps. And if you delete a built-in app on your Apple Watch that's also on your iPhone, the app remains on your phone.
Be aware that deleting these apps also removes your user data and any configuration files. However, any cloud-based content you created using the app will not be permanently deleted.
With the introduction of the App Library in iOS 14 and iPadOS 15, Apple asks you if you want to remove an app just from the Home Screen or from the App Library as well.
Now let's look at how to remove and restore built-in apps on an iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
Delete an App on an iPhone or iPad
With iOS/iPadOS 13 or higher, Apple offers a couple of ways for you to delete an app. You can long-press on the icon of the app you wish to remove, then select the Remove App command. Another option is to keep your finger on the icon until all the icons start jiggling and then tap the minus button on the icon to delete the app.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)Remove an App on an iPhone or iPad
You'll receive a prompt confirming that you want to delete the app. If you're running iOS 14 or higher or iPadOS 15 or higher, you're given two options: Delete App or Remove from Home Screen. Choosing Delete App completely removes the app from your device.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)Choosing Remove from Home Screen deletes the app from the Home Screen but keeps it accessible in the App Library. If you simply want to declutter your Home Screen but don't want to lose access to an app entirely, select that second option.
If you ever want to launch the app again, keep swiping to the left until you reach the App Library. If you know the category under which the app is organized, tap it and select the app. Otherwise, browse for the app by name or search for it at the top of the App Library screen to access it.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)If your app icons are jiggling and you want to stop them, tap the home button on your device. For devices without a home button, tap Done in the upper-right corner or swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
Redownload an App on an iPhone or iPad
Now let’s say you deleted a built-in app by mistake or suddenly need to use one that you previously jettisoned. Rest easy because reviving these apps is a simple process.
If you removed the app from the Home Screen but not from the App Library on an iPhone, return to the App Library and open the category for the app you wish to bring back to the Home Screen. Long-press on it and select the command for Add to Home Screen. The app then jumps back to the first available spot on your Home Screen. Alternatively, drag and drop the app from the App Library to the Home screen and you can place it in a specific spot.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)If you completely removed the app so that it’s no longer in the App Library, open the App Store (which you can't remove). Tap the search icon and type the name of the app you wish to restore. Select the name of the app from the search results and select the cloud icon next to the app that you want to bring back. The app is downloaded to your device. You can then open the app from the App Library or return to your home screen to access its icon.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)Delete an App on an Apple Watch
To delete an app on an Apple Watch, press the Digital Crown to go to the Home Screen. Touch and hold the display until all the apps start jiggling. Tap the X delete button for the app that you want to remove and then select Delete App to confirm your action. When done, press the Digital Crown again to stop the jiggling.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)Redownload an App on an Apple Watch
To restore an app on an Apple Watch, open the App Store app and search for the app. When you find it, tap the cloud icon to redownload it. Wait for the app to be restored and then open it from the App Store or your Home Screen.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)__